WOMAN'S WANT OF THOUGHT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9209, 11 April 1908, Page 3

WOMAN'S WANT OF THOUGHT.

("Liverpool Mercury.") '•' It is not claiming any consideration beyond mere justice when we say that to the majority of women cruelty to dumb animals, whether big or little, is revolting. When purchasing articles for personal adornment a woman naturally chooees that which appears to be the most beautiful. The softest and glossiest fur, and the richest and most becoming feathers, are chosen because they appeal to her taste, and the thought of how they were procured does not occur to her, and has no part in the transaction whatever. Do eitheT men or women, when choosing gloves, for instance, think of the animal from whom the skin was obtained, and whether that animal was humanely treated? If, when buying fur, a woman were told by the salesman that to obtain fur with this exquisite lustre it was necessary to flay th© animal alive, or that the demand for such and such birds or feathers caused a wholesale slaughter among beautiful feathered tribes, she would turn from such articles with loathing. Not being so warned, she will, in ignorance or thoughtlessness, select a charming hat composed perhaps of the soft silver-grey feathers of the eea-gull, with one or more heads as ornaments, and this she does, not because the is cruel, but simply because she likes the hat, and knows of no reason why she should not wear it. Whether such ignorance is excusable after so much has been 6aid and . written upon the subject is another matter, but a woman only wants to realise that the most horrible atrocities are perpetrated upon defenceless dumb animals to make her forswear wearing the produce of so much, cruelty. We may be very certain that the great majority of "birds" that are sold for millinery purposes are purely manufactured articles that never drew the breath of life, but of course there are some that are the " real thing,'' For instance, bo beautiful and undeniably becoming is the plumage of the eeagull when treated by an artistic milliner that it is not surprising to find that such headgear is greatly in demand. The late Lady Florence Dixie said that such millinery disgraced rather than adorned the heads of fashionable women. The man (or woman) who ill-uses an animal or allows others to ill-use it is scarcely human, and certainly not humane. There are few among us who have not at one time or another seen the sincerity of an animal's affection. They would not desert you if your coat grew shabby and your purse meagre so long as you have a gentle word and caress for them. We sometimes hear a lot of nonsense talked about people being kind to animals, and neglecting the wants of the poor and suffering of little children. As a rule, the merciful man is not only merciful to his beast, but is merciful to every;-

body, and the man who is cruel and callous where animals are concerned is usually just as much so to hie fellowbeings, be they well or ill, great or small, weak woman or tender child. The writer would rather be .at the mercy of a man who loved and was kind to animals than to the greatest philanthropist who headed charity lists with his thousands and was cruel to a dog.