The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1913-07-12
Elton SPORT BRUTAL
Cruelty in We 2>Iy Run Of Hounos
and Horses.
Gao, Defends the Practice, Deelar'
inc That He Thinks II Good ano
Keeps crusading Spirit From
Undesirable Activities.

Keeps crusading Spirit From
Undesirable Activities.
London Almost under the walls Oh
Elton college a scene was enacted re-
Gently, which, for sheer brutaiit!' !"
would be hard TO beat. A hard press
ed hare which the boys OF the college
had been hunting with a PACK Oh
hounds for beagles', maintained at
the college for this purpose TWICE
swan the river with the pack close
behind and a half hundred boys yell
ing like fiends on the banks, and was
in the act of swimming II third time
when It was pulled under and kiileo
amid the enthusiastic cheers OF the
young Etonians who, Of course, are
mostly the sons Of noblemen ana ON
or aristocrats. and form the nucleus
of the ruling class Of the future IN
this country.
This termination to the regular
weekly run OF the Elton beagles was
little more brutal than usual, but
not much more The Elton beagles.
which are supported by subscriptions,
nearly always succeeded in killing, as
the phrase goes, when the carcass OF
the slaughtered hare is whirled trl'
umphantly round the head of the CHIEF
boy whip and torn to pieces by the
yelping pack. amid whoops OF tri-
umph from a gloating field. SINH
lar triumph of the Eton beagles. 1t
may be remembered, was recalled by
that noble sportsman. Lord ROSS
more. in his recent book Of reminis-
cences in these words:
One Of the prettiest things ! ever
saw was hare, very hard pressed,
that took to the water and swan
right out into the middle with all the
hounds after her, but she was, unfor-
tunately, SO beat that she was
drowned from sheer exhaustion half
way across"
The latest exhibition of brutality
at Elton has shocked humanitarians,
and an nf1uentially signed petition
was presented the other day to Canon
I4yttelton, the reverend head master
of Elton college, begging him to do
away with the pastime of hare hunt
ing at Elton, on the ground that it's eff
| feet is ito stimulate cruelty among
the young" This, by the way, is by
no means the first petition of the kind
| that has been laid before a head Of
| the famous college with a similar OBJ
iect others in the past having been
signed by Herbert Spencer, Sir Fred
erick Treves. Sir A. Conan Doyle, the
late Lord Wolseley and other famous
men, but all without avail.
After due reflection Canon lyttel-
ton, who himself is the son of lord,
has replied to the petition in letter
in which he declines to do away with
the beagles. and an exceedingly re-
markable letter it is, To begin with,
this man of God who, before becom-
| ing head master of Elton, was the
honorable canon of St Adams, and
who Is the author, among other books,
Of one called Studies in the Sermon
Of the Mount" asserts that far from
there being an increase Of cruelty
| among English boys. many educators
are not without misgivings at the al.
most unnatural gentleness Of the mod.
ern schoolboy compared with his foro-
father"
How insignificant, them says the
canon, must the influence Of this
kind of hunting be in the opposite di.
rection.'
The reverend canon ends his letter
by declaring that. "as far as posi- BILE,
all cruelty has been banished" from
the hunting and killing Of hares by
the Elton boys. Needless to say, his
shuti1ing apologize as it is termed, has
called forth a broadside of whitening
sarcasm, One of those who pay their
compliments in the canon in no uncer.
tain terms is Sir Philip Burne Jones,
while among the reverend headmas.
ters critics are several old Etonlans.
one OF whom, after recalling Lord
+, Rossmores pretty sight remarks:
That's my idea of how the youth
OF the nation should be brought up.
and that's why am in hearty sym.
pathy with Canon Lytteltons reason.
ing, Let him so on as he is going
then he will run no risk OF offending
Lord Bung, or Sir Gcrgias Midas or
other influential people who have
their sons at Eton was nearly sew.
en- years there myself. and was never
troubled by any stupid humanitarian
teaching"