The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1875-10-15
Pennsylvania lnfantiie Fhenomenon
"A Mouse.CatchinE Baby.

"A mouse.CatchinE Baby.
(Erie Correspondence Cincinnati Enquirerl
A singular phenomenon Is just now Gre
ating sensation few miles south Of this
city, in the shape OF aimouse.catching in.
FAINT, surprising in expe1 tness the agility
Of the oest canine or feline mouser in tho
country. The report of this singular
freak Of nature reached me SO we'll au-
thenticated that concluded to- crafty
my curiosity, and possibly be sold, IS l
had often been. But, to my surprise. the
facts turned out more remarkable than
the. report represented, and the most
astonishing natural wonder ever wit
nessed.| The little girl in question is =
trife over a year old, and can but just
begin to un:about the: house and. yard.
The moment she wakes and gets out of
her crib she goes TO the old Kitchen fire.
place, whicn is infested with species of
small house mice. and sits down BY . hole
in the corner, very much like a cat, with
her eyes intently fixed on the burrow.
She sometimes occupies this position for
an hour without moving. till = mouse
makesi>s appearance, when by = sudden
start, apparently without any effort, she
scizes her victim by the neck. As soon
as her prize is secured she seems to be
electrified with joy, and trembles from
head to foot, uttering kind Of wild mur.
mur or grewl, resembling the half snarl
Of wildcat. On arriving ut tho house,
and making known the object Of my Wis.
it, the mother expressed her willingness
to give me All exhibi. ion Of the
strange regularity of the baby providing
l would promise not to make their names
public, as she seemed t. dread the noto-
ricty already given to the affair. /, of
course, made the required promise, and
had the privilege of witnessing with my
own eyes performance so wonderful and
novel that can never forget the impress
sion it made. The babe was asleep when
| arrived, and on awakening she started
at once on her strange mission. She is
a beautiful little blonde, of delicate fea.
lures and bright, blue eyes. and her hair
lies all over her head in exquisitely.
formed golden curls, about the circle ofa
dime. There is nothing unusual in the
countenance of the child. or different
from that Of any pretty featured baby,
except while stalking her game. Then her
eyes become glisteniRg and fixed, spark.
ling like gems, and her face and hands
turn pale as wax, while she APPEARS to
hear or notice nothing going on around
her, but keeps her eyes steadily centered
on the burrow whence she expects her
game to sally forth. The mother, IN
older sister Of the child and myself sat in
= semi.circle around her, silent rs if in .
spiritual seance, waiting for the signal of
departed spirits. Had no mouse made
its appearance, the sight Was one never
to be forgotten-tho deathly.pale face Of
that motionless child, and the riv-
eted, sparkling eyes concentrated for
thirty minutes on that mouse hole in tho
brick hearth. During that half hour We
neither moved nor spoke above , whisper,
when SUDDENLY like the sPringing Of trap,
the little things hand went down on the
hearth, followed by the line squeak Of tho
mouse, and that strange, low growl, and
the singular: tremor of body OF tho child!
As usual, she held the mouse BY the neck
in her right hand, while it squirmed des-
perately to get away. She then pressed
it up against her bosom, and felt of it
gently and softly with her other hand;
then would dexterously change hands,
carc(ully keeping her grip on tho neck to
avoid its bite though her mother told mo
she had been frequently bitten; and while
sensitive to pain and crying 1t the least
ordinary hurt. she never Was seen to vince
or show the least pain from the bite Of
mouse. examined her fingers and found
them Scared in many places where she
had been bitten. l tried to realize how
the feat had been accomplished, but it
was done so suddenly there was no time
| to analyzc it. Vet was assured BY tho
family, who had taken. frequent observa-
tion, that the mouse when once Out, Of its
hole seems to become charmed or magnet
lied and has no power, or It least shows
no disposition to escape till caught, when
tits too late. II any one approaches tho
child'to take the mouse away from her,
she will utter shriil scream and then try
to conceal her prize by putting it into hef
y mouth. <'s'- - 'F ~