THE EDUCATIONAL HUMANE SOCIETY 



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and applause and every night brought 

 down the house. And yet it was only 

 a little thing, you see." 



When such intensely cruel treat- 

 ment as putting a cat in a box too 

 small for her, and keeping her there 

 without food, and presumably without 

 water, until she is "stiff from being 

 kept in the box all day," when the cat 

 in that miserable condition is brought 

 on the stage to make people laugh and 

 applaud, and when this thing goes on 

 every night of every day for a year 

 and a third, could there be a more em- 

 phatic appeal to our Educational Hu- 

 mane Society, or a more glaring ex- 

 ample of cruelty for the attention of 

 that society and of all allied workers? 

 To torture the cat would be bad 

 enough. Such things are done "on the 

 quiet" to obtain the desired effect in 

 "animal tricks," but to boast of the 

 torture unblushingly throughout the 

 land as a commendable example of 

 skill is a marked example of the fact 

 that some of us are still living in the 

 age of savagery. 



We more and more realize that we 

 have a great work to do. Talk about 

 the fiendish sentiments of the howling 

 mob in the days of the gladiators when 

 human beings were mangled by tigers 

 and lions in the arena ! Shadows of 

 the past, you still are with us in the 

 twentieth century; a cat in a cramped 

 box in a cellar for a year and a third, 

 not permitted to eat nor to drink 

 during the day, and exhibited to the 

 public as an object for approval, with 

 a half page illustration by a skilled 

 artist to show the cat's short respite 

 before the footlights once every even- 

 ing! 



Horror of horrors ! Where are we 

 on the road of boasted progress in 

 civilization? 



"I could go out every day for two 

 weeks and cover the same route, and 

 a short route too, without noticing 

 anything in particular; yet on the last 

 day I might suddenly find somewhere 

 along that route a spot which I might 

 consider the prettiest I had ever seen." 

 — John Sloan. 



The Horse's Prayer. 



To thee, my master, I offer my 

 prayer: Feed me, water and care for 

 me, and when the day's work is done, 

 provide me with shelter, a clean dry 

 bed and a stall wide enough for me to 

 lie down in comfort. 



Always be kind to me. Talk to me. 

 Your voice often means as much to 

 me as the reins. Pet me sometimes, 

 that I may serve you the more gladly 

 and learn to love you. Do not jerk the 

 reins, and do not whip me when go- 

 ing up hill. Never strike, beat or kick 

 me when I do not understand what 

 you want, but give me a chance to 

 understand you. Watch me, and if I 

 fail to do your bidding, see if some- 

 thing is not wrong with my harness 

 or feet. 



Do not check me so that I cannot 

 have the free use of my head. If you 

 insist that I wear blinders, so that I 

 cannot see behind me as it was intend- 

 ed I should, I pray you be careful that 

 the blinders stand well out from my 

 eyes. 



Do not overload me, or hitch me 

 where water will drip on me. Keep 

 me well shod. Examine my teeth 

 when I do not eat, I may have an ul- 

 cerated tooth, and that, you know, is 

 very painful. Do not tie my head in 

 an unnatural position, or take away 

 my best defense against flies and 

 mosquitoes by cutting off my tail. 



I cannot tell you when I am thirsty, 

 so give me clean cool water often. Save 

 me, by all means in your power, from 

 that fatal disease — the glanders. I 

 cannot tell you in words when I am 

 sick, so watch me, that by signs you 

 may know my condition. Give me all 

 possible shelter from the hot sun, and 

 put a blanket on me, not when I am 

 working but when I am standing in 

 the cold. Never put a frosty bit in 

 my mouth ; first warm it by holding 

 it a moment in your hands. 



I try to carry you and your burdens 

 without a murmur, and wait patiently 

 for you long hours of the day or night. 

 Without the power to choose my 

 shoes or path, I sometimes fall on the 

 hard pavements which I have often 



