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Show m " i wntwiwi mww'w win iimii wiwn" "' ' i ANIMALS PUNISHED TO MAKE PICTURES;, r By Smiloy Fowler. M Tho public is largely to blame . for many of the cruelties which j aro inflicted on animals, for in- ' stance, the untold horrors of the capture, training and keeping in captivity of animals and reptiles in tho traveling menageries. Tho latest atrocities, which undoubtedly undoubt-edly arise from tho popular clamor clam-or for something that contains the greatest possible number of thrills to tho minute, are the alleged al-leged Western dramas as arranged ar-ranged for tho motion picture shows. Tho scones of course havo been photographed from ac tual occurrences. In tho greater part of them feats of "horsemanship" "horseman-ship" are prominent, and most of these involve merciless hardships hard-ships on tho animals which play the parts. It is well known that no expense ex-pense is spared in the preparation prepara-tion of tho films, and tho crippling crippl-ing or killing of a few decrepit horses is thought not too Etcat a sacrifico to appease tho taste of a morbid public. I saw ono film in which a number of horsemen wore galloping at breakneck speed down a mountain side. Thov Woro kicking the barbarous spurs into tho horses' thin ribs, nnd wheeling them right and loft wi.th tho cruel bits among tho bo'uldors that strewed tho way. Suddenly ono horse fell, tho rider landing safely at somo distance, and tho others came tumbling upon him inji heap. If tho mon aro somotimes hurt by the foolhardy fool-hardy risks that they tako it is their own' fault, and they are doubtless well paid for it, but who can guess what tho poor horses onduro in such scones? 'Tfioroare otiier scRids1 iifwi'nTSn aro depicted tho western "roundup," "round-up," showing thousands of cows and calves being branded with hot irons. Ono advortisement of such a film, that I noticed recently, re-cently, declared enthusiastically that tho realism of the scenowas porfect with tho excoption of tho sounds of agony from tho cattlo undergoing the ordeal. It would seem that tho normal effect of sucji a realistic reproduction repro-duction of these outrages would bo to stir tho spectators to cry out against tho barbaric practices, prac-tices, but with the majority it serves to make heroes of tho cowboys cow-boys and daredevil riders. |