Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-11-07
PASSING OF THE WILD BEAST.
Hunted and Slaughtered Every
where by Man, His Greatest Enemy.

where by Man, His Greatest Enemy.
Noah's Ark Impossible To-day--For the
Noble Brutes of Forest and Plain Are
Fast Disappearing to Satisfy Mans Wants.
Now York World,
extinctH Everywhere the march of the
human race has driven the race of
beasts before il. Their numbers are
rapidly diminishing, They are hunted
less for sport than for commerce, and
their skins, flesh, nails and various
other parts of their anatomy are OBJ
iects of mans greed. The animals
that inhabit the sea, not less than
those OF the forest and plain, are dis
appearing before the tireless pursuit
OF tho hunter who hunts for tho money
there is in 1t.
The lion the tiger, the buffalo, tho
Kangaroo, the alligator, the penguin
and the gigantic turtle are fast be-
coming traditions. The serpents, too,
have failed to wriggle away far enough
to escape the dime museum and circus
mon with their artful ways Of bagging
the slippery game.
Tho shark, former terror of the seas,
has found out to his sorrow that the
manufacturers of alimentary products
are making fortune out of his flesh.
He may be penned up and fattened in
the future as the Romans fattened the
sen cells.
The tiger has disappeared from
Europe, become very rare in Africa,
and in India is the recipient of most
flattering protection. AS he is disap-
pearing he is being regretted. 1t has
ut last been admitted that tho tiger is
great devourer of rats and has pre-
vented them from destroying the rice
plantations. No more tigers, no more
rice; for the rats in India continue to
multiply, and in consequence tiger
hunts arc interdicted. 81
Tho buffalo has been mercilessly mas.
sacred by American hunters. or tho
magnificent herds once roaming ths
Western plains, but few odd ones
here and there remain. Buffalos were
first killed for their hides, which when
cured made an elegant piece of fur.
Towards the end of the murderous
campaign their meat was eaten. Now
the scattered bones on the vast prairies
are gathered for the phospherous which
is in them and which may be used for
manure.
In Australia and New Zealand the
kangaroo was loft unmolested until
about 20 years ago, when it was dis
covered that its skin could be manu-
featured into an excellent leather for
shoes From that time the kangaroo
was .pitilessly hunted. Melbourne,
Sydney and other cities exported the
skins, and the flesh was made into an
edible which has already begun to have
fine sale on the London market. II
tho order is not sent forth soon there
will be no more kangaroos. Did we
not see ono of these poor beasts obliged
TO earn his living in Europe and
America boxing in the circuseszand the
cafe chantants? Such is tho fate of
monsters in these DAYS.
In its natural state the ostrich has
almost disappeared, For some time
| they have refused to furnish their mag
nificent plumes. Happily breeding
ground has been established at the
Cape Of Good Hope. Three hundred
Thousand ostriches are there raised like
chickens, and their feathers are
plucked regularly. Tho same plan has
been adopted successfully in Algiers
and Tunis and experimentally in South
ern California.
|
rhinoceros and hippopotamus Skin
will eventually take the place of croco-
die skin. Nothing equals rhinoceroi
skin for aaddlery purposes for hippo.
potamus skin for razor and knife strops
But the monsters have capitulated be
! fore the rapid firing guns. Their pol
| ished vanished skeletons will eventu
| ally fall to pieces in our museums, soil
| e tl,n,,
The modern turtle is good enough TO
soup, but he is only shadow of hi
primitive greatness. Where are thu
| gigantic turtles of the Maurice islands
IL feet G inches in circumference,
feet thick, ton in weight and who's
tails were covered with nails as larg,
as cows horn and who weighed l0
kilogrammes?
The chameleon is certainly an un
slightly looking beast: species o
lizard, vicious in aspect and of yer.
treacherous character. But did NJ
our up-to-dato American girls latel
conceive the barbarous idea of wearing
them on their toilets, held by expen
sive chains and pins? In few week
hundreds of thousands of chameleon
ornamented the fair Sex in America
and those reptiles were sold in til
large stores as flowers and plumes ar
sold in Paris. 1t required energetic
action on the part of tho Society 70
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal
in New York TO prevent the entire dc
struction of these interesting animals
When it is a question of destroying Il
animal specics there are two infallibl
methods Of doing it; one is to manu-
facture parts of them into some usofu
product, the other is to make ther
part of the fashionable woman 8 dress
Every one knows how mercilessl
seals have been massacrcd during th
I last few years in Behring sea. The
are ingloriously hit over tho head wit
j heavy sticks like mad dogs An inter
, national treaty recently has regulate
/ this wholesale murderous traffic
= Sharks fat nowadays produces an e'
I quisite oil which is sold under til
/ name Of cod liver oil, and their drie
/ skins are made 10 resemble marble an
a coral. Shark hunting is so ardent
pursued in all the seas that, like rattl'
. snakes, sharks are continually on the
d guard against fishermen.
The fur trade annually necessitat
the killing off of hundreds of thol
sands of fur bearing animals -ottc
a beaver, lynx, marten, muskrat, ft
! mink and raccoon, and even the harr
!. less little squirrel, is slaughtered
~ give up his coat to trim some lady
Jacket or cntwine her dainty throa
i Bruin has been driven into the mou
h tain Businesses to reappear only VIII,
|. hungry enough to eat Il man. u
!. western hunters sometimes seek hi
If in his lair and get handsome skin I
IA tho price of their trouble.
10 OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Nuptials.