Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-01-07

from the Philadelphia Dispatch,l
The fact that Mr.. Oliver lived in a uniform
row of houses in the fourteenth ward was the
reason why he was unfortunate. One moon
light night, last week, the noise made by the
cats on the roof was simply awful. Mr.. Oliver
lay in bed, trying in vain TO get to sleep, grind
ing his teeth with rage, until at last the uproar
overhead became uncomfortable Mr.. Oliver
crept out of bed softly, so that his wife would
not be awakened. He put on his slippers, seized
boot with each hand, and, clad in the snowy
robes of night he opened the trap-door and
emerged on the roof There were thirty or forty
cats out there, holding kind Of general synod
in the cool Of the evening, enjoying the bracing
air, and singing glees As Mr.. Oliver APP
preached, the cats moved over to the next roof.
Mr.. Oliver advanced and flung boot at them.
They then adjourned suddenly to the next resi-
dence, Mr.. Oliver projected another boot, and
went over after the first one. In this man
ner the synod retTeated, and Oliver ad-
yanced, until the last row of twenty
houses was reached, when the cats arranged
themselves in line along the parapet, rutfied
up their fur, curved their spines and spat furi-
ousy at Oliver. That bold warrior gathered
up his boots and determined to retreat. He
walked over a dozen houses and descended
through trap-door. He went down stairs to
his bedroom, and opened the door. There
was a man i'll the room in the act of walking
up and down with a baby. Before Oliver had
recovered from his amazement, the man flung
began firing rapidly at Oliver. 1t then dawned
upon Oliver that he had come down the
wrong trap-door. He proceeded up stairs again
suddenly, the man with the revolver practicng
at him in painful manner. When Oliver
reached the door he shut the trap quickly and
stood upon it. The man fired through the
boards twice, and then hooked the door upon
tie inside. A moment after Oliver heard him
springing a watchman's rattle from the
front window. As soon as the neighbors
knew there was a man on the roof, they
all few up stairs and fastened their trap
doors, and Mrs. Oliver fastened hers, with the
firm conviction that some predatory villain
had entered while she slept and stole her Oliver.
When he tried the door it was fast, and Mrs.
Oliver was screaming so fiercely that he could
not make himself heard. By this time the
street was filled with policemen, all of whom
were blazing away at Oliver with their reyolvers,
Will the young men in the houses across the
street kept up a steady fire with pistols, shot
guns and miscellaneous missiles. Oliver, with
every advantage of forming an opinion, said
that Gettysburg was mere skirmish to it. He
hid behind the chimney and lay up against the
bricks to keep himself warm, while tie police
men stationed themselves all around the square
to capture him when he would slide down one
of the water spoutS. But Oliver did not slide.
He sat out on the roof all night, with the bitter
air circulating through his too triaiDg garments,
listening to the yowling cats and the occasional
shouts from the picket line below, and thinking
of the old Jews who nsed to pray from their
house-tops, and wondering if Musselmen were
ever shot at or bothered with cats and policemen
when they practiced their evening devo-
tons on their roofs. And then he wondered
how it would do to take off his night-shirt and
wave it over the edge as flag of truce! He
concluded not to- because of the danger of
bullet from some misguided policeman not la
miliar with the rules of war. When daylight
came, the neighborS rallied in a crowd, armed
with all kinds Of from howl 6Oxpn
and mounted TO the roof. Oliver was taken
down and put to bed and he now has more in
fuenza for a man of his size than any other citi-
zen of the fourteenth ward. He says he is go
ing to move as soon as he gets wel-he is going
to move into house that is next to nobody,
house that stands in the middle of prairie of
some kind, and he intends TO stencil his name in
white on the trap-doOr.