HEROES OF PEACK.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2313, 5 June 1886, Page 3

HEROES OF PEACK.

Addison happily enough tluis writes:— "Troops of heroes undistinguished die." It is certain that in the daily battle of life, in that great conflict which even under the regis of peace is fought every day, and which is so much more pathetic, no much more terrible than the most stupendous struggle between the hosts and armies of war, heroism, unseen and unrecorded, is a very common matter. It needs not the surroundings of a bloody . \ battle to develop the God-liko qualities If which makes the heroic.' In the patient ■f suffering, the cheerful resignation, the i unselfishness, the honorable fidelity to Hi duty, which, tband God, are so common ' as to command no surprise ■ when they ire discovered, we behold heroism as lofty, as worthy, as lovely and admirable as any exhibited by the soldier "in the imminent deadly breach" or the forlorn hope. We are here reminded that among tlio fighters in the battle of peace, the engine . . driver stands forth prominently as the embodiment of the heroic. Tlio incidents recorded of the cool bravery and unselfish J: heroism of engine-drivers are numberless. raWo read tlio other day of the driver of 1 T\\ wrecked train, mutilated and in great agony, in dense darkness, amid the warring of the elements, crawling along the slippery lino with a lantorn, to warn an ' approaching train against danger. We ' know how nobly the driver of the Geejj, Ion? train behaved in the disastrous w collision at tiro Werribee; how he died ■fi comforted by the reflection that he had r done his duty, and holding, tightly 1 ' gripped in his hand, the telegram which had caused the mischief. We have read of the driver who, seeing a little child playing upon the line, and knowing that it was impossible to stop tho train in time to avoid crushing it, crawled along the engine and lifted the little one out of danger, Such stories are common, and . so grow, to the unreflecting, to become commonplace. But the thoughtful recognise the spirit of heroism which resides in these narratives, and understand how terrible is the mental and physical strain which tho engino-driver has to bear. This tax npon the nervous system of necessity contributes to disease and debility, and the wear and tear of energy • and health. Every sympathiser with the brave men who thus suffer in the cause of the public, will be glad to hear that medical science supplied a remedy atonco prompt, effective, and permanent in its action. Mr James J. Wright, who is Ayvf editor of the Brunswick Reformer, testifies to this fact. He says that for eleven years, previous to the year 1883, ho was employed in the locomotive department of the Victorian railways, Abour 1881 lie experienced serious kidnoy troubles, coupled with rheumatism. He W grow worse in spito of medical assistance. Ho became- so bud that he had to bo carried to his engine—and here, surely, we perceive the heroic spirit of fidelity to duty. His agonies were intense, but he held on to his post, until at last in May 1883 he ra forced to take to his bed. The doctors did their best for him, but he grow worso, and began to despair of. recovery. Controlled by the conviction that his case was hopeless, he re t igned his post, a step supported by tho statement of the Government medical officer, that Mr Wright was suffering from chronic rheumatism causod by kidnoy disease, which had poisoned his blood. This gentleman also pronounced tho case to be hop eless. Mr Wright's resignation was thcroforo accepted and compensation ' granted. For oight months lie hobbled jjgbout on crutches scarcely able to pass (nPoin.room to room, and' wholly confined to his house. However, his pluck carried him along. He obtained work oh the Daily Telegraph newspaper, of Melbourne and from this circumstance traces his his cure. He was sent down by his editortodescri.be H. H. Warner's sufo euro establishment, then just opened in Littlo Lonsdale street west. The mana««r, observing that Mr Wright was seriously unwell, presented him' with a bottle of Warner's safe cure, which was Ar . accepted with that courteous scepticism * with which the invalid, who lias gone through the "course" of legitimate medical treatment, regards all .proprietory specifies. However, doubt soon changed to faith, Mr Wright speedily found that there are more things than are drca nit of in the plilosophy of the doctors. He jcept in with tho medicine with the happiest results. He says '1 have completly recovered my health ; I have had no attack of rheumatism since last June, nor have 1 suffered from ;my kidney complaints, and this in the faco of tho fact that I have worked, early and late, and necessarily, have been irregular my meals." Mr Wright addsfejffrKnowiiig as I do the hardships engineers are exposed to, the great nervous strain, tho cold, wet, heat, long standing, , »nd the constant jolt of the engine 1 feel 1 am only doing my duty in recommending to my fellow enginemen, Warner's aafo cure and safe pills; believing that they are honest medicines and capable ot great good in relieving pain and sustain- - ing the system under the severe strains Incident to tho lives of those whoso business is that of engine driving." Testimony stronger this, could scarcely be given. It has been sent in by-Mr Wright ".' "without solicitation. 1 is the outcome of the very natural gratitudo of one who, despairing of cure, found it by accident and who, lacking faith at first, has been forced to accord it at last. It is the honest tribuno of ono who belonging to a class of men trained to suffer [and endure, only yiold to.the force of illness when powerless to resist. It is the cer- • tificate of a man who carries his ailments . as one of the great army of the heroes of peace, and who records his cure with the simplicity of truth, and tho candor of conviction.