, 1884-11-09
%BROADWAY'S PET CATS
Animals in the Shops which Are
Polite to the Customers
Very Useful About Drug sfores-Po-
likeness TO the Buyers OF mig
Riiis-circIe I'm the
savydust.


- 80 1
NO shop Is complete nowadays without q
cat. . said a Broadway policeman. aMy beat
along the upper part OF Broadway takes me
right through the shopping district, and
when I go home at night l lave 10 walk
down Sixth avenue, so that / have a pretty
fair opportunity to watch the cats. The first
case that ever came to my notice was about
two years ago, when 1 went into a furnish
ing goods store on Broadway to buy a collar.
Well, sir, l wont In and asked the man for
some collars, and he dumped u lot on the
showcase. A big Maltese cat which had
been lying on the door-mat trotted back to
where / stood, jumped on the counter and
then on the show case. and walked deliber-
ately to whore the collars lay. She was a
beautiful cat. with big eyes and a soft,
gray coat. She sat down quietly, looked in
my face, and watched me while / selected
the collars Every few minutes she would
put out her paw and gently touch whatever
collar l seemed to have in my hand. Finally,
when / had chosen one, and It had been
wrapped up for me, she gave the bun
die a gentle pat with her paw, then bounced
hack on the door again, and went back 70
her place ON the door-mat. The shop-keepor
told me that every customer who came In re-
ceived the same treatment from the cat, and
when a man was buying a big bill Of goo,ls
Nnb a. A0AAQNDAA II AAONAAA III
one case to another, and always accom-
panied him to the door when no LEFT, which
was a bit Of politenesz that the cat never
showed to a small buyer.
Every drug store on Broadway has its pat
cat, and they are all Of them fine, well-fed
and good-natured animals. There Is one
that lies In the front window among a lot OF
spouges in the winter time. When l first saw
that cat l thought it was stuffed. Ipassed it
three or four times every afternoon for a
week, but never thought 1t was alive. Itlay
in one position with its head curled down on
its paw, and never changed its position dur
ing the afternoon. 1 stood watching It once
for a long time through the window, and tho
clerk in the store, just to how me It was
alive. poked 1t up. The cat got up lazily,
stretched Itself, rubbed its nose against the
clerks hand, and then went to sleep again.
They say they are very useful about drug
stores, as they keep the mice away from the
herbs and sweet things. There Is a big black
cat in a drug store corner OF Thirtieth street,
which knows as much as any dog / ever saw.
1t is a beauty, too. According to my mind 1t
is the handsomest cat in New York It Is Ms
black as the ace Of spades and as shiny as
ebony. 1t is a young cat, but it has already
learned to recognize the regular customers OF
the place. It has a comfortable corner In the
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at night 1t lounges around the soda fountain.
There is not a mouse in the place. The cat
will move about on the shelves among deli
cate bottles and nne glassware, but 1t has
never broken a thing. II you go into the
shop more than once 1t will recognize you.
and after that will always come forward to
meet you. The customers have got in the
habit Of stopping and rubbing its head when
they go In the shop, and the result is it trots
out naturally to meet its friends. That eat
Is a regular master OF ceremonies.
son the corner above there Is a big yellow
cat which Is growing big and lazy. 1t is a
great favorits with lady customers, and
when they come in to give an order and sit
down In a chair the cat always comes along.
jumps up In their laps, and purrs affection
ately. There is hardly a shop along Broad.
way that has not a pet cat, and every one OF
the shopkeepers can tell you fine stories about
what his cat can do. l know for a fact that
there are some very clever cats in these
shops. They are better than dogs. because
they keep the rats and mice away, and do not
interfere with the customer. No danger Of
their getting mad, and it costs little or moth,
ing to keep them. l know a cat in a
butcher shop on Sixth avenue, near Thirty
third street, which has laid out for itself a piacs
near the front door. The butcher sprindea
his floor with sawdust three times a day, and
every time he does il the cat hops up on the
window-sin and watches the operation
closely. When it is finished and the floor Il
thoroughly covered, the cat hops down and
selects a spot directly in the middle of the
wide doorway and begins slowly to clear q
spot there. 1t begins by moving its paw
around in u small circle, and finally brushes
the sawdust away until a clear space is left,
This spot is about two feet in diameter, and
always perfectly round. The carpeuteI
couldn't make n more accurate circle. 1t /.
invariably In the middle OF the doorway,
and when the cat has every bit of sawdusi
off this particular spot it lies down with IL:
nose toward the sidewalk. and dozes. II a
man or woman comes in and kicks tho saw
dust into the charmed circle, the cat care
fully brushes IL ont aQain