Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1886-08-18
TALES OF BLACK CATS.
They Bring Good Luck to the Home
or Business House Where
they Locate.

L ii show you a liar
The speaker took an old, time-worn
buckeye out of one pocket. careSsed it a
moment and put it in another. 1t was
a rheumatism preventative
There are dead loads of popular SUI
! erstitlons-enough to fill big book
that are known to everybody who can
talk. There's the black cat. for instance
Now, wouldn't be without black cat
, any way you could fix it. There's some
| thing about black cat that's sure to
bring good luck. l never pass along
the street without looking out for 'em,
and I'd as soon set fire to my house as
walk in front of one L just give it the
right of way and wait till it's passed by.
| Yon always want to make friends with
4 black cat, and, anyway, you never
want to offend one. If you ever get a
black cat onto you, just throw up your
hands, for you're done l knew 4
feller who killed all the cats he could,
! just to show that he didn't believe in
the notion of seven years bad luck. He
killed lots of 'em. Sort of reveled in it,
I and seemed to get on Just as well as
| though he was patron saint TO catkind.
One day he happened on to a black cat
when he was in the killing mood, and
he laid it out. Never had a days luck
| since. He was L steady, clear-headed
fellow, and hard worker, but every
| time he put his head above a salaried
| position misfOrtune's sledge-hammer fell
on him, and he retired on the first whirl.
''Get black cat to like you, though,
and you can tackle anything on earth
and make it 90. I'll bet that the men
! who have made big fortunes out of
| nothing had black cat in the house.
| Yes. sir, | knew young fellow who
| was i'll love-in over his head-and
didn't know enough to play it easy. 1t
was his first offense, and he wasn't post
| ed. His girl was thousand miles
away, and he used TO write her letters
three of 'em would make book. One
/ evening a black cat walked into his
Office Just like il owned the place, and
| sized up on everybody. Then it came to
| my Young lover and climbed up on his
| knee while he was writing, cuddled
! down and com menced to sing. IL was
an operate cat and sang like 4 prima
/ donna. 1t kind of pleased the young
! fellow, and he petted 1t. After that it
! used to come around and sit on his knee
! every evening while he wrote 10 his girl,
! AMI the way that girl warmed up was
| amazing She was sort of indifferent
| before, but she became terribly affec-
| tionate as soon as the black cat came
| into the game But the blamed young
/ clown didn't do anything for the cat but
| pet it. 4 cat can't live on getting its
| back stroked, SO it left one day and
didn't come back. Well, the girl froze
up again and married the man VINO.
| figures in novels-A. Mother. This isa
true story. I'll swear TO it. But n
/ you're charitable YOU won't ask Ile how
| know il, cause Pm little tender
| about it Yet.
''There's saloon over on West
| Madison street that | noticed was for
sale about year ago. 1t didn't seem
! to catch On-a queer thing for a saloon,
too. Anyway, it didn't prosper, and it
looked pretty dingy. Somebody bought
it after awhile, and it's got TO be regu-
lar mint. Why? Just pass along there
any day and you'll see a black cat
climbing around in the window over the
! bottles of extra dry, or stretched out on
the cigar case taking a snooZe. The
| proprietor told me that the cat walked
! in the third day lie had taken the place,
| and that good luck came in with it and
! Just settled down on everything. He
wouldn't let go of that cat for thou
sands. Why, L believe that if the bar
| tender tried TO knock down an honest
dollar in that house the cat would give
him away | do, by jingO!
| whenever | see black cat in a
| e II oil laal- info fhn
| case. The other day | saw one i'll
restaurant window on Clark street. L
remembered the place when it was
very modest institution. y few years
ago II occupied only one stOre-roOm, and
sold oyster stewS for fifteen cents and
| perfect gorge for 4 quarter. Now 1t Is
| an immense establishment and has
run of patronage that is making its
| owners rich. When | saw the cat |
| went in and made some inquiries. Same
| story. The cat came into the kitchen
! one day and proceeded to make itself at
| home. The cook treated it well. and it
stayed. After awhile it got to loafing
around the dining-rOom, and would sit
on the cashiers desk by the hour. The
| proprietorS gave it the best in the land.
| One day it was fOOling around the room
when the rush was on and one of the
! walters gave it a kick. He was imme-
diately fired out and orders were issued
/ to treat that cat as though it were
king. You can see it there any day.
'!But you ought to see the way gam
blers cotton to a black cat. What gam
blers don't know about luck of all kinds
wouldn't fill much of book. Theresa
house on Clark street, between Wash
ington and Randolph streets, that used
to he one of the prosperous banks of
the town. They had black cat. 1t
! happened in one day-nObody ever knew
how. and tramped around over the rou-
lette and hazard tables rs though it
| knew all about the double o and red
and black and high and low. 1t used to
sit on the lookout's knee at the faro
table and watch the game, and no one
ever dared to bluff the dealer then, you
| can bet. The house won all the time,
and the cat was reckOned as good rs
four aces i'll a show down. The en-
ployes wouldn't play cent in the house
used to carry their salaries over to the
other houses and play. 1t stayed there
for months, and then disappeared just as
it had come. Would you believe it, the
! police sailed in the next night, collared
the whole outfit and burned it up, and
'pinched' a big mob of players. The
other houses weren't touched. The
same house is running now, but it isn't
popular, and If 1t keeps even that's all it
does. The dealers used to look for the
cat every day they came on duty, and
when it didn't show up they knew some
thing was going to drop on them. Some
said the house was going to burn down.
Others thought that some duffer would
break the bank. But all expected bad
luck, and it came.
''Black cats are peculiar. You never
want to try and capture one and drag 1t
along with you cause if you do it's no
good. They must walk in of their own
accord if you expect 'em TO bring good
luck. If they come in at the door, and
show a disposition to settle there and be
contented. you're fixed: but if they come