The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1904-06-10


after a man dies his soul passes into
the body OF q dog or a cat or horse
or a lion and so lives on through the
coming ages. If he is a mean man
then ne becomes a mean beast Ike
jackal or a hyena. II a good man then
his soul takes upon itself the form OF
a noble beast: but though In Christian
lied America we DO not believe In the
transmigratlon Of souls we may see
around Us an analogous phenomenon.
When q man abuses a dumb brute he
is not punished by having his soul at
death pass into the body Of iackal,
but be takes on the character Of those
cruel, bestlal four legged scavengers
Of the desert, and be becomes one OF
them IN his nature.
What is today one Of the chief causes
Of the moral and spiritual as well as
the temporal degeneracy Of Spainf II
is without doubt due to the bestial and
brutalizing tendencies Of the merciless
bullnght. When on the Sunday follow
Ing Easter and on subsequent Sundays
the II 1000 spectators gnther about the
arena of Seville or the 1900 watch
the arena Of Madrid and the 1000 en-
circle the arena OF Valencia, they are
glorylng I'm the vice which has been
/ the moral and spiritual death Of their
country. These Spanish bullhghts al
ways take place on Sunday because
they are held 10 be the sacred national
game. A famous American traveller
tells us that at each bullhght between
six and eight of the hercest kind OF
bulls and from twenty 70 forty horses
are killed. The waving of the red mum
ties. the shooting of the darts, the are
ma soaked with blood, the screams OF
the dying horses dragging themselves
around, sometimes with their entrails
In full view Of tho excited populace;
the mad charges Of the enraged bulls
combine 10 make a scene of horror in-
describable and one which It is inn
possible for the civilized American to
fully grasp. When the famous Francis
co Romero de Runda taught the Span
ish people how 10 scientifically abuse
and madden and torture to death a
four legged brute he made it possible
for the people themselves, by looking
upon such scenes Of horror. TO become
worse than brutcs No human being
can be unmerciful 10 a beast without
himself after awhile growing merci-
less In his dealings with his fellow
men.
The Humane Society Of America, in
teaching man 10 be kind 10 the dumb
brute, has a second practical mission.
1t teaches that harshness and bitter
ness and cruelty do absolutely no good
IN the training and the true subjuga-
ton Of an animal. A cruel master
never was able 10 get the best results
out Of q horse. Blows and kicks and
cuffs only make n stubborn horse the
more stubborn and the balky animal
the more set in his traces. I never
learned this lesson IN a more impress
sive way than when I passed two sum-
mers almost within stones throw Of
one OF the best stock farms In this
country. What magnificent animals
those were! Racing horses were not
raised there. but the best blood for
carriage horses and roadsters Of all
sorts. Their clean limbs. their flash
ing eyes, their high strung. nervous
organization, made those animals the
pride Of almost every stable they en-
tered. Yet the whip was never used
upon them. They were trained almost
entirely by kindness.
An old, grumpy, dyspeptic philos
! ! opher once said, "The more l see OF
, , me the better / like dogs" That is
not my idea. But the more see OF
dogs and horses and cattle the more
think they are like men. Supposina
YOU were horse hitched 10 a carriage
supposing every time you made a mis-
step there was a whip Ike a knife
ready TO cut into your skin, would mo-
your nerves be continually unstrung
Would you not always be ready Il
iump. to shy and 10 rearl Supposini
d YOU were in a stall with your head tie'
J., 10 a halter and the hostler wanted yOl
I 10 move over 10 the other side Of th'
stall. and instead Of placing his han'
, gently upon you and saying quietly
- ''Now move over" he gives you saw
= age kick In the stomach or a cuff upoi
the side OF the head that made you
ear ring and your brain dizzy witt
u main What would you do? Woul'
vou bite and kick him If you got th
;, chancel doubt whether human ma
: ture would be az long suffering a
. eouine nature under such provocatior
But IL every time that hostler cam
= around you got caress, or a piece o
= apple every time he applied tho curry
= comb. and a kind. reassuring wor
= every time a shrieking engine cam
mast I think that hostler or drive
Iswould be loved and trusted and obeye
= inst as my little child has, through m
" kindness. learned TO love and trust an
=, obey me. "The more I see Of men IN
- more I love dogsw oh, no; the phlloi
opher was wrong. But the more 20
y see Of horses and dogs the more 20
- ought to learn to treat them wit
the same gentleness with which 20
should treat your fellow man. Curse
- and blows and yells and growls ney'
- - made a nervous horse trustful or a
:. obstinate horse docile. Kindness wi
- win submission in an animal wheI
terror and fear can never produce II
he The Humane Society Of America d
" mands justice for the dumb brute b.
be- cause the equine laborer is alway
IS. worthy Of his hire The horse has jui
he as much right 10 HIS oats as uhe fan
ib hand has TO bis MONDAY lunch, the
TO his mouthful Of grain as the own'
ca Of the thrashing floor has TO his loi
OF OF bread after it is baked The rooi
L. nfarfv fTnn has