Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1907-08-08

conclusion that mankind is as yet
morally and Intellectually unfit to
govern the affairs of a planet. !
speak of mans almost incomplete in
ability to perceive or understand his
duty towards the dumb beasts of the
earth which are placed here at his
mercy, Mans cruelty to animals tran
| scends all his other crimes, all his
| sins OF omission an commission.
Ever since / have been able to
think this one fact in life-man's
cruelty to dumb beasts-has seemed
to me the most terrible and terrlly.
Ing fact of life. The feeling is not
| born of orbidity-to every inteIli.
gent soul the claim of the human. be
ing must and ever should come be-
fore the claim of the dumb beast. But
that does not alter what l believe to
be the fact-that mans cruelty to
animals is the saddest thing that may
be contemplated in life.
The numerous organizations de
voted to the protecting of animals al
most invariably are the poorest soci-
struggle to exist. The work prospers
because of the devoti N of the few.
The rich rarely help. Money in aid
of the work comes for the most part
from the poor. AS in all humane
affairs where the gentler, finer, sweet
er and more sensitive instincts of
mankind are appealed to, the poor
seem to have great advantage over
the rich.
Let us first take the abuse of viyi
section. Let me quote what one great
man once said: 'Vivisection is the
inquisition, the hell of science. All the
cruelty which the manor rather the
inhuman-heart is capable of iniict
ing is in this one word Below this
there is no depth. The word lies like
coiled serpent at the bottom of the
abyss"
There are some phases of immoral
ity so dark that men speak of them
In whispers or do not speak of them
at all. Vivisection is one of these
phases of immortality No prisons, no
death cells, no obscure haunts of
vice ever have sheltered beings who
have so perfectly achieved it. All
cruelty to helpless things is coward
ice But to my mind the exquisite
cowardice of the vivisector is the
most perfect thing in immortality that
the mind of man can conceive.
After vivisection, trapping is the
next degree of crime towards animals.
Look out of the window. Presently
you will see carriage drive by. In it
there may be pretty woman who
lies back in her soft furs. Forgive
her. She is not wicked She is only
dull and stupid and half alive. She
knows not what she does. There may
be dead bodies of birds ON her head
Mink tails may angle about her. To
one who realizes, she is not charm
Ing. She is repulsive and she is pitt
able. Listen to what one. man says OF
trapping-a man who has studied
the business of trapping for years:
: VI all the accessories gathered
from every quarter of the earth TO
garnish human vanity furs are the
most expensive, for in no way does
man show such an Indifference to the
feelings of his victims as he does in
-Ae fur trade. Fur bearing animals
many of them, are intelligent enough
to require the exercise of his highest
cunning and perfidy to effect their
capture. Yet, in addition to death,
they are compelled to undergo suffer.
ing so inhuman as to be utterly un.
justified even though the proceeds of
this sacrince were masses of living
gold instead of a skin. | read The
other day of an otter That was pur
sued by band of men and boys for
hours when she gave birth to two
little ones, and the account stated
that she was pursued for two hours
after that before she was finally kill
ed. Most skins used for furs are OBJ
tanned by catching the owners in
traps, and death in such cases nsu
ally comes at the close of hours or
even days of the most intense suffer
ing and terror. The particular device
used by the professional trappers IS
the steel trap, the most villainous in
instrument of arrest that ever was
invented by the human mind.
In order TO guard against escape
of the captive by the amputation of
its own limbs. trappers are advised
by their guide books to use traps with
small pans, so that the limb of the
captive coming directly in the center
of the trap will be clutched close up
to the body. No amount of self-masti
cation then can free the unfortunate.
lt-is doomed. II may gnaw its fettered
foot and in the frnezy of its agony
break its teeth on the uhyieldins
steel. but il can never get away. The
spring pole is another device used
by trappers to prevent the escape of
their prey by self mutilation. This
consists pole set in the ground
near the trap. The upper end of the
pole Is bound down and fastened in
such way as to be liberated by any
slight wrench The chain Of +ha frscI