St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-03-11
The Cat.

Cats are curious cattle. They aTe self
ish. They are grasping. When the at
tributes were parcelled out among the
animals, the catgut the gift of music.
She got it by viOlins.
No one knows where cats come from
but since the fashion of seal sacques
came in, everybody knows where most
of them go to. But this is kept pro-
found secret among the owners of seal
garments. They set the seal of
secrecy upon it. Purrhaps they are
wise.
The cat has nine lives that is to say,
she lives nine times longer than she
ought.
This suggests a problem, which low
ers of mathematics-there are those,
alas who love them-can puzzle over.
If it takes nine tailors to make one
live man, and nine lives to make one
cat, what does a catamount to? Cor
respondents sending answers will please
enclose three-cent stamp, not for pub
lieatiOn, but for the use of the compiler
of this authentic history.
The cat is not subject to tax. Efforts
have been made to insert a clause in
the dog law to include cats, but thus
far the cats have inserted their own
claws.
Not only do they escape tax, but the
taxidermist also. They do their own
stuffing.
AT the time of the flood Father Noah
endeavored to keep the Cat out of the
ark, but the cat got her back up and
passed in under the guise of a camel.
Until very recently every ship has
since that time carried a cat.
Many stories are told of the seafaring
cat, including nine tails, which are often
red.
In Egypt cats were regarded as sa-
cred animals. To kill one was an Of
fence punishable with death.
The cat remembers this, and to this
day takes fence on the slightest pro-
| vocation.
Formerly when cat died, all the in-
mates of the house went into mourning.
Now the household go out into the
night and erect bootjacks TO its memo
ry. They don't wait till morning.
The Egytians worshipped cat. head
ed deity, and mariners, who cling to
old superstitiOns, still set up catheads
in their ships.
The Egyptian cat lived in dark age
| the modern eat closes her existence in IA
sausage.
Catskins were a favOrite dress trim
ming in the middle ages, whence arose
the proverb that a skinned cat is better
than it looks.
The cats kin are now exclusively
used as a trimming for back fences.
A catkin is young cat, and is great
on the spring. In the spring she may
be seen among the topmost branches OF
the willows.
In ancient Wales cat fetched the
same price as a calf. Her modern walls
now frequently fetch whole cowhide
in the shape of boot leather.
Cats are Baptists by profession, but
those who indulge their prediction
during early kittenhOod seldom sur
vive.
Cats do not open their eyes until nine
days old. Do they ever close them
again Nein. Throw a boOtjack at a
sleeping cat and you will be convinced
of this.
Cats are supposed to be accomplices
of witches. which is probably because
they love the darkness rather than
light.
Cats are very mewsical. They are all
base singers. The nocturne is their ia
vorite composition.
Nox is their especial deity. Knocks
always accompany their concerts.
! 1t is said that cats are cleverer than
dogs and more easily trained. They
are great pedestrians, and can make