The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-08-02 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

GOSTA GREEN  THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 1888.  Wm of us are capable of forming an accurate idea of the amount of cruelty which is wilfully inflicted by unfeeling monsters upon dumb animals, and for that matter often upon fellow creatures? Through an occasional revelation in the press we are enabled to form some faint conception of the systematic cruelty which some husbands practise upon their wives, and which some fathers and mothers imposed upon their children. Through the same agency we are at various periods reminded of the sufferings to which dumb animals, and especially beasts of burden, are subjected by unheeding beings. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which has recently been formed in London has done and is accomplishing much in the direction of the objects set forth in its title, and a kindred and elder Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has also been the means of saving dumb animals from the brutal ill-usage of creatures who call themselves men and women and who consider themselves members of a race who rejoice in the high standard of civilization they have attained. But, notwithstanding the noble efforts of these societies a vast amount of revolting cruelty is inflicted upon defenceless and dependent children, and much shocking ill-usage meted out towards some of our noblest beasts of burden. The ill-treatment to which children are subjected is mainly due to the inebriation of one or both of their parents. With the other instances, cruelty to animals, it is impossible to accept the theory that they are solely attributable to the brutal and unfeeling disposition of those people who have the unfortunate animals under their immediate control. That some persons are callous and hardened to an ineffable degree and devoid of all those finer and sympathetic attributes which go to make the man, is only too apparently revealed at times, but it would, we flatter ourselves be unjust look not at all gratifying to !it upon all those persons who are convicted of cruelly ill-treating animals as being incapable of appreciating the feelings and sensations of members of the lower world. Cruelty, where wilfully and systematically imposed, cannot by any means be justified or defended, and we heartily rejoice to see that the Aston Police are actively looking after those members of, society who either consider it consistent with their idea of pleasure or necessary to their commercial success to subject dmnb animals, of any description, to physical pains. The commercial activity and the general competitive tendency of the age cannot be otherwise than indirectly responsible for much of the overworking of, and cruelty to beasts of burden, but neither the exigencies of the mart nor the economic demands of a depleted treasury can excuse or justify the cruel ill-treatment of animals, and it is a source of unmitigated pleasure to note the summary and drastic manner in which the Aston Bench is dealing with proved cases of cruelty.  TIIE attempted suicide of the woman Brittain the other Saturday night should direct public attention once more to the existence in Aston of the many unprotected water ways. But for the bravery so successfully- displaiyed by the lad Samuel TUCKER, there is but iittle doubt that Mrs. Barrrsis would have succumbed to the elects of her drunken foolishness, and then we suppose something anent the unprotected state of the canals at the lower end of Aston would have been said. But surely it is not necessary that a tragedy must he enacted before public attention is directed in a practical manner to any existing danger or temptation. Yet we are fearful that because Mrs. BRITTAix's aquatic feat did not result in an investigation by the Comaer the public mind will fail to rivet itself on those local and existing dangers, which, to use the the hackneyed phrase may be tevned " death traps:' Front infornmtion that reaches us it would appear that the canal is open to and quite accessible from many of the public thoroughfares. It would be interesting though necessarily melancholy to know how many accidental and wilful deaths stand due to the accessibility of the water courses in the inhabited and populous parts of the Manor. The attention of the populace is wilful, and entirely subservient to circumstances which are frequently inherently  impotent, and apparently entirely innocent of anything likely to create a " sensation " but judging by the past apathy of the public mind we fancy that something savouring , highly of the romantic or tragic will have to be performed in connection with the Aston Manor death traps ere it is, with any remedial result, directed to them. We should be churlish indeed if we did not pen a few words of eulogy on the plucky and fortunately successful efforts of the striplings TUCKER and Ronms to save the would-be suicides BRITTAIN and Donn, both of whom were before the Aston Bench on Tuesday. Their conduct was highly courageous, and though we were glad to hear of the Aston Bench publicly thanking and rewarding TUCKER, it is a matter of injustice and a just cause of indignation to know that Ronms, who, considering that he is a cripple and compelled to use crutches, was perhaps the pluckier of the two should either, through the bootishness or the want of generosity and appreciation of the presiding magistrate in the second court Mr. F. S. BOLTON, was not thanked or rewarded for his gallantry. Both lads should receive the medallic recognition from the Royal 'Humane Society.