THE WEST SHORE.
145
I have read something which you may not have seen : so 1 shall re
peat it for your benerit, and I hope I most passionately hope that the very
reading of it will make you suffer as it did me ; that it will make your blood
run cold, and your heart almost stop beating in the horror of knowing that
such monstrous cruelties are daily practiced. I hope that it will sicken you and
haunt you whenever you think of it, as it does me j and it may be the cause of
our saying a word here or there that may lighten some horrible cruelty to a
dumb animal. For, if anything on earth can set people to thinking, this story
will. In Peru " pigskin " is made by binding, not a pig, as the ignorant would
naturally suppose, but a helpless, innocent-eyed sheep, firmly to a stake. The
hide is then neatly cut around the neck and down the middle, without touch
ing the flesh or severing the arteries, after which hooks are fastened into the
loosened skin; a rope being attached to each hook, strong men take firm grip
on the ropes, and pull pull pull backwards, until the hide is slowly and '
with blood-curdling cruelty torn off clean to the tail. During this frightful
torture the poor beast's cries are almost human in their agony, and the bloody,
quivering mass frequently lives several minutes. My God! Think of it!
Dumb beast after dumb beast suffering such torture year in and year out,
simply that the pigskins " that commonly serve for bottles and casks may
be more flexible and durable than they would be were the animal first killed !
Now, you who feel faint and sick after reading this truly sickening truth, may
ask what object I can have in wishing you to suffer through it. My object is
an unselfish one, at least, whether it docs the slightest good or not. I want
you to do something in tarntsl toward preventing cruelty to dumb animals.
Such cruelty as this thank heaven ! is not likely to come beneath our notice i
but there is no use denying that if we but choose to see, we will find plenty
of cruelty to dumb beasts on all sides of us. What 1 ask of you, whose
heart has ached over my story, is that when ytm lay this paper down you do
not hesitate one moment, but straightway send one dollar Cod knows the
sum is small enough in such a noble cause to the secretary of the nearest
humane society. Deep interest as I have always,taken in this cause, I am
bound to confess that I have, up to this time, klly neglected to become a
member of, or take any interest in, humane societies, simply and solely because
no one had ever set me to thinking how much good my one dollar a year,
added to the one dollar of many other people, might do. I have been mak
ing inquiries, and I find that there has been for several years a humane society
maintained in Portland, and another in Tacoma, and an effort is being
made to organize one in both Seattle and Olympia. The officers of the Port
land society being the one of which I made particular inquiries give their
time and services gratuitously, with the exception of a special police officer,
who is paid by the state, the society as yet not being able to do so. By this
statement alone you will see to what good use your dollar might be put. The
society strongly hopes to be able in time to employ an agrnt on trains and
boats to see that the law is not disregarded by shippers of stock. Too many
cattle are often placed in one car ; the weaker fall and are trampled by the
stronger. To avoid this the drivers frequently prod the animals with sliarp
spikes until the blood flows in streams. Again, cattle are heavily salted before
starting and are given no water, though they may be insane from thirst, heal
and dust, until they arrive at the market, when they drink so greedily that
their weight is largely increased. Think how much suffering might be saved
those patient-eyed brutes by a humane agent in such a case. Picture their
torment as, dry-tongued and wild from thirst, crowded and horned by their
companions in misery, they are borne past cool pastures where deep shadows
rest under spreading trees and tinkling waters flow through. 0, pity ! pity !
for the dumb thing that can not speak its pain ! Rev. T. L Eliot is president
of the Oregon Humane Society, and V. T. Shanalian is corresponding sec
retary. To the litter, Worcester block, Portland, Oregon, send your yearly
dues of one dollar, your name and address, and no lormality or inconvenience
is necessary s it makes no difference whether you live in the same state or not.
Of course, if you can afford to give more to this noble cause, you will not
regret it. 1 am one of those old fashioned ones of the earth who believe
that each good and sweet deed brings its own reward. But, if you can not
afford to give more, try 0, do try-to give the dollar. My apcal is to all,
men, women and children. The dues for those under eighteen years of age
are only twenty-live cents. If you have no way of earning the money, there
are many little economics and sacrifices which you and I might make to enable
us to do so. The principal work and hope of the society lie in the schools.
Their work in the schools consists in the organization of Bands of Mercy, the
distribution of humane literature, and offering prues annually for the best
essays on kindness to all creatures, by pupils of the public schools. How
many, many cruel things are done by children, simply because they nre not
taught that a dumb animal can suffer acutely. I have seen many a kind and
tender-hearted woman, too, thrust cruel pins through the beautiful, throbbing
bodies of butterflies, and, when reproved, they have exclaimed in surprise,
"Why, do you suppose it hurts them?" The humane societies desire to
teach our children to think, and to know that all dumb animals, all beasts of
burden, all insects, even, feel and suffer, and that they should be cared for by
all human beings. Is not such a cause worth active interest? If you leel
one moment's doubt or hesitation, remember the story of Peru s or look into
the eye of some tortured bird or beast, and let your own true heart answer me.
There was a pretty china dish in the window, and in it, bedded round
with stones and nourished by pure water, a " sacred lily" lifted itself, tall and
proud and beautiful. There were several long spikes of the white, gold-hearted
blossoms bursting to the sunlight, and signifying that fortune was to dwell
in that home for one year at least. An old, withered Chinaman came along,
shuffling his feet, his hands thrust into his coarse sleeves. He looked ugly
and wicked and brutal, until suddenly his bleared eyes fell upon the, lily, and
his face brightened like a dark pool when the sun reaches it. He jabbered
something heaven and he alone knows what but no one could mistake the
rapture and reverence of his face. Think. The Chinaman the hated, the
abused, the leprous, the driven-out Chinaman to so love his native flower
that his old wrinkled face could so change at sight of it ! It was one of the
loveliest bits of poetry in a most deadly prosaic life.
Do but think 1 Kudyard Kipling spent ten hours ten in Chicago, and
he goes away reeking with disgust. His only associate was a cab driver, and
the objects considered most worthy of investigation, slaughter houses and
because he saw one woman in fantastic slipiers stand and watch, without emo
tion, the slaughter of cattle, he supposes every woman in Chicago goes to
such places daily for amusement and to relieve tnHui. Fie, Mr. Kipling!
Come to America again ; remain longer ; take off your glasses and look about
you with clear eyes and a cool head. We wrmld mlher e angry with you
than to laugh at you. '
" Lucy Latom " is said to lie the most melodious name In literatures
but is it as beautiful, as liquid, as musical as Oliver Wendell Holmes? Sel
dom is it that beauty and dignity are so blended in a name. Who, having
seen it once, could fail to recall it? Another that ia gravely sweet is Flint
beth Stuart Phelps but do leave off the Ward,
The beautiful sea gull is wantonly and cruelly shot on Puget sound for
sport. Besides their while, glistening beauty, these birds are of great value
as scavengers of the tide lands, and sense, as well as humanity, demands that
they be protected. A bill has liccn introduced into the Washington legisla
ture to prevent their slaughter.
James Whitcomb Kilcy is not beautiful, but his pems are. He says
that he is " this side of forty," but positively declines to state which side. He
was not very progressive in his studies, and declares that at sixteen he could
not face an audience and make the simplest school hoy speech. But how we
all love him !
Kliiabeth I.ylc Saxon, who lias a national reputation as a lining writer
and a friend of womrn, is contributing some interesting letters to the New
Whatcom Kevtillt. These, with excellent poems by Mrs. J. V. Murch and
others, form enjoyable literary features.
Life's road is a slippery one to travel ; so, let us lie careful, you and I,
how we jostle a brother, lest we loosen his fixilhold, Before we sneer at him
or laugh at him or say an unkind or cruel thing of him, let ui stop and think
again for he may lie doing his best.
You may be able to place miles upon miles between one you have
wronged and yourself, but you can not put an inch between yourself and your
conscience.