The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1877-07-05
The Strange Story told by Servant
Girls at the Southern Hotel.

The servantigirls who escaped from the
Southern Hotel while it was in flames
tell a singular story about the premoni-
ton of fearful disaster. The girls oc-
cupied three different rooms on the
sixth floor, and about eleven o'clock,
after they had ali retired and most of
them were asleep, cat came, scratched
against the door and moaned pitifully.
AS a cat had never been seen in that
part of the house, many of the girls were
frightened. Lizzy Leary, girl strongly
superstitious in her inclinations, woke
up the other inmates of the room in
which she slept, and told them there
was a cat at the door acting strangely,
and she could not drive it away. She
expressed belief that it was the sign of
something terrible going to happen, at
which the other girls laughed and ridi-
culed her. When they opened the door
the cat mewed, and refused to come in,
and in moment retreated down the hall
as if badly frightened. About twelve
o'clock all the girls in that room were
awakened by the noise of cats at the
door. On opening the door they discov-
cred four felines crouching against and
scratching the wall, and moaning low,
as if in terror. They procured broom
and endeavored to drive the disturbers
down the hall toward the stairway lead
ing to the floors below, but they refused
to 60 in that direction. While making
the effort to drive them away the door
of the adjoining room, where the other
girls slept, was opened, whereupon the cats
made afrantic rush into the room, and flew
under the beds, where they crouched to-
gether. By this time dozen of the girls
were awake, and highly excited over the
strange action of the cats. The cats
refused to move from their position un-
der the bed, neither blows or persuasive
calls having any effect on them. All the
cats were recognized as those belonging to
the cellars and on the lower floors, where
they were used as mousers, and their
sudden advent to the sixth floor, to-
gether with their unaccountable actions,
very naturally aroused the fears of the
| servants, and the more nervous ones
could hardly be persuaded to retire to
bed again. 1t was concluded to allow
! the cats to remain under the beds, and in
a half hour quiet was again restored.
When the alarm of fire came, the cats
were still under the bed, crouching and
mewing, and there they stayed until the
girls were rescued by the memorable
courage of Michael Hester.
1t is said that all the girls now have a
firm belief that the visit of the cats was
a warning of impending danger, and that
they were sent there by some mysterious
agency to give a timely premonition
The proper theory, doubtless, is that
occupying that part of the lower build
ing where the fire first started, and where
it spread and groaned and cracked in a
smothered way, perhaps for hours before
the general alarm was given, the cats
became terror-stricken and sought safety
by fight to the upper stories. They stop
ped at the servant girls room because
that was the highest point that could bt
reached, and here they conducted them
selves in a maner which the girls, very
excusably, considered altogether prefer
natural. -I.s. ...