Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1915-current, 1916-01-18
HAS MERCY ,
FLED THE EARTH7

AS one, month after month, reads
the war news. he is more and more
reminded of Col. Roosevelt's descrip-
ton OF his months of hunting In eQua-
torial Africa. There, since a time TO
which the memory of man runneth not
back, there has been a constant war
fare between the myriads Of animals
great and small, animals, reptiles.
birds OF prey-the sayagery of the all
imal life that is teeming there on
plain, in morass and forest. All the
myriads of the deer family, the zebra,
the different species OF antelope and
the Gland have fled before the rhino-
ceros, the hippopotamus. the leopard
and the lion. The lion has been lord,
only fighting shy of the rhino and tllt.
hippo.
The contest has been unceasing, the
cormorant and the raven have follow
ed in the trail of the perpetual killing.
The serpents have kept up with and
Joined in the savagery, and 1t is diff
cult for men, contemplating the per-
petual suffering and fear, to under
stand why such everlasting crueltles
should have been ordered; and all the
time the sun has been shining bright
ly. and the songbirds. when not meG.
aced by birds of prey have been sing
ing, and the landscapes have been bril-
liant with light, with tropical green
and wealth of flowers indescribably
beautiful. The impression it all gives
is one of sadness, If the observer has
any sensibilities. and he keeps asking
over and over, why all that suffering
and all that fear should have been or
dered. The low races of men and wo-
men existing there are not much ad-
vanced over the beasts of the field.
Where little bit civilized, the Colonel
tells that In one place In few weeks
prior to his being there, a man eating
leopard had killed two or three wo.
men, and five or six boys who had
been guarding their little flocks OF
sheep, and 1t was frequent occur
renee for a hungry lion to steal into
their slight houses at night and carry
off some member OF the family. In
those regions, he himself slept with
camp fires around him every night and
his gun by his side. II one cannot
comprehend why that should be so,
to turn to the European battlefield
and see how similar the conduct Of
men has been to that immemorial con.
test in the wilds of Africa for untold
ages, II is difficult to fix the place
where the acts of men are much i'm
provement over the savageries of the
lion, the hippo, the leopard, the buff
falo. the cobra and python. We are
taught that the world was given to
man that he might subdue 1t, that he
might subdue the wild beast, convert
the wilderness into fruitful fields, sub
due himself until he became creature
OF order and Of law. that he might
drain the swamps, make smooth trails
over the hills and finally with the
order established, bring to himself
comforts and luxuries, and at last es.
tablish justice and build temples to
learn and awaken his own soul until
the atrocities Of this world should be
disposed OF. Finally. in the process.
sion OF the years, the Savior came,
and for nearly two thousand years his
teachings have been calling on the
children OF men to do away with their
savageries and to learn the blessing
Of peace and good will, but suddenly
in the most enlightened centers of the
world, where there was the most os.
tentatious worship OF the Prince of
Peace, the nations all at once sprang
to arms. and now for wellnigh eigh.
teen months they have adopted only
the method of the lion and the leop.
ard, the rhino, the cobra and the py
thon OF barbarous Africa. II Is not u
good outlook for humanity. II shakes
ones faith in the ultimate humanity
and salvation of mankind. For the
strong to prey upon the weak has been
the rule from the beginning, and
though the intelligence OF men has
greatly increased, the methods OF ma
tons seem 10 be the same as in the
wilderness with the wild beasts: the
strong prey upon the weak. The
struggle Of the flnancier in the great