OUR GIRLS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19780, 29 October 1927, Page 4 (Supplement)

OUR GIRLS.

OUR FRIENDS, THE ANIMALS. *■; ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ,:H----"Why should people be cruel to our faithful animals ? If it were not for them our work would be about six times .as hard. We would have no strong horses to pull the plough, and Our fields would never be fertile. The animals help man so much that 1 cannot understand why he should treat them with cruelty. Let as all consider what we owe to animals. Some of th*>m. such as cows and sheep, supply u« with both food and clothing. The ox toils in the heat of the day for us, and also supplies us with food and clothing. »Horses and donkeys work for r.s through life, up to an old age. Sometimes, all these animals get for their work is a scolding or whipping for not going fast enough, instead of food ahd water, shelter from cold weather and being spoken to kindly. The dog *is a companion and faithful friend to everyone. Whether the people are rich or pcor, he never deserts them, follows them cheerfully everywhere, and asks, in ■ return, only kind words and scraps from the table The cat keeps our houses free from rats and mice, and makes them more cheerful. Lots of animals and creatures there are that make the world more pleasant and our lives happier. The birds make the woods cheerful with their sweet songs, and peep from trees or bushes with bright little eyes. Those who have read the story of Robinson Crusoe, the sailor who was shipwrecked on an island where no white men lived, will remember how he soon made companions of many animals he found there. If ohe of *ns should be shipwrecked on a desert island where no animal lived—no horse to draw us, no ox to toil for us, no cow or goat to give us milk, no sheep to give us wool, no dog to be our companion, no birds to sing, and no living creatures to keep us company, only silence everywhere—we should then know how much we owe these creatures, and how grateful we should be to them. We all should make this our promise: " The animals need all the friends they can get." " I will be one of them," and *" I will try to prevent cruelty." Since the animals do so much for us, we should do all we can to make their lives comfortable and happy, and always give them proper food, shelter, care and kind words and treatment. —Mabel Alexander, Mangapiko, Te Awamutu.

HOW DISAPPOINTING!

Little Mattie flow into the house one evening very late for tea, and hurried to her mother's chair: "Oh, mother!" she cried, " Don't scold m'e, for I've had such a disappointment! A horse fell down in the street, and they said they were going to send for a horse doctor, so, of course, I had to stay. And after I waited and waited he capie, and, oh, mother! YVhat do you think ? It was only a man!"