Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-08

learned at school had remained In ms
mind and made him do what he could 10
alleviate the suffering of dumb animals
Supt. A. T. Stuart. who is heartily IN
sympathy with the movement, is giving
all the aid possible.
II consider it a splendid thing" said
ness and helps to make them better men
and women. l look upon that as one OF
the few things which are superimposed
upon the children and teachers which IL
of advantage to them. 1t takes only a
small portion of the time during school
hours, and fully makes up for 1t In
value"
But it is to Miss Harold that one must
look for a detailed account of the Bands
of Mercy, for she 1t is who has done more
perhaps than any one else to make the
movement what 1t is today. There is one
important point, however, to be consid-
cred first. Miss Harold, as she admits
herself, has a weakness for boys" and
SO 1t is mostly Of the boys that she talks
And the things she says are always nice
.'One thing which I have noticed about
the boys" she says, lis the seriousness
with which they consider the pledge
and cannot do before they bind them
selves. 1 have often to explain very
clearly that the pledge says I will try
in order to show them that they can In
all justice to themselves sign II.
Zone reason why I think I have sue
ceeded in this work is that try to be
reasonable In my view of the work. I
do my best to be radical In no instance
1 tell the boys that it is proper for them
to fish and hunt, that the cruelty lies not
in that What 1 do try 20 make them
understand is that it is cruel to let the
fish suffocate after they are caught and
that the kindest way is to kill them i'm
mediately About the hunting, l say that
the shame lies in simply making targets
out of the animals, and not killing them
as quickly as may be- I have never
said anything whatever about it's being
wrong to eat animal food or anything of
that kind"
Mr.. Hutchins made a careful selection
of an agent to do the work of forming
these little bands. and it was only after
much thought that Miss Harold con-
scented to act. Mr.. Hutchins was firm
in the belief that she was suited pri-
martly for such work. and broke down
objections. Today he is only more will
ing than ever to give her credit for doing
splendid work Above all else. Miss Har-
rold is diplomatic That fact is evident
with her opening address to the various
classes.
In my work." continued Miss Harold.
Il am guided to a considerable extent
by the class to which I am talking
There is one point, however, / have dis
covered. Even the tots in the first grade
understand the meaning Of the term fair
play To the boys especially l find that
that term is as key. and affords me
an opening to their attention. My whole
talk is based upon the moral responsible
ity resting upon each. ! try to make my
plea touch the child.
Many times l am confronted with DIM
cult questions, especially In the case OF
the boys. Feeling. as l have found they
do In regard to signing q pledge. they
must clearly understand the situation be-
fore they consent to join the band.
Sometimes they want to know what a boy
is to do when he has pigeons and the
cats get after them. Can't he stone the
cats then? Unfortunately. perhaps. my
heart goes out to the boys and ! know
just how they feel. Nevertheless en-
deavor to show the1a that IL would be
better not to keep pets which result in
such cruelty toward another animal.
"One little girl informed me that she
considered 1t none of her business to In
terfere with her neighbor. and that she
was sure her mother would forbid her do
ing so. Somewhat the same attitude is
noticeable in many classes. At such times