Evening star., 1949-06-22
This and That
BIZ Charles Z. TracetoeH

THE birds. animals. insects Of nature want
to be friends. but we scare them of by
missiles and weapons they cannot hope to
cope with except by flight by land, air or
water"
So writes s. c.. J. Of Iris street.
The next time you are fighting carpet
beetles, therefore. remember those kind
words Or when YOU are watching the ter-
mites eat your house up. get little kindness
in your heart. and have q little pity. a
For. actually, there Is something In what
he says. The attitude and disposition of
being kind. he asserts Is much better than
cruelty.
I'VE know that the reactions Of our minds
and hearts have potent influence upon U.s..
he writes. I'VE receive goodness by being
good, and we receive hatred by being hate
full and mean to others" = Sszs.s. .....
=.
We must remember that the creatures
were here before us and must adjust them
selves to the changes Of time; what were
once forests and free pathways for them are
now streets with houses and alleyways.
THE kind Of people who are enemies of
these little folk that visit our property are
the kind many Of us would not care to
acknowledge as truly human" he continues.
They belong to some genus not easily speci-
fed or classified. They do not commit an
assault unless they have the advantage en-
tirely to themselves"
And here in q passage, he shows us the
moth or fly viewpoint:
The minds and intelligence Of our little
folk of the animal kingdom are truly wonder
full.
You can talk to them: they will listen,
consider and never talk back with an argu-
ment about what you tell them.
They are in search Of food and drink
and take q chance on getting both.
81 have rescued birds in my living room
fighting my windowpane and me- while was
capturing them to put them out of doors
Il have captured moths in their beautiful
shawls bent on suicide by slow starvation In
my home.
Il have talked to fly. who listened very
assiduously while from time to time washing
up on the chair back.
you may say this is fantastic, but no
insects bother us in our home. They can find
food and water in their natural habitat, and
WILL If correctly treated.
They bother those who are their enemies,
the same as we members of the human family
do.
1T is form of justice they know-that of
the jungle and wilds Of nature where they
lived until man contested their right to live
a&
Many readers will. without doubt, find our
correspondents viewpoint pure fantasy. but
surely others will think there Is something
70 it.
After all. man is predatory animal, and
slowly over the centuries has invaded what
may be called the natural rights Of the pure
creatures Of nature.
If they fight back. perhaps it is no more
than natural, after all.
Dominion Is not domination, by any
means, is it? We will come to that conclu-
sion when we have ceased to hate and to
make war the only answer to our honor
and our intelligence. Playing hide and seek
with the truth. instead Of facing it; that is
our game. with no rules except personal
license to do as we see at with anything We
hold the advantage over. The little folks are
waiting for the return Of reason to our
minds
When man has conceived the notion that
everything is his equal In this universe, In
both the spirit and In truth, we shall have
understanding. Until that time comes. we
shall have wars and rumors Of wars
Meanwhile. let us continue to be kind
to the lively and playful little folk of our
parks and gardens and lawns and homes.
who want us 70 be friends and feed and care
for them: for they have no means TO get
work and 60 TO the ONCE or other place of
business to I'LL their wallets and 60 to the
market for their eats and drinks
They want TO be near us. and suffer death,
IL need be, TO that end"
Wham!
Old Lady Mosquito h sure going to suffer
death Ii she buzSes too close this summer
But even at the very moment. one may
wonder II our eosrsspondent Isn't right. after
IN.