San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-08-09
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 1896.
WHO KILLED COCK ROBIN.

The little nursery tale of Cock
Robin and Jenny Wren" has become
almost classic, in the way of bird
literature. 1t has become
known in all languages in
some form or another and
has awakened universal sympathy for
the birds, among the little men and
women of this and all other lands.
The one advantage of a country, life
above that of life in the city has al
ways been held to include the sweet
of the dewy morning. Public opin-
ion has always been on the side of the
birds, and any wanton destruction of
their nests, or any cruelties of the
rough boys. have always been held
UP to condemnation, as cowardly, I'M
manly and mean. Seldom indeed
has public opinion been turned
against the birds, and only then when
they have become destructive, as in
the cases of the too numerous Eng
lish sparrows in some of our cities,
and the blackbirds who destroy
grapes and fruit in such quantities
that it is impossible to mature crop
where they exist in great predatory
focks. rH ,....
Among all the sOngless tribe of.
birds there are none more graceful in
: their movements, or more attractive
in their quick darling from branch to
ground, or more appealing in their
modest submissiveness than the pref
ty wood doves. Their cooling, plain
tive notes are only semi-mournful
and they are always suggestive of
innocence and affectionateness. 1t
does seem as though their very pres
ence would appeal to the protection
and best human feeling of manly
boys and manly men, but somehow
in this section they are marked for
the slaughter. Thousands of these
birds are shot down ruthlessly every
week sometimes thousands a day, by
\arties of hunters from this city. The
complaint ma, to the Light
preacher that INF many instances this
destruction is II the most wanton
character, the birds not being taken
home for the table, but left to lie on
the ground where they were so cruel
1y murdered, without cause.
These facts only emphasize the great
truth of the ever recurring cruelty of
earth. That destruction is the law
and destructiveness the feeling that
animates all, from almost the lowest
<grades of sensible life up to the
BROWNING workmanship of the evolv-
ing axes, man. Put it down to what
cause Nou please, it does not change
the factS. Cruelty runs riot through
all ranks, of animate things. The
greater prey upon the less, and these
in turn upon those which are below
them in the) scale, until the whole re-
aim of nature is one vast slaughter
house 1t is tooth and claw and brute
strength against fieetness and cunning
and native means of defense through
the entire range. The one question
not satisfactorily answered is, shall
,hnan achieve nothing better in his de-
velopment than some greater means
of destruction.
This does seem to, be the result, uni
versally so, whether so intended or
not. Out upon the open prairies, in
the thickets Of the great jungles, upon
the mighty ridges of the backbones
of the continents, in tie sweet sylvan
woods of nearer forests the destruc-
ton goes on all the same. Men pride
themselves upon destroying the great
monarehs of the plains or the jungles
or the hills or the lesser denizens of
the home forests as though it was
something to be PROUD of and gloat
o,cs,~ -Ihe shooting Of lordly ele-
'phant, or a Daring lion, or a stealthy
tiger or a grand old bison, is gloated
over by the huntsman as something
to be proud of. Delicate,' tender low
ing, soft hearted women read the ac-
count and join in the praise bestowed.
Boys in short pants read it too, or sit
with glowing eyes while it is read and
resolve that when they are grown
they too will hunt lions and bears
and shoot tigers in the jungles.
Those who cannot shoot large game
fall back on small. Birds are taken
where beasts are not to be had and
the destruction goes ON all the same.
Outside of the moral results of this
universal destuctiveness, there is the
determination of the great game of
the world. Already in these United
States the buffalo and the moose and