Milford chronicle., 1904-05-13
Cause of Moral Degeneracy.

Cause of Moral Degeneracy.
What is today one Of the chief causes
of the moral and spiritual as well as
the temporal degeneracy Of SpaiuE 1t
is without doubt due to the bestial and
bru;alizing tendencies Of the merciless
bIlldgEt. When ON the Sunday follow
ing Easter ana Oh subsequent Sundays
tie 1900 spectators gather about the
arena of Seyine or the l2,5OO watch
the arena of Madrid and the 1000 en-
circle the arena Of Valencia. they are
ylOrying in the vice which has been
The moral and spiritual death of their
country. These Spanish bulltShts al
ways take place on Sunday because
they are held to be the sacred national
game. A famous American traveller
tells us that at each bullfght between
six and eight of the tiercest kind Of
bulls and from twenty to forty horses
are killed. The waving of the red mJn-
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 the excited populace;
the mad charges of the enraged bulls,
combine to make a scene of horror in
describable and one which it is i'm
possible for the civilized American to
fully grasp. When the famous Francis
90 Romero de Runda taught the Span
ish people how TO 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 unmercifu to a beast without
himself after awhile growing merci-
less in his dealings with his fellow
men.
Trained ny Kindness.
The Humane Society of America. in
teaching man to be kind to the dumb
brute. has 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 to get the best results
out Of horse. Blows and kicks and
cuffs only make stubborn horse the
more stubborn and the balky animal
the more set i'm his traces. never
learned this lesson in more impress
sive way than when | passed two sum
mers almost within stones throw Of
one Of the best stock farms in this
country. What magnificent animals
those werel Racing horses were not
raised there. but the best blood for
carriage horses and roadsters Of all
sorts. Their clean limbs their fash
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
ugon them They were trained almost
entirely by kindness. After the colts
lad hecn allowed to run in the feds
for about three years. always however,
being petted by their owners. they
were ready for the harness The first
day on which the bride was put'upOn
them a strap was fastened on the fore
hoOf TO teach them that they must
mind That was all. After the first
tive or three days the horse learned
that IL he plunged the strap would be
applied to raise his forefoOt and keep
him on three legs Having learned
the lesson he ceased to plunge. and the
use Of the strap was discontinued.
Then these colts were quietly hitched
by the sides Of the older horses and
driven out to plow The drivers new
er jerked them. but always talked
kindly to them and coaxed them. And
though those horses seemed to have
within them all the pentup ambition OF
Jobs war charger. smelling the bat
tie from afar." yet in the hands Of
their kind masters they became gentle,
lOvable and dOcile.
Power of GentIeness.
An old. grumpy. dyspeptic philOs-
opher once said. THE more see Of
me the better I like dogs" That is.
not my fdaa- But the more I see Of