The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-11-07
n WONDERFUL CAT.

tno LIVely 1utoFcot Suo t0kob IN JCnACuAV
Fire Alarm Matters and Those Having
o.. Charge OF Them.i,g .$,.,,.U. q, NH .. T..
There is q cat at the fire-alarm tele-
graph Office in, Chicago, that deserves q
place in print. This cat is Of the fem
inine persuasion, albeit " the boys +" and
the "night gang" have given her. the
uneuphonious and opposite name Of Pete.
Pete has been at the fire alarm daily and
nightly ever since the third day after the
big fire. She came in, q kitten = with
the, hair upon, her body in1 spots, and
sat down deliberately upon the desk of
the Superintendent She looked up in
his face, as much as to say, ~ am a suf-
ferer, I have been burned, and here I
am. y, Pete was. caressed and fed, and
from that day to this she has never gone
back on the place that took her in. The
points that make, Pete remarkable fe-
line are several In number. She is con-
versant with the workings Of the com.
picated machinery Of the Office. When
the watchers are changed in the office,
which occurs at four clock p. N, 1, mid
night, and at eight o'clockA. NJ, it is the
custom for the men coming on as relief
to test every instrument and find out the
condition of the multitude Of lines that
stretch throughout the city. This cat is
on deck at the change of every watch,
and goes through the very same move
ments of the relief, $50 far: as she can.
She puts her nose up to the register; she
creeps along the easement and puts her
velvet paws upon the relays; she does the
same thing with the galvano nometers, and
purrs gently against the switch board.
She leaps over to the repeaters and looks
upon the :dials. and. then climbs back
among the wires, to see, apparently, what
their condition is. When she has fin!
ished her. tour Of inspection in this room,
she goes out to the battery apartment
with Paddy Paddy IS IN ,cnarge Of the
batteries, and not another cat; as might
be- inferred but for this explanation :
and carefully follows him through his
inspection eof the 1nultitudinous jars.
When aid alarm Of fire is turned In, she
comes galloping to the, front, and jumps
upon the repeater, where she remains,
till the fire is & struck out y = Pete
seems to be the soul Of watchfulness
at night, and watches the movements
of everything or body that stirs. "a
few nights since two Of the gang had
gone to the armory, a few blocks south
of the hre-alarm Office, IN search OF
news On their return they met Pete
on full run, with her nose southwark
and her tail turned toward the stars,
She recognized the couple, and imme-
diately turned and dashed back to the
alarm Office. One Of the gang said to,
the other, "There's something up.
eyes" said the party addressed, "Pete's
tall" But the inveterate joker, was
choked down and hurried off to find Pete
sitting on the dial Of the telegraph in.
strument, which was bringinga dispatch
from distant sub-station conveying the
intelligence OF q shooting affair. The
night operator says when he received the
message he made this remark to his as.
sistant, ,"Wonder where the gang is?"
and the assistant replied, Cat the ARM
ory," and Pete, she that was sitting in
the window. darted away in that direc,
tion. That she knew what was up seems
evident from her conduct in returning
when she met the gang. These pecu-
liarities Of this cat, which may seem like
an attempt at fiction, are most unqual.
fledly true. - ,a,',d.H ,a,. :,.!- .a,. e.