The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1896-05-15
BILL ARP'S LETTER.
nn WRITES A CHAPTER ON
wANfON CRUELTY.
Sorry That lie Once Fired Upon Hls
Neighbor'a Cow.

ia awful. i did not know there we're
such unfoehng people In this civilized
country. There is nothing more harm
less, nothing so happy and so beautiful
as the pigeons that domeatieate around
our homes and seek the protecting
care Of mankind. / thought that this
cruel sport had been abandoned and
that clay pigeons we're substitutes and
we're thrown from a trap by a spring.
No wonder the good people of Macon
refused 10 witness the unfeeling sport,
II Is an honor to them and il seems 10
me they might have found some law to
prevent Il. Where did they get so
many pigeons? Is itpossible that any
gentleman who had them on his place
would let his boys sell them for
such 9 sacrifice? just think Of il
A thousand happy, innocent birds
torn and mangled by shot aud
shell, legs broken or wings, and
then dying a lingering death Of pain.
This thing coul1 not have been done
in Gainesville. The other day two
young bucks, who are proud Of their
muscle, planned a boxing match to
come of at the city hall and our mayor
and council rose up in arms and called
out the militia and beat the long roll
and issued a proclamation and scared
the young bucks so bad they left the
town for three days. Their boxing
gloves we're seized as contrabands Of
war and have been fled away among
the trophies. One of the bucks is
from England and the affair may yet
get up another Venezuelan complica-
ton with the Monroe doctrine attach
ed. What right has Johnny Bull to
be knocking out an American born
citizen? No, we don't believe in
sports that are cruel or dangerous.
A man went up in a balloon here today
and hung from it by his toes on a
trapeze and then cut loose and came
down with q parachute and everybody
gazed and wondered, for it was a free
show, but he ought not to have been
allowed to do it, for they get killed
sooner or later, and it excites a thirst
for dangerous risks and an indifference
to death. A man who will wantonly
and foolishly put his life in hazard is
fool for want of sense and will never
get to heaven, in my opinion. Many
years ago 1 saw Blondin, a little
Frenchman, who was brought over by
Niblo to dance the rope at his garden
show in New York. The garden
wasn't big enough for his ambition
and he got to walking ropes from
steeples of high buildings and next
over waterfalls, and last over the great
chasm below Niagara falls The last
time saw him he was walking
over that chasm on a rope that was
1900 feet long and was $50 feet above
the surging waters and he had man
on his shoulders. Well, of course
that was very wonderful and very
perilous, but it accomplished no good
to anybody and nobody would have
cared if he had fallen and killed him
self. Gust another fool gone" the
spectators would have said. And
have known my father tell about Sam
Patch, who astonished the coun-
try by jumping from top masts of YES
sells and from high bridges He Jump
ed the falls of Paterson, N. j., about
100 feet, and then the falls of Niagara
and Rochester, and finally the Genesee
falls, 1875 feet. His body was found
four months afterwards and he was
pronounced a frst-class fool. But still
] have more respect for Blondin and
Sam Patch than for any set of meI
who will wantonly kill thousand pig
cons just to show off their skill il
shooting. 1t is bad sign in boy tC
be cruel. We have pigeons at oul
home and they give us pleasure every
day and sometimes the bad boys sliI
around in the back alley with then
sling shots and shoot them from theil
hiding places and we find the deaC
birds lying around, and it distresse
my wife sorely. What makes boys d,
SOP Why do they love to shoot tn
English sparrows? The girls have n,
such desire. They would rather cares
them and nestle them in their bosoms
Man is harder hearted than woman an,
maybe the maternal instinct has some
thing to do with 1.-THE love of littl
helpless creatures. Maybe it is becaus
she was the last and best Of Gods crea
tions. One day I took down my gu
in anger to shoot a COW that was in m
cornfeld. She had broken down tn
fence several times, but old John ALE
was a good neighbor and had promise
to fix his fence and didn't do it, an
he was away from home a good dea
for he was a millwright. Ny viii
begged me not to shoot his COW, but
did il, and put out one Of her eyes an
tore her up pretty bad. I didn't sc
John for some time and didn't wal
to. One morning he stopped at Ii
gate and asked how we oil were an
talked about the rain and the weathe
and after awhile remarked that he ha