The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-09-11
PETS OF GREAT MEN.
REMARKABLE ATTACHMENTS MEN
OF RENOWN HAVE FORMED.
Rats, Pigs, Hens, Spiders and Other CurI-
Gus Pets-Kings, Philosophers, Poets
and Politicians Exhibit Traits
of Oddly-PIaced Affection.
[San Francfzco Alta.l

ISan Francisco Alta.l
The attachment which some men have
formed for animals of various kipds4san
amusing subject When phH6s0pHats
have had neither wife nor children, they
have taken to dogs, horses, serpehts, birds,
and even spidera
Goethe rarely passed a day without
bring out from the chimney corner live
snake which he kept there, and he ca
resSed it like bosom friend.
Iiberius, Roman emperor, also made
an intimate companion Of q serpent,
which he trained to take food out of his
hand.
augustus stu w! was exceedingly fond of
parrot, but still more so of quail, the
loss of which made him as sad as if he
had lost battle.
Honorius, another Roman emperor, was
so grieved at the loss of a favofite hen
named Roma that he would willingly
have given Rome itself to bring it back;
but Alaric had taken Rome.
The Emperor Dominican occupied his
leisure in catching flies
Louis XI when i'll in Plessis- le- Tours,
only found pleasure in an exhibition Of
dancing pigs, oddly dressed up, which
were trained for his special entertainment
Richter was very fond of tame animals,
which he constantly had about him
Sometimes a mouse, then great white
box with glass top. There was little
door beneath by which he could feed his
prisoner with dead flies. In the autumn
he collected his winter food for his little
tree frog and his tame spider "How I
wish, he wrote once to his friend Otto,
that you could have met me in the street
or in the Harmony. Then you would
have seen my little squirrel upon my
shoulder, who bites no longer.
:.euFY III of france wac On fOo1iShIv
fond of spaniels that he used to carry a
litter of them in a basket suspended round
his neck when giving his audiences His
passion for these animals cost him on the
average not less than 100, 900 crowns 9
year
Charles 1 of England, was also very
fond of spaniels, and the breed of his dogs
is still famous in this country Frederick
the Great was also a great dog fancier.
The painter, RaZzi, formed friendships
with all sorts of animals and he filed his
house with. squirrels, monkeys, Angora
cats. dwarfs. asses, he goats and Elba |
ponies. Besides these. he had an enor-
among the other animals as if he were the |
exhibitor of this Noah's ark When any |
one knocked at the door the raven called |
Come I'M" in loud voice.
Poisson, confined in the Bastille, made |
friend of spider. which he tanned. |
The jailer. one day, seeing Poisson take |
pleasure in contemplating the insect |
crushed it under his foot and left the |
prisoner distressed and melancholy at the |
loss of his friend.
Latude, In the same prison, made COM
panions of six=and twenty rats who in |
habited his cell He gave each of them
a name; and they learned to come to him
at his call He fed them, played with
them. and they thus greatly relieved the
ennui of his captivity.
Eut Latude only made friends of rats
from necessity. The Marquis de Monte
span, in perfect freedom of choice, had
the extraordinary taste to amuse himself
with mice when occupying the gilded
apartments of Versailles True, the mice
were white, and had been brought to him
all the way from Siberia; but the taste
was most odd one, nevertheless.
Cardinal MaZarin, 1.-The French minister,
employed his leisure in playing with an
ape, and Cardinal Richelieu amused him |
with his collection of cats
The poet Alfieri was proud of his horses
and took great delight in fondling and
;aressing them.
Cowper was at no time so happy as
when feeding his lame hares.
There are other historic names associ-
ted with pet animals, among which may
re named the vulture of Semiramis, the |
butterfly of Virgil, the startling of Nero.
he ape of Commodus, the sparrow of
1eliogabalus, and the dove of Moham-
ned.
Among the other relaxations of learned
nd great men may be mentioned Calvin's
anne of throwing dice along q table,
whereas Luther was great In ninepins
Nhen he knocked down all the pins at q
troke his delight knew no bounds
Boileau was very fond of the same
anne. and when he Frustrated the nine
ms he was better pleased than If he had
Ompleted his best ode.
MaSsilion, the preacher, used to assem-
lie OratOrians and Jesuits in his room,
nd set them to play at chess together,
eXhorting them never to en-
age in any less innocent warfare
Buttons great delight was in cleaning
ne village gossip from the village barber
uring his morning toilet
Charlemagne's chief relaxation and
leasure consisted in swimming in q bath.
ogether with his sons, officers, and 9th.
rs Charlemagne beat them all at swim
ling,
Boyle's Cthe philosopher great delight,
Ike Curran's, was to watch the exhibition
puppet-shows. The performance of
unchinello invariably drew him into
lie street, and he did not mind standing
! the midst of a shower of rain to wit.
ess it.
In like manner, Tasso's IiveIiest amuse-
ent was to see masQuerades and enjoy
he diversions of the populace during the
ublic festivals
Glucose FACTORIES.
iclgo Ferald
L.