The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-02-11
RIGHTS OF ANIMALS
In Germany Horses Must Not Be
Spoken to i'm an Insulting Way.
ing to Have Better Treatment Than
Children Are Sure Of.

Africa than In the most highly civilized
portions Of Europe and America, yet the
enlightenment and progress of the West.
while they seem to carry In their train
fresh ingenuity Of infant torture, lead, on
the other hand. to a very marked improve
ment in the treatment of animals. These
are subjected by Orientals to much the
same horrible cruelty as the children of
the white races so often suffer at the
hands of their parents. relatives and seniors
In general But in Europe and America
domestic animals are gradually acquiring
an Importance and a consideration i'm
dreamed of save in those olden times when
they were worshiped as gods or adored as
saints.
On some future occasion / hope to be
permitted to draw a contrast in these col
umns between child life in the Orient and
child life in the Occident, and to demon
strate from personal experience the SUI
periority of barbarism to civilization in that
one particular. But for the present l will
content myself in dealing with the vast i'm
provenent In the treatment of our dumb
friends, whom strangers might often be
tempted to believe enjoy the preference
over our children.
Nc one has ever heard OF a man being
imprisoned for apostrophizing a child with
some coarse, c~ontemptuous or insulting cpl
tibet, yet only a short time ago the Berlin
press contained the record Of a sentence of
three weeks Imprisonment imposed on a
stablcman employed in the imperial news
Of Potsdam, for having addressed an in
sulting epithet TO a favorite mare belonging
to the Kaiser. Although this is the first in
stance known Of a man being actually SEN
tenced in a regular judicial way to impris-
onment for the use of insulting language
10 a horse belonging TO the state, yet l
have often seen troopers in crack cavalry
OF European armies taken Sc
verely to task and threatened with punish
ment for talking roughly to their mounts
the welfare or which is a subject Of infinite
ly greater sollcitude to the officers than that
of the men. For the horse Is worth so much
% the national treasury in cold cash, which
the trooper is not, at any rate In countries
where military service is obligatory; and,
OF the commanding officer depends, as a
rule, far more upon the physical condi-
ton Of the horses Of his regtmsnt than of
Its men, And even I'm the United States the
same ideas with regard to courtesy toward
horses seem TO prevail. According to Col.
Dodge's valuable work on Riders in Many
Lands" just published by Harper & Bros,
the stablemen and grooms to the celebrated
Palo Alto stables in California are strictly
forbidden, under pain OF instant dismissal,
to talk roughly or in an insulting manner TO
any Of the horses.
INSULTING A HORSE.
This being the case, no one need be as
tonished to hear of one of the leading Aus
TRAN sportsman, Count Pau Festetics,
bringing legal proceedings against a Wen
nese sporting paper for having referred in
a sighting manner to his racehorse Thai
any, the insult consisting In a remark to
the effect that though the mare had won
certain stakes she did not deserve to take
them owing to the fact that her competitors
had run so badly as to deprive the victory
of every atom OF glory or merit. This is
hardly a grave insult, but the Count
apology on behalf Of his mare, failing which
he has Instituted the legal proceedings re-
ferred to; 1t remains TO be seen whether
no one need be astonished If during the
course of the proceedings the mare herself
Is subpOenaed as q witness.
In Belgium the government, which owns
and controls the entire railroad system of
the country, has just issued a decree which,
as far as railroad travel is concerned, places
the dog on absolutely the same level as a
grown-up man or woman, and infinitely
higher than a child. For whereas the lat
der twelve years OF age. a dog has now a
right to a full seat, providing he has his
licensed to hold ten travellers, If there are
eight adult human beings and two dogs in
the compartment, the latter is now REGARDED
are admitted, and il the train happens to be
full partly with dogs and partly with human
have TO be left behind rather than that the
dogs should be forced to yield up their
seats. The government decree, however.
contains no lntimation as to the manner
IN which the canine travellers are expected
TO CONFORM 10 tne regulauons whlcn pro
hibit passengers from putting their feet on
the cushions; and it must be admitted that
the seats OF railroad carriages as at pres
ent constructed are not suited to the dogs
style of repose. Inasmuch, however, as the
government has already given him the pref
s sren entire pse sea eanf instead Sy Of Sf'G 1ereiyg half 1a ni of
one, it Is quite within the bounds of posi-
bility that it may in course Of time be
brought to modify the cars in such a man
ner as to add to the comfort of the canine
passengers at the expense OF the human
At Berlin and in other German uni
versity towns the principal personages of
not the president or the treasurer, nor even
the fuchs" as one Of the principal dig
nitaries Of the body is designated. but
available financial resources are lavished
and the various corps vie with each other
the handsomest collar and muzzIe that
money can buy. If he is handsome he is
kept combed and brushed to show off his
cultivated to it's utmost limit by remark
able cutting and shaving Of his ears, his
sorted to in order to add piquancy to his
appearance. The corps dog takes part in
every official ceremony OF his corps. ex-
oept at the duels. from which he is strictly
excluded, lest his morals should be tainted
by the example. He generally dies of govt
NOUS quantities OF beer which he drinks
and by the dissipated life, which he leads
NEC 6AAIOl0oNlO IL
A SOCIAL OFFENSE.
In England, too. animals are held, accord
ms to all appearances, in far higher esteem
than human beings. Vulpicide, or killing
Of foxes. is an infinitely more heinous Of
Tense in the eyes of the general public than
theft, robbery or assault, and one of the
most popular and at the same time charac-
teristic stories is that told of a political
refugee from somewhere in the east of
Europe who came to England with the
or horrible atrocities, including murder, pill
lage and brigandage, all of which merely
seemed TO render him more interesting in
the eyes of his British entertainers. He
was the lon of the season and a welcome
guest at the various country houses until
IN an evil moment he admitted the fact thai
he had shot a fox, fox hunting being quite
social career as far as England was con-
cerned, and the bitter ostraCism which took
the place of the generous hospitality unit
then accorded TO him rendered his depart.
ure from England almost a necessity
Cruelty TO animals, especially TO horses and
dogs, Is invariably punished by the magiS-
trateS with infinitely greater severity thar
the i'll treatment of women or children, and
John Leech WIS not so very far Wrone
when he published in Punch his popular
caricature of IN English workingrnan in.
sisting on taking away the last remaining
drop of milk from his ailing infant in order
10 give 1t TO his bull pup. At the present
matter has been reached by English soldier.
standing sentry over cows out in India The
COW Is a sacred animal in the eyes of tn,
BrahminS and this, Of course, leads the