River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1892-07-14
TALKS TO MOTHERS,
by ONE OF THEM.
uI.-THE BOYS TRAINING IN HUMAN
ITY.

uI.-THE BOYS TRAINING IN HUMAN
Copyright by Cambridge Literary Bureau and
Press, 1871
One of the most important duties of a
mother is to teach her son kindness to
animals. No sight in our boosted age
Of civilization is more painful, and
none more disgracefu than the cruelty
practiced by boys. and regret to say,
by men as well, upon the helpless ami
mails IN their power. l refrain from re-
peating the narrowing tales i could
tell of torture and abuse unworthy the
rudest savage, which | have myself
seen on the streets of a city priding it.
self upon its civilization and humanity.
Within its boundaries dozens of institu-
tions cherish and minister to. not only
the afflicted, but the idle and vicious
members of the human family; and
thousands of mothers give their very
lives to this service, while their young
sons grow up to torment the cat, mall
treat the dog, and kill and MAIN every
smaller creature they can get their
uDOhs II u a a
ing shame upon us as a race in this
nineteenth century, and especially upon
US as mothers.
No one need say: ~ can't help il.
my boy will do sou Doubtless he will
not obey when she orders him to desist;
command, even punishment, will not
eradicate that brutal inclination,
survival from the days when every
mans hand was against his neigh
Dor. But if the mother goes 20 work
properly she can accomplish even this
task.
The boy is little savage, his ten
derness cannot be counted upon, his
sympathy is an unknown quantity; but
he is a bundle of curiosity, his atten-
ton can be roused-and here is the
point to attack him. He must be in
structed and interested in the lives of
the lower order of creatures. To this
end the mother must begin with her
self. She must know something of the
wonderful facts of natural history, Sc
that when she finds that hopeful son OF
hers mutilating flies and teasing the
kitten she can tell him some curious
and entertaining facts in the lives Of
those animals-show him how the fiy is
developed, the Office it performs, and,
if possible, its marvellous beauty under
the microscope.
The world of life below us is brim-
ming with wonders, and the child is
fairly hungering for information. He
will not throw stones at a bird whose
movements he has learned to under
stand, whose actions he is entertained
by, nor will he crush an ant whose
strange and remarkable life history he
knows something of; he will rather
want to see what it will do. His intel
ligence must be aroused and fed, and
as he becomes older his sympathies will
grow.
In the days when a mans strength of
arm and indifference to the sufferings
of others was the only protection to his
family, it was thought that hardness OF
heart and cruelty were manly virtues,
but the world has moved little, and
happily we have fallen upon a better
time. The example of the Christ-life
has not been utterly without fruit, and
the nobler men are now waking to the
AdCb ludl cruelty W Is nOl
only an outrage upon the animals, but
thousand times worse for the man or
boy who practices it.
How a mother protesting to model
her life upon that meek and gentle one
in Judea, nearly nineteen hundred
years ago, can permit her sons to come
up like the brutal savages who have
far different ideal is problem | am
unable TO solve.
Much could be said on the rights of the
animal. as fellow creatures, and co
tenants of the earth; much also could
be brought forward to prove their use
fulness to mankind; but passing over
these points with mere mention, ano
putting the case upon the most selfish
grounds-it is a deadly wrong to the
boy to let him indulge in cruelty.
Every act of brutality hardens him, and
makes him more ready for crimes
against his fellow man. ! will not now
open the question of the value to boy
of being able to maintain his rights
among his playfellows by fighting
which by many is thought to be an es.
sential part of a manly boys training
This is by no means a settled question,
but certainly, whatever may be ones
opinion on that point, there is not 9
shadow of excuse for his being brutal
to the unfortunate creatures who are
helpless in his hands.
The inhumanity of our race is some
thing frightful to think of when one
stops to consider it. The heart of any
ranCGasGfnr CanSfhflftu ia
wrung when he looks into the faces o,
the patient horses on the streets, serv
ants to our pleasure, and treated as il
they were machines of wood and iron
for the rough usage of men. Verify, il
we have not some day to atone for oui
unmerciful treatment of the horse,
there can be no justice anywhere.
And the dog-man's humble slave
Ones blood boils at the memory of the
outrages perpetrated upon that faithful
being. of the wrongs of the cat at the
hands of the self-styled lord of crea,
ton, little lower than the angels" az
he claims to be, dare not trust myself
to speak.
All this it is in the power of mothers e
alter. 1t will be the work of genera.
ton; not one nor one thousand mother,
can do it-but each one can help, and
every boy that comes to manhood Just
and humane will forward the good
work.
As to the civilizing and humanizine
tendency of kindness to animals, some
curious and significant statistics havs
been collected. 1t has been discovered
by search among the criminal classes
inmates of prisons and penitentiaries
that a man who in boyhood owns ano
cares for animals, very rarely becomes
a criminal.
OLIVE THoRNE MILLER.
Amusing Ideas of Foreigners.
That foreigners have the most pecul
lar ideas about New York and its sur
roundings was well illustrated at the