Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1913-03-04
What DESTROYS the songblrds.

What Destroys the Songblrds.
john
You asked me to swear. good and
hard, about the wanton destruction OF
our birds. II you had known how long
and prayerfully had tried that remedy
without helping the case, you would not
have asked me. Swearing will not
change the heart Of the wicked, nor will
profanity turn fool into visdOm's Ways;
Neither will the making Of unseemly
noises with the mouth eradicate vanity
from the heart of an idiotic woman, and
besides II is, mistrust, an abominstlon
In the sight of the Lord.
The principal reason for the wholesale
slaughter of the robin IL the growing
habit Of gluttony among the wealthy
people Of our large cities, who ought to
know better, and ought to know that 10
time the robin dinners will prove more
costly than that celebrated feast where
the stewed tongues of ten thousand
lnightingales were An important feature.
In winter the robin-roosts extend for
many miles along the mountain ranges
of Virginia and North Carolina. Here
by means of nets and torches they are
gathered at night by the ton, and ship
ped to the cities, Washington, Baltimore,
Philadelphia, New York-and even cul-
tured Boston does not hesitate to take
part in this unholy feast, compared with
which the orgies OF Belshazzar were in
nocent affairs. Why not stop the slaugh.
ter by national legislation, as they are
the nations property and hence the Da-
ton would have jurisdiction? Does any.
body expect a noble senator OF these
United States, with his fat paunch full
of the broiled bodies of these little inno-
cents, to trouble himself much about
protecting them? So 1t Ia with the bob
olink that in Its migrations becomes the
rice. bird when 1t reaches the rice fields
of the Carolinas,-later the reed-bird
when 1t reaches Mississippi, Alabama
and Louisiana, where the fish.pole reeds
grow, and on the seeds OF which they
become 80 fat as scarcely to be able to
fly. Here In February and March the
slaughter for the market goes on apace
and continues until their departure for
the North in April or May.
But the bright plumagsd little song.
sters that nobody eats, what OF themP
Time was when faint of savagery, a
lingering love for barbaric display In the
heart of gentle woman, was the sole
cause of their destruction. In darkest
Africa this love of SNOWY attire is exem-
plified, when the belle Of the jungle puts
on all her company clothes, consisting OF
a pair of copper anklets and bone ring
in her nose, to attend pink tea or a
supper of roasted captives from some
neighboring tribe. Not an elaborate
costume, to be sure, or one that would
hide prominent physical defects, but 1t
is all the poor girl has and she Is proud
of 1t.
Here, formerly it announced its pres
ence by appearing in public with the
wings or body of better looking bird
fastened to the headgear Of the sweet
faced but savage-hearted wearer.
But our own American women have at
last, for the most part, finally become
imbued with a grain of common sense,
the feathers of song-birds are no longer
fashionable, and they have resorted to
the use of ribbon flowers for their hats
with such artistic success, 1t Is pity
they were not compelled to think 1t out
before. We only have yet among US to
be deplored the aigrette, Central Amor.
lean product, the cost Of which puts 1t
beyond the reach of any person OF aver
age means.
The real cause of all this destruction
of the most beautiful life In the world
was mainly the sordid commercialism OF
the man .milliper, who employed bis
hordes of bird hunters, in winter, to raw
age the southern swamps. But when
the attention of our American women
was called to this terrible work the great
majority of them promptly denied them
selves the pleasure OF wearing these
bright plumages, and the wholesale deal.
or in this class of goods Is being fast put
out of business. do not believe, John,
there is one In twenty OF our educated
and we'll informed women in the country
to-day, who would allow bird to be
killed for her personal adornment. But
what is gained here in opportunity fol-
the birds to multiply to their former
number and fill the highways and BY
ways with their song again, is more than
lost In another direction by the operation
of the same commercialism that never
cares what becomes of the other fellow
80 long as 1t thrives. The millions OF
dollars invested in the manufacture OF
spraying machinery and poison for them
to distribute everywhere that song bird
has its home, don't care how many birds
they kill.
With unlimited means it can employ
men of high and low degree to recon-
mend it and make the business thrive.
You ask me If the use of the insect
trap accounts for your having cleaner
fruit than usual? I don't know. l do
know however, that the report to that
effect is unanimous wherever 1t was
used, and the report this spring is, that
no browntail nests of any consequence
can be found In orchards where 1t was in
operation during the flight of this pest,
while in adjoining and near by orchards
where it was not employed they are
quite as numerous as a year ago. ASK
your neighbor Charles Maxim about 1t.
But it is no use crying, John, better
understanding will come some time,
even If it comes too late: When we
find ourselves being ground almighty
fine between the upper and neither mill.
stones, when the insect pests have mul-
tiplied to numbers sufficient to destroy
ali growing things, and when, without
the help of the birds, we can no more
control them than we can the tides OF
the ocean. I would rather hear you
sing, l know you can and you must, for
we have great country Notwithstanding
the foolishness that is in it. Sing In
this wise:
Sing of the mountains, that beckoned our fathers
To come to their strongholds from far over sea,
Forsaking the lands where tyrants oppressed
them,
To hew from their forests home of the Free
Sing of the valleys whose bountiful bosoms
Yielded the wealth of primeval soil,
| Giving the best of Gods gifts TO his people,