Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1872-04-13
A Rocky Mountain Cat.

jim Stewart, commonly called the
Commodore" is the most noted darkey
in Erie. He is a good natured, shrewd
sort of fellow, somewhat addicted to
doing businePs on the Jeremy Diddler
style, as the following incident will tes-
tify: Living near the residence OF the
IIou. Morrow G. Lowry, be was fre.
quently employed by the latter to do
odd jobs around the house and in the
garden. One day Mrs. Lowry concluded
that the peccadilloes OF worthless tom
cat, long attached to the family, were
such as demanded the infliction of capital
punishment, and Jim was called upon to
play the part Of executioner. After a
long chase the victim was captured and
put in basket, over which an old shawl
was fastened. The next move was how
to dispose of the prisoner. Mrs. Lowry
suggested drowning, but Jim, with tears
in his eyes, protested that he could no
more drown the cat than he could drown
himself that were he TO do so, his con-
science, acting on. a naturally tender
heart, would trouble him so much at
nights that he was sure ne could never
sleep wink thereafter. Not wishing TO
ruin Jim's peace Of mind, Mrs. Lowry
compromised the matter by giving him
u dollar, and directing him to dispose Of
it in any way he pleased, so that she
should never see it again. Putting the
dollar in his pocket and the basket under
his arm, Jim started down town. lie
had not gone out of sight of the house
when he met Morrow walking along
leisurely toward his home, and the fol-
lowing colloquy ensued r..l
Morrow-Hello, Jim, what have you
got there ?
JimAOne ob de celebrated Rocky
Mountain cats, sab.
Morrow---A Rocky Mountain cat {.
Why, Jim, where did you get him, and
what are you going 10 do with him
JIM golly, sab Didn't you hear
oh de big bunch OBJ dem cats cum to
town yesterday from Kaliforny, sab
Best mousers in the wurl, sab, and dis is
de biggest and bes' one oh lot, sah Dey
are gwine to give me foah dollars for
him, at the Reed House, sab.
MISUNDERSTANDING the general
"cussedness" of the family caO-Jim,
we want a good cat up home, and guess
I'll take this fellow, but-but-doh'ty you
think four dollars is steep for a cat ?
Jiln-Why, all de res sold for five dol
lars, sab.
This decided Morrow, so he paid the
price asked, and told him to carry the
"Rocky Mountain cat up to Mrs. Lowry.
Jim had, however, very important busi-
ness elsewhere, and he begged Morrow
to take the basket himself, which the
latter consented to do. Arriving at
home, he took the prize into the sitting
room, carefully closed the doors, slight
ly lifting the basket cover and smiling
benevolently at Mrs. Lowry's apparent
astonishment, remarked: "My dear,
lve brought you Rocky Mountain Cat
the best mouser--"
AT this moment the cat jumped out of
the basket, and commenced rubbing
himself against his masters leg. Nor
row stopped short, while his wife broke
impatiently "La me, Morrow Why,
that's the same cat gave jim Stewart
a dollar to drown not more than ten
minutes ago."
What followed we know not, but a
few inmates later the Hon. Morrow b.
Lowry might have been noticed on the
streets Of Erie, armed with a heavy
walkiug-stick, and wondering "why a
man can never find that niggar when he
wants to see him badly
Bearer I'a.) Radical