The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-11-13
STORIES ABOUT CATS.

STORIES ABOUT CATS.
The Montreal Star thus tells how cat
rode one hundred and seventeen miles on
a hy-wheel of an engine: "The engineer
after starting the steam engine one morn
ing, noticed white patch on the inner
surface Of the drive-wheel, which he
thought was piece of paper caught by
one of the spokes in it's flight and whirled
round and round by the wheel. The
white patch was noticed by several of the
hands during the morning, who accounted
for it in the same way, but no attention
was given to the matter until the engine
was stopped shortly after noon. AS the
wheel stopped, the engineer was surprised
and then get up and crawl away. He
then, for the first time, became aware that
the white spot which had been whirling
in the hy-wheel was cat which had been
clinging to one of the spokes of the wheel
and had only relaxed its hold when the
wheel had come to standstill. The cat
seemed dazed for while, and was taken
into the street for free air.
A member of the London Geological
Society says: 81 once had cat who always
sat up to the dinner table with me, and
had his napkin round his neck and his
plate and some fish. He used his paw, OF
course; but he was very particular, and
When he finished his fish. sometimes
gave him piece of mine. One day he
was not to be found when the dinner bell
rang, SO we began without him. just as
the plates we're put around for the entree
puss came rushing up stairs and sprang
into his chair with two mice in his mouth.
Before he could be stopped he dropped a
mouse on his own plate and then one on
to NINE. He divided his dinner with me
as I had divided mine with him."
Mrs. Cashel Hoey in her "Book on
Cats argues thus in favor of animal
logic: "Every day, after breakfast, made
it rule to throw a bit of bread into an
adjoining room, as far off as could, SO
as to induce my cat to run after it as it
rolled away. This custom 1 kept up for
several months, and the cat always re-
garded that piece of bread as the tidbit
of its dessert. Even after it had eaten
meat, it would await with attentive inter-
est the minute when it was to start in
pursuit of the morsel of soft bread. One
day held the coveted scrap in my hand,
and swung it about for long time, while
the cat eyed it with a kind of patient
eagerness, and then, instead of throwing
it into the next room, threw it behind
the upper portion of picture which was
slightly inclined forward from the wall.
The surprise of the cat, who, closely fol-
lowing my movements, had observed the
direction in which 1 threw the bread, and
its disappearance, was extreme. The
uneasy look of the animal indicated it's
consciousness that material object ira
versing space could not be annihilated.
For some time the cat considered the
matter, then it started off into the next
room, evidently guided by the reflection
that the piece of bread having disappear
ed, it must have gone through the wall.
But the bread had not gone through the
wall, and the cat returned disappointed.
The animals logic was at fault. 1 again
attracted its attention by my gestures
and sent a second piece of bread to join
the first behind the picture. This time
the cat jumped upon divan and went
straight to the hiding-place. Having in
spected the frame on both sides it began
to mannuvre so dexterously with its paw
that it shifted the lower edge of the
picture away from the wall, and thus got
at the two pieces of bread"
A German diplomatist of the last CEN
fury has recorded similar observation
respecting tavorite female cat, and adj
vanees it as proof of consecutive and
conclusive reasoning on the part of the
animal. II noticed" says Baron Won
Gleichen, shat she was constantly look
ing at herself in the glass, retreating from
her own image and running back to it
again, and especially scratching at the
frames, for all my glasses were inserted
in panels. This suggested to me the idea
of placing toilet mirror in the middle of
the room, SO that my cat might have the
pleasure of examining it all round. She
began by making sure (by approaching
and Withdrawing as usuaD that she was
dealing with glass like the others. She
passed behind it several times, more