Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1885-09-24
Judge Tolls Experience Raising
~ Gatnin.-----


Il Catnip. 4~E v
The Hon. Charles II. Toll, ofDenver,
has had an exciting experience. For
two years he was attorney general OF
Colorado, and it was near the close of
has administration-which, by the way =,
was characterized by singular probity
and abiIity--that a son was born to
him. Oneday thenurse cameto Judge
Toll, and said; "The baby has been
allng for week; we opghtto do some
thing for him" Judge Toll thrust his
hand down into his pocket and pulled
out II $50-bill. "Get him what he
needs, and if that isn't enough III give
you check for my whole bank nc
count" The nurse shook her head.
What he needs" said she, sis a SIM
Iply remedy, Il mild tonic. Now | was
I.brought up down east, and was taught
the efficacy OF catnip tea. | know of
no other stimulant fOran ailing babe.3A
We'll buy ton OF catnip, said Judge
Toll. INC" replied the nurse, at cam t
be bought here in COlorado-you'll
have to send east for it." So Judge
Toll telegraphed that very day to Bos-
ton for the wholesome herb. In about
week four dozen healthy catnip
bushes arrived from Massachusetts,
and Judge Toll was the happiest
man i'll Arapahoe County. wen
plant them in the front yard, "he said,
$50 when the baby gets sick well have
a nice lot OF fresh catnip on hand for
him" Accordingly the four dozen cat
nip bushes were planted in rows in tho
front yard of the Toll estate on Wei
ton street.
In Il day or two their fragrance began
to permeate the circumambient at
mosphere. Old Uncle Seth Cooley came
down from his place on Capital Hill
and leaned over the front fence and
Fgazed tenderly at the odOriferous herbs
and said: WAL, now. III be gosh
darned ii this doesn't remind me OF
old New England. Our home place
down to Pelham, close OH to Shutes-
bury Plum Trees, was everlasting full
o catnip. Say, ledge, g' me abookay
o them, Will We!
Naturally, Judge Toll was very proud
OF his catnip garden, but one night he
was awakened from pleasant slumbers
by a frightful noise in the front yard.
1t seemed to him as il the sluice- ways
OF sheol had been opened upon that
once fair spot. He slipped into his
trousers and peered out OF the window.
Cats! Cats! Ten thousand OF the
creatures purriug. bowling. yawling,
rolling, stretching and grooming over
those catnip bushes.
There were eats OF all color, size, sex,
condition, breeding, habits and man
ners; black, white, yellow, tabby, mai
tese, brindle, tort Oise-shell, striped,
speckled, crushed strawberry, maroon,
gambOge cats-big, little fat, gaunt one
eyed, stump-tailed, toothless, hoarse,
lame cats-a confused, seething mass
OF these motley felines, all purring and
rolling among the catnip bushes. Nor
was this all.
BY the clear moonlight Judge Toll
could see thousands and thousands
of other cats Fastening hither. They
were coming down from
from Ieadyille Crested Butte, George
town, Central City, Manitou, Aspen,
idaho, Boulder, Longmont-every-
where-the foothills were alive with
them, and they We're headed toward
the one local point, that catnip bed.
On the east another multitude of cats
swept in from the arid plains of Kan
sas-from Deer Trail, from Monotony,
Water Tank, and thedesert solitudes
of the eastern confines of Colorado.
Some came over the Kansas Pacific,
Others over the Burlington, while from
the north there was waited din
which betokened that another army OF
cats was on its way from Cheyenne.
TWAS an astounding spectacle-nay,
it was prodigious. Yet Judge Tollun-
derstood it alI-yes, in a moment the
whole truth flashed upon him. These
cats had lived all these years far from
the influences OF civilization, and had
never been able to enjoy the advant-
aces OF the herb that is essential to the
symmetry of the feline nature. They
had heard what catnip was, but they
had never tasted nor whitfield any.
What a revelation Judge Tolls front
ward must have been to them With
what celebrity they awaited themselves
of the boon when the breezes bore the
perfume of those catnip bushes to their
mountain and prairie homes!
His unerring shotgun was at hand,
but Judge Toll had not the heart to
interrupt their pleasure--the won,
drous carnival of cats was permitted to
proceed undisturbed all that night
among the catnip bushes,
When Judge Toll went out into the
yard next morning not u yestige OF
those fair herbs was visible, nor was
there cat to be seen; but scattered
here and there on the despoiled turf,
an occasional eye, a truant bit OF an
ear, a casual quarter section OF q tail,
orr desultory tuft OF hair, gave pa
thetic evidence to the tragedy which
had been enacted over the last fewrel
les OF that once smiling garden. Chi.
cage News.
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