THE GENTLE TOWN CLERK.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 160, 6 October 1883, Page 3

THE GENTLE TOWN CLERK.

The Town Clerk afc the Thames has an admirable trait in his character of being intensely fond of animals, and cannot bear to see that noble Ibeast, the horse, ill-treated on any account. The •other day, noticing a driver belonging to one of •the railway contractors attempting to make a itwo-ton liorse draw a three-ton truck, . by adoninisceriiHg thirty-six blows, he caused the police i;o lay an information for cruelty to the animal, .and the driver was in consequence fined. This is not the first time the T.C. has obtained a convicvtion against persons for the same offence. The nvorthy humanitarian keeps horses himself, in order that they may enjoy themselves in this sublumary sphere. They are well fed, petted, and rarely (if ever) worked, but live on clover or gilded oats — we are not sure which — all their Jives. When a favourite animal dies (be it horse or dog), it is carefully stuffed, that the counterfeit resemblance may remind him of the dear »departed. We are aware that this hobby is the anost harmless one the T.C indulges in, and is a relaxation for the teeming and scheming brain. He may contemplate his defunct animals with gentle melancholy, and exclaim, a la Byron — " The Bfcutfed remains I dearly prize ; I once could boast a frieud, and ' here he lies.' "