228

CONSIDERATION FOR BIRDS

The Publication of Frances Power Cobbe's Memoirs Calls Attention to It.
Ouida Writes on "Birds and Their Persecutors" in the Nineteenth Century -- A Sharp Criticism.

Strong Condemnation of Those Who Wilfullly Slaughter Them by the Wholesale for Sport.

In, the autobiography of Frances Power Cobbe, that ruling passion of her life, consideration for dumb animals appears and reappears constantly. "The horrors of scientific cruelty to animals" is constantly referred to by her. In speaking of Tennyson, she says:

"I shall account it one of the chief honors which have fallen to my lot that Tennyson asked leave, through his son, to pay me a visit. Needless to say, I accepted the offer with gratitude and fortunately Iw as at home, in our little house in Cheyne Walk, when he called on me. He sat for a long time over my fire, and talked of poetry; of the share melodious words ought to have in it; of the hatefulness of scientific cruelty, against which he was going to write again; and of the new and dangerous phases of thought even then apparent."

The publication of this book, which pushes this one idea constantly to the foreground, similtaneously with the appearance of Ouida's article in the Nineteenth Century, on the slaughter of birds, should show how women are rising against this needless destruction of the "little people of the air"

It has been frequently said that it was the vanity of women which above all things has caused this slaughter of the innocents. But it has not been the sanity of women any more than the stupidity of men. Men have snared the birds for the profit derived from their sale Women have thoughtlessly bought the birds, and their wings and breasts, because they saw them in the milliner's boxes, and finding them there, already dead and dressed, had no compunction about buying them. Nor have the women been any more culpable than those gourmands who have been willing to eat English larks, for which there is even in America an increasing sale It really seems that if there is any time when a person would feel absolutely bestial it is when his sensibilities have become so subordinated to his appetites, that he will be willing, like some foul creature of the primeval forest, to crunch a lark between his molars. Could any sacrilege have seemed more coarse to Keats that this gross devastation of the skylark which "shakes the tremulous dew from his lush clover covert?" As for Shelly who cried: "Bird thou never wert!" He would as soon have thought of masticating the Spirit of Song and Poesy itself as this bird, born to give the last accent of tender beauty to an English morning

Ouida turns her fine eloquence especially against the Italian Speaking of the capture of a great rare woodpecker that "sat upright and tragic as a figure of Napoleon on the Rock," she says. "He has no song' He is not edible, he will not live a week if caged; yet he is mercilessly traped and carried away from his native woods to die When I say that he is not edible I mean that he is not considered so; but to the Italian everything is edible; it is a nation without a palate It steeps a hare in fennel and eats salt with melons The craze for devouring birds of all kinds is a species of fury from the Alps to Etna, they crunch the delicate bodies between their jaws with disgusting relish and a lark only represents to them a succulent morsel for their spit or pasty. The trade in larks all over the world is enormous and execrable, and is as large in England as in Italy. It should at once be made penal by heavy fines on the trappers, the venders, and the eaters, or ere long no more will the lark be heard on earth. It is admitted by all who know anything of the subject that agriculture would be impossible without the aid of birds, as the larvae and developed insects of all kinds would make a desert of the entire area of cultivated land This is well know; yet all over the world the destruction of birds rages unchecked, and no attempt is made to protect them to interdict their public sale, and to enable them to next and rear their young in peace"

Perhaps the Italians may be especially culpable But one can hardly think they are more so than other nations. It is amazing to see how wanton even good men are when it comes to bird life. They will shoot down a marvel of beauty and song -- a tiny thing, half bird, half jewel, with a thoat of silver -- to test their marksmanship, or add to the savor of a stew for the camp mess. They have learned from the scriptures that they have dominion over the fowls of the air, and no tenderness in their own hearts leads them to improve upon this ancient law, given at the dawn of thought -- so finer perception, teaches them their oneness with nature. Yellow, and blue and faintly pink are the gay little wings they wantonly strike to death; vaulting and exquisitely sweet the voices they hush, mysterious is the proud flight, sweet as a song the sound of the swift wings But it appeals to them not at all. They have dominion over these things. And they shoot them down, confident in the approval of the Almighty

Some religions have been more tender with animal creation than this old Hebraic law The religions of the far east take much more cognizance of the cousinship of man and beast. They have found animal life precious, when the proprietorship of man did not make it so for property reasons.

"The naturalist has so much to answer for in both hemispheres, and it is not possible to hear with patience any naturalist speak of his love for nature. He loves to destroy nature No one who truly loved it could bear to skin and stuff forms late instinct and radiant with life, and keep these parodies of life beside him under glass No sentiment contains love which shows itself by inflicting death. In birds more than in any other creature the immobility of death is horrible, because it stands in such cruel contrast to the vivacity and vitality which have been destroyed"

That women could do much toward checking the slaughter for fashion's sake, there is no doubt. Women are more thoughtless than cruel One purchases a hat that is becoming without especially observing the decorations, so long as they are harmonious It would be an excellent thing if the members of the Woman's club of this city would promise to forego the wearing of these bits of plumage It is, however, somewhat discouraging to remember that many of the members of the club were given to reproaching the Humane society by the co-operation of the club, by statements to the effect that some concern for human creatures would be more, becoming philanthropic women than such devotion dogs and cats. It has not, however, been observed that these women who complained have themselves shown any extraordinary endeavor to labor for other humans. There was, and is, in fact, plenty of room for mercies of many sorts within the club. The dogs, cats and birds can be looked upon with friendliness as well as the humans Letters received from several sources -- South Omaha and Chadron among others -- show a reawakening feeling on this subject of humane treatment and protection of animals. It certainly is to be hoped that the time has come when one may profess sentiments of kindness toward his cousins, the birds, the quadrupeds and other animals, without being looked upon as a monomaniac or a fool.

The closing words of Ouida's article so hot with indignation that they must really be reproduced here for those who have not had the good fortune to read them in the periodical in which they were published:

"Consider the marvelous life of a bird and the manner of its whole existence. Men must truly be brutes not to be moved by wonder and admiration before a creature so ingenious, so courageous, and so persecuted. Consider the powers of that little mind of which the inner light flashes from that round bright eye, the skill in building its home, in finding its food, in protecting its mate, in serving its offspring, in preserving its own existence, surrounded as it is on all sides by the most rapacious enemies. Consider its migration. Men are proud of the steamships and railway trains of the overland route between Europe and India, but what merit have they beside the flight of the bird from Northern Europe to Southern Asia? Alone, unaided, opposed by many adverse circumstances and frequently blown back by weather. It yet crosses continents, seas, and deserts till it reaches its winter home by Nile, or Ganges, or Euphrates; and yet again, when spring is in the air, returns over those thousands of miles to make its nest in some Norman croft, or Rhenish hedge, or English orchard The migratory flight of the bird is the greatest miracle of nature. It is sad and amazing that it is regarded by man with entire indifference, and merely utilized by him for his own gain or diversion.

"There is no hospitality for the winged traveler; if he stoop to drink, if he pause to rest, if he plume his ruffled feathers on a tussock of grass, his enemy is down on him, the two-limbed human brute, who is more cruel than any bird or beast of prey. There is no sympathy with his courage, no aid to his weariness, even a drop of dew or a wayside seed is begrudged to him. He must perish to be ground between the yellow teeth of peasants, or, perchance, lie dead in crates, or be skinned, that his pretty plumage may be worn on the heads of female fools. Every rush covered islet on a stream, or a lake, or a broad has its murderous punt-shooting. every stretch of waste land or belt of common wood has the caterer for the fashions of women, spreading his toils or setting his mirror traps for the songsters and the swallows. Every child is brought up to torment and hunt down the birds No holiday seaside excursion is complete to the city cad and his 'flame' without wounding some winged creature and seeing it struggle helpless in the surf of its native shores. Sometimes, if shot on the shore and taken in rough hands, its wings are torn off to adorn and Sunday hat of some Arry's girl, and the bleeding, mutilated body is thrown back alive into the salt waves Science is not the criminal here The offenders are the whole public, of nearly all nations, who for greed, for sport, for dress, or for mere brutal horse play, destroy all over the world the loveliest and most marvelous of all children of nature"

Even if, from thoughtlessness, one had been indifferent before, it would be hardly possible to remain so after reading these words A part of the community must always, of course, be brutal, low, selfish and dull. But there is a larger part more blessed, which is merciful by instinct, which perceives beauty, recognizes value and is full of love. Has not the time come when these will be willing to stand firmly for this one little thing and spare the birds -- those mysterious bundles of throbbing life, melody, motion and color -- lacking only perfume to please each sense with which the creator has provided us? But the sense of taste can, in this instance, well go ungratified, since by its gratification three others will be robbed of what it is now their delight. ELIA W. PEATTIE.

BULL BILTON.

Forced by poverty to earn a living for herself and family and in order to save her titled husband from bankruptcy, Lady Clancarty, nes Bella Bilton, has decided to return to the stage, and will probably visit America to "kick" for the amusement of Americans and to fill her pockets with American dollars. She is the daughter of Jack George Bilton, artilleryman of Woolwich, and is about 34 years of age Her marriage with Lord Clancarty is her third and was strongly opposed by the elder Lord Clancarty, who in consequence cut off his son from every penny that he could

[Drawing]

by any means divert to his wife and other children, besides mortgaging his estates heavily. The singer and dancer resembles [Laiman?] Russel as to figure, is a natural blonde and a distinguished beauty.

THE OLD TIME [FIRZ?].

Talk about yer buildin's
That's hot up by steam --
Give me the old oak fire
Where the old folks used to dream
The rickety dog-rions,
One-sided as could be;
The ashes banked with 'taters
That was roastin'' there for me,
The dog on one side, drowsin',
Or barkin' night the door;
The kitten cuttin' capers
With the knittin' on the floor.
An' me a little towhead
By mammy's side at night;
With both my cheeks a-burnin'
From the red flames leapin' bright.
These steam-hat buildin's make me
Jest weary fer the blaze
That was heap more comfortable
In my childhood's nights and days.
An' I'd give the finest heater
In the buildin's het by steam
Fer the old-time chimbly corner
Where the old folks used to dream!
-- Atlanta Constitution.

CONSIDERATION FOR BIRDS

The Publication of Frances Power Cobbe's Memoirs Calls Attention to It.
Ouida Writes on "Birds and Their Persecutors" in the Nineteenth Century -- A Sharp Criticism.

Strong Condemnation of Those Who Wilfullly Slaughter Them by the Wholesale for Sport.

In, the autobiography of Frances Power Cobbe, that ruling passion of her life, consideration for dumb animals appears and reappears constantly. "The horrors of scientific cruelty to animals" is constantly referred to by her. In speaking of Tennyson, she says:

"I shall account it one of the chief honors which have fallen to my lot that Tennyson asked leave, through his son, to pay me a visit. Needless to say, I accepted the offer with gratitude and fortunately Iw as at home, in our little house in Cheyne Walk, when he called on me. He sat for a long time over my fire, and talked of poetry; of the share melodious words ought to have in it; of the hatefulness of scientific cruelty, against which he was going to write again; and of the new and dangerous phases of thought even then apparent."

The publication of this book, which pushes this one idea constantly to the foreground, similtaneously with the appearance of Ouida's article in the Nineteenth Century, on the slaughter of birds, should show how women are rising against this needless destruction of the "little people of the air"

It has been frequently said that it was the vanity of women which above all things has caused this slaughter of the innocents. But it has not been the sanity of women any more than the stupidity of men. Men have snared the birds for the profit derived from their sale Women have thoughtlessly bought the birds, and their wings and breasts, because they saw them in the milliner's boxes, and finding them there, already dead and dressed, had no compunction about buying them. Nor have the women been any more culpable than those gourmands who have been willing to eat English larks, for which there is even in America an increasing sale It really seems that if there is any time when a person would feel absolutely bestial it is when his sensibilities have become so subordinated to his appetites, that he will be willing, like some foul creature of the primeval forest, to crunch a lark between his molars. Could any sacrilege have seemed more coarse to Keats that this gross devastation of the skylark which "shakes the tremulous dew from his lush clover covert?" As for Shelly who cried: "Bird thou never wert!" He would as soon have thought of masticating the Spirit of Song and Poesy itself as this bird, born to give the last accent of tender beauty to an English morning

Ouida turns her fine eloquence especially against the Italian Speaking of the capture of a great rare woodpecker that "sat upright and tragic as a figure of Napoleon on the Rock," she says. "He has no song' He is not edible, he will not live a week if caged; yet he is mercilessly traped and carried away from his native woods to die When I say that he is not edible I mean that he is not considered so; but to the Italian everything is edible; it is a nation without a palate It steeps a hare in fennel and eats salt with melons The craze for devouring birds of all kinds is a species of fury from the Alps to Etna, they crunch the delicate bodies between their jaws with disgusting relish and a lark only represents to them a succulent morsel for their spit or pasty. The trade in larks all over the world is enormous and execrable, and is as large in England as in Italy. It should at once be made penal by heavy fines on the trappers, the venders, and the eaters, or ere long no more will the lark be heard on earth. It is admitted by all who know anything of the subject that agriculture would be impossible without the aid of birds, as the larvae and developed insects of all kinds would make a desert of the entire area of cultivated land This is well know; yet all over the world the destruction of birds rages unchecked, and no attempt is made to protect them to interdict their public sale, and to enable them to next and rear their young in peace"

Perhaps the Italians may be especially culpable But one can hardly think they are more so than other nations. It is amazing to see how wanton even good men are when it comes to bird life. They will shoot down a marvel of beauty and song -- a tiny thing, half bird, half jewel, with a thoat of silver -- to test their marksmanship, or add to the savor of a stew for the camp mess. They have learned from the scriptures that they have dominion over the fowls of the air, and no tenderness in their own hearts leads them to improve upon this ancient law, given at the dawn of thought -- so finer perception, teaches them their oneness with nature. Yellow, and blue and faintly pink are the gay little wings they wantonly strike to death; vaulting and exquisitely sweet the voices they hush, mysterious is the proud flight, sweet as a song the sound of the swift wings But it appeals to them not at all. They have dominion over these things. And they shoot them down, confident in the approval of the Almighty

Some religions have been more tender with animal creation than this old Hebraic law The religions of the far east take much more cognizance of the cousinship of man and beast. They have found animal life precious, when the proprietorship of man did not make it so for property reasons.

"The naturalist has so much to answer for in both hemispheres, and it is not possible to hear with patience any naturalist speak of his love for nature. He loves to destroy nature No one who truly loved it could bear to skin and stuff forms late instinct and radiant with life, and keep these parodies of life beside him under glass No sentiment contains love which shows itself by inflicting death. In birds more than in any other creature the immobility of death is horrible, because it stands in such cruel contrast to the vivacity and vitality which have been destroyed"

That women could do much toward checking the slaughter for fashion's sake, there is no doubt. Women are more thoughtless than cruel One purchases a hat that is becoming without especially observing the decorations, so long as they are harmonious It would be an excellent thing if the members of the Woman's club of this city would promise to forego the wearing of these bits of plumage It is, however, somewhat discouraging to remember that many of the members of the club were given to reproaching the Humane society by the co-operation of the club, by statements to the effect that some concern for human creatures would be more, becoming philanthropic women than such devotion dogs and cats. It has not, however, been observed that these women who complained have themselves shown any extraordinary endeavor to labor for other humans. There was, and is, in fact, plenty of room for mercies of many sorts within the club. The dogs, cats and birds can be looked upon with friendliness as well as the humans Letters received from several sources -- South Omaha and Chadron among others -- show a reawakening feeling on this subject of humane treatment and protection of animals. It certainly is to be hoped that the time has come when one may profess sentiments of kindness toward his cousins, the birds, the quadrupeds and other animals, without being looked upon as a monomaniac or a fool.

The closing words of Ouida's article so hot with indignation that they must really be reproduced here for those who have not had the good fortune to read them in the periodical in which they were published:

"Consider the marvelous life of a bird and the manner of its whole existence. Men must truly be brutes not to be moved by wonder and admiration before a creature so ingenious, so courageous, and so persecuted. Consider the powers of that little mind of which the inner light flashes from that round bright eye, the skill in building its home, in finding its food, in protecting its mate, in serving its offspring, in preserving its own existence, surrounded as it is on all sides by the most rapacious enemies. Consider its migration. Men are proud of the steamships and railway trains of the overland route between Europe and India, but what merit have they beside the flight of the bird from Northern Europe to Southern Asia? Alone, unaided, opposed by many adverse circumstances and frequently blown back by weather. It yet crosses continents, seas, and deserts till it reaches its winter home by Nile, or Ganges, or Euphrates; and yet again, when spring is in the air, returns over those thousands of miles to make its nest in some Norman croft, or Rhenish hedge, or English orchard The migratory flight of the bird is the greatest miracle of nature. It is sad and amazing that it is regarded by man with entire indifference, and merely utilized by him for his own gain or diversion.

"There is no hospitality for the winged traveler; if he stoop to drink, if he pause to rest, if he plume his ruffled feathers on a tussock of grass, his enemy is down on him, the two-limbed human brute, who is more cruel than any bird or beast of prey. There is no sympathy with his courage, no aid to his weariness, even a drop of dew or a wayside seed is begrudged to him. He must perish to be ground between the yellow teeth of peasants, or, perchance, lie dead in crates, or be skinned, that his pretty plumage may be worn on the heads of female fools. Every rush covered islet on a stream, or a lake, or a broad has its murderous punt-shooting. every stretch of waste land or belt of common wood has the caterer for the fashions of women, spreading his toils or setting his mirror traps for the songsters and the swallows. Every child is brought up to torment and hunt down the birds No holiday seaside excursion is complete to the city cad and his 'flame' without wounding some winged creature and seeing it struggle helpless in the surf of its native shores. Sometimes, if shot on the shore and taken in rough hands, its wings are torn off to adorn and Sunday hat of some Arry's girl, and the bleeding, mutilated body is thrown back alive into the salt waves Science is not the criminal here The offenders are the whole public, of nearly all nations, who for greed, for sport, for dress, or for mere brutal horse play, destroy all over the world the loveliest and most marvelous of all children of nature"

Even if, from thoughtlessness, one had been indifferent before, it would be hardly possible to remain so after reading these words A part of the community must always, of course, be brutal, low, selfish and dull. But there is a larger part more blessed, which is merciful by instinct, which perceives beauty, recognizes value and is full of love. Has not the time come when these will be willing to stand firmly for this one little thing and spare the birds -- those mysterious bundles of throbbing life, melody, motion and color -- lacking only perfume to please each sense with which the creator has provided us? But the sense of taste can, in this instance, well go ungratified, since by its gratification three others will be robbed of what it is now their delight. ELIA W. PEATTIE.

BULL BILTON.

Forced by poverty to earn a living for herself and family and in order to save her titled husband from bankruptcy, Lady Clancarty, nes Bella Bilton, has decided to return to the stage, and will probably visit America to "kick" for the amusement of Americans and to fill her pockets with American dollars. She is the daughter of Jack George Bilton, artilleryman of Woolwich, and is about 34 years of age Her marriage with Lord Clancarty is her third and was strongly opposed by the elder Lord Clancarty, who in consequence cut off his son from every penny that he could

[Drawing]

by any means divert to his wife and other children, besides mortgaging his estates heavily. The singer and dancer resembles [Laiman?] Russel as to figure, is a natural blonde and a distinguished beauty.