The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1886-01-08
WHOLE NO. 861
AMONG STRANGE CATS.
A REPORTERS VISIT TO A FELINE
BOARDING-HOuSE
A Man Who Takes Care of Peoples Pots
Teaching Good Manners to Kittens
The Extraordinary RaccoOn Cat
Various Other Kinds.
boston Herald.l


and knocked at door, which wa, presently
openei by very hairy man with q. swells
nose. In re ponse to an invitation, the
visitor entered the room, three sides o.
which were lined with wooden cages, piled
on t1p of one another. Probably there
wers not less than sixty of them, each con
tainlng at least one cat. and some two OF
three. R,osting about ON top of the boxes
or playing around the a ,or were fifteen or
twenty passes. Some were sleeping and
others were m lkin, their toilet<; but all
looked sleek, we'll fed and eontented.
"Tney've just had their dinner" said the
hairy man.
"But where do they all como frem?' asked
the reporter.
"Ol, most of them are left with me to
board. People who ara going out of town
frequently wish to leave their pets in safe
hands, and send them to me to be taken
care of. am soma what out Of the way
here, but / have business arrangements
with all thu fancisrs and when customer
asks them to taka chargs of a cat, they let
me know and call for it. Then again
cats are left with me to train. A kitten
has to be taught good manners, just like a
child. Mother cats which are well trained
usually teach their offspring propriety of
behavior, but kittens which are deprived
early OF the maternal care and those whose
mothers are not lady cats have to be prop
erly instructed in points of department be-
fore they are fit to be pets"
."What do you feed them on9"
@Brsai and milk, with some meat for the
old cats. Meat is bad for kittens; it gives
them in digestion, dyspepsia AMI fits. Cats
will eat almost anything at a pinch; of fish
vkr %box
are viii after. A full grown cat can eat
as many oyster, a. a man any way. if it has
chance give them fish sonnet times, even
the kite Is 1t does them good, ] think.
and makes them fat. Some of the cats I
have here are my own. have paid great
deal of atts sLtion to breeding choice vari-
cites for sale. Behind you is the most beau
tiful specimen Of the cat tribe that / have
ever seen.'
THE RACCOON CAT.
The reporter turned, and saw for the first
time, perclei upon box close by, a fero-
cious looking animal with flaming green
eyes, which looKel as if it was about to
spring. 1t seemed fully twice the siz, of
an ordinary hou,e cat. its hair, which
was nearly thres inches long, causing
it to appear larger than it really was. Its
ears were long and pointed, ani two tufts
of hair growing out just in front Of them
produced very much the effect of horns.
aDou't be alarmed" said the proprietor,
She is perfectly tame notwithstanding, the
ferocity Of his appearance Come here,
Monster"
The cat leapsd down from his box to his
masters sect, and then upon his lap, where
he sat contente lily looking up into the face
OF the hairy man and purring loudly.
@This," said the financier lis what is called
reccoon cal. it Is SO great rarity that
in all my life have seen oaly two / am
not astoni he'd that you should have been
alarmed by it, for its appearance is cer-
extraordinary. 1t is not msch the size
of the anim,l that is surprising nor the
beautiful ng red and black hair with which
it Is covered. nor yet the bushy TAIL
like that of a raccoon. 1t is the expression
Ct the face. Perhaps at some time in your
life you have seen the face OF human
being with the expression Of horror on it
which some awful fright has produced. II
fou will gaz. attentively at the face of this
sat, you will see that its natural expression
IS such just look as that OF course. the
pointed ears, the horns, the black lower
lip. showing the fangs, and, above all. the
huge green eyes, wide open as with sur
there is something more that is not easy to
analyzs. When the cat fixes its gaze upon
you, you cannot help feeling nncomfort-
able. for the horror which the animal ap-
parently feels seems to b, inspired by your
self The raccoon cat is distinct variety;
but, as l told you, extremely rare. CALI
not say where they cana from originally.
CATS IN VARIETY.
ASLEEP near the stove you will sea a cat
the tailles, species It has only rudi-
mentary tail which curls up tight like q
pigs. In the box over there. in the corner,
is hairless cat Its color is blue, you OBJ
serve, and it is entirely bald, except for
tuft on the end of its tail Some hairless
cats have beautiful flesh tint. They
come from Japan, bsiieve. Tailless cats
are sometimes called "Maux" cats, and
come from the isle of Man AMI Corn wall.
Angora CATS as you know, come from Per.
sia. They are said to be q eros between
the house cat and the silver fox, but that is
all nonsense. Of course. They have long,
silky white hair, AMI are worth about So
apiece here. Unfortunately they usually
die in this climate. Maltese cats are sup
posed to come from the islanl Of Malta.
but, though >psnt two wseks on the islanl
once, and sa W plenty OF cats, I never saw
what we call Maltese; they were mostly
tortoise she'll.
1t used to be supposed tina. the house cat
was the wildcat domesticated. but the alb
surdity of such theory is at once apparent
when we consider that of all beasts the
wildcat is rated as the most fsrocious aud
untamable. 1t is altogether probable that
the domestic cat springs from species
which still exists in North Africa, yellow.
ish grey animal. about two feet and a half
in length This is certainly the original OF
the domestic cat OF ancient Egypt, skeletons
OF which have been found in the tombs, and
pictures on the monument
A few moments later the reporter left the
room, carrying under each arm bright
yellow kitten. which the hairy man had
begged him to accept as souvenir OF his
visit