The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1886-05-28
EVOLUTION OF CAT.
PaocLWITIEs WHICH MADE HIS ROOM
BETTER THAN HIS COMPANY. g.

Amsryllis and the ParoGaet-Predatory
Fondness for Fish ami Steak-A Method
of Moral Improvement-Dwell To-
gether in Unity-Gone for Good.
Kittens have claws Amaryllis had a habit
of sleeping on chair or sofa, and visitors
who sat down on him made the discovery
have cited Also kittens labor under the i'm
preston that anything that moves or is NOV
able is intended for a toy on is good to eat.
This rule Amaryllis applied to the canary,
two goldfish and paroquet. The canary
both amused him and fed him, and the gold
fish interested him for awhile after he had
clawed them out of the bowl, but he made
mistake in the paroquet This noble bird
could make more noise than four kittens, and
not only repulsed the enemy with bite that
would have done credit to a steam railcutter,
but summoned the cook to the rescue with
screech that would have made fog whistle
proud. This was the day Amaryllis got his
first thrashing, and was really the only day
Of his life that he didn't deserve one. After
that he left the domestic live stock alone, and
confined his levity to playing ball with such
articles of bric-a-brac as could he broken by
being hurled from shelves, mantels or the
and thereby making line Of paw marks on
the dado.
About this time he voluntarily refused the
amount of his milk, and conceived riotous
and predatory fondness for fish and steak
This naturally led him into frequent alterca-
tionS with the cook, who hitherto had looked
upon him with great favor, and visions of
flying cat pursued by hot water flat-irons
or other projectiles that came handy were of
daily occurrence in the kitchen. These Incl
dents seemed to intensity his reluctance to
lead an honest life, and certainly did not i'm
prove his temper. This result was that
no steak, chop nor mackerel, was safe except
when actually sizzling on the stove, and that
bedlam reigned perpetualy from the time
Amaryllis awoke i'll the morning until the
cook went to bed
A METHOD OF MORAL IMPROVEMENT
There is dog fancier on upper Broadway
who has a secret method for the moral im-
provement of cats and one fine June morn
ing Anaryllis paid him an unwilling visit.
For several days after his return he was
groutier than ever and retired into the OBJ
scurity of the coal bin, whence he finally
emerged covered with SCOT and reckleSsneSs.
From this time forward he lost his appetite
for midnight rambles in adjoining lots, but if
the Broadway process was supposed to cure
a cat of felony as regards eatables it must
have been wrongly applied in this case.
Amaryllis' one ambition in life now seemed
centred in his desire to live unlawfully, and
he extended his depredations into every
household in the neighborhood whose back
fence he could scale. Once he came back so
fast that he whizzed, under the impetus given
him by ladle of hot water, but he grimly
chung to the chop that had got him into the
trouble. He rarely dined at home now but
seemed to consider if he could steal his dinner
elsewhere it would be saving for the house
hold. e, ra.
So the days passed and Amaryllis ripened
into full grown cat. His Broadway visit
seemed to have softened some of the asperi-
ties of his disposition, and court-plaster and
poultices were less frequent necessities in the
household. He grew more meditative and
got into the habit of spending quiet hour or
two in the basement, near the furnace, where
he would doze in peace and plan new and
more daring efforts in burglary. One day
the butcher entered, and with him a tender
young bull-pup of which he was proud. The
butcher had passed through the room before
Amaryllis awoke and took in both the pup
and the situation The next minute there
"dS q IOW, dHu d CIOuu u Dluc lux dIlu uOkS
meat. When the butcher returned, whichhhe
did suddenly, Amaryllis had vanished to the
attic, nine stairs at time, and there was
nothing by which the butcher could tell
whether his pet had struck d cyclone or run
foul of q sausage machine. 155ge re-
DWELLING TOGETHER IN UNITY. ,
Meanwhile mice had forced their way into
the dwelling, and the problem Of keeping the
xlosIx
they were locked up the mice got in their
fine work, and if they vera not Amaryllis
got in his. The idea that nature designed
him as mousetrap never seemed to occur
to either the cat or the mice, but both har-
monized and dwelt together IN the same
cupboard in unity. ;, afsr. a,r.
Amaryllis has disappeared. How or when
1 know not. Perhaps some neighboring
cook, wrought to frenzy by long continued
evaporation, has compensated the loss of
family steak by the concoction of an elabo-
rate rabbit pie in which cur only treasure
has played an important part Perhaps the
butchers dog, after waiting till he grew up,
came back and renewed hostilities Per-
haps Amaryllis has found the limits of
home too contracted for the notions of
wholesale piracy, and he has sought wider
field in which to spread himself. All know
is that his favorite corner by the furnace
knows him no more, and that cooks in the
neighborhood sing the whole day long.
We tried our best to give Amaryllis away,
and, by employing man to spread among
the criminal classes a report that he was
valuable, tried to induce some one to steal
him. The only other measure seemed to be
to pack up ard leave the house empty until
the starving mice would fall to and devour
him. But now that he was gone for good,
and
Please suppress the foregoing article
Amaryllis has returned-aH G. c." in New
York Times. .-