The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-09-01
HARB1NGERs OF DEATH.
Detroit Free Press.

| Detroit Free Press. l Do animals have some mysterious psychological intuition of the ap- proach of death to the family in which they are domiciled? It would seem so from the many cases on record in which domestic animals have acted in strange and excited manner just previous to the decease of some mem- Der of the household. Sir Walter Scott frequently alluded to this fea- ture of the dumb creation. Edgar Allan Poe wrote frightful tale of a black cat. Truth and superstition have been both called upon to help contribute these remarkable stories to the literature of the past. There are people today who believe the cat is invested with the power of the evil eye; that the purring tabby of the fire-side will suck the breath of & sleeping infant. A well-known pro- fessional nurse of this city who has an Investigating mind gave her experi- ence to representative of the Free Press.
 "I am not superstitious," she said, | Out dAL 1OFCi O6AlCu O0b OO HUH cC III new place without feeling glad when I learn that there is no cat about the house. I find it impossible to divest myself of feeling of fear that was grounded in me when a child. An infant member of my fam fly was dying. There was great scratching and moving at the door, and strange cat walked in when the door was opened. It was great, wild looking creature and it crept stealthily to the side of the sick child, which it regarded with the most seri- ous attention. Then it went slowly out, and my mother said in awe-struck tones:
 "The child will not live"
 The little one died next morning.
 "What became of the cat?"
 "It remained with us and wa could not get rid of it; for long time it was constant source of annoyance. At last we put it into bag and took it away. I suppose we were afraid of another uperstition-thati if we killed cat we would always have bad luck"
 "Is that the only instance you know of cat forerunning death?"
 "No. I knew a family where the youngest child, a boy of thirteen, had pet cat which he had raised himself. He was out one day playing, when the cat walked into the parlor and stand ing before the sofa mewed piteously. It was impossible to drive the ani- nal from that particular spot or stop its cries. A little later the child was brought in dead-he had been drowned-and was laid on the sofa at the very spot where the cat had cried"
 THE HOWL OF DOG.
 "I have had great trouble with my sick people," remarked the same nurse, "from dogs, bowling under the win dow"
 "Cannot that be prevented by chain ing the dog?"
 "It is not always the family dog. I have known dogs go long distance to sit and howl under window where some one was lying ill.,"
 "How do you account for that2"
 "I have heard it said by people who had looked into the matter that it is the unusual light and noises that dis turb the dogs. Then there is another theory that the powerful sense of smell in these animals enables them to detect in the atmosphere odors nox- ious to them.
 "Have you ever noticed any pecul- far result from the bowling of dog?"
 "Nothing but the nervousness and depression of the patient. must say it is an appalling sound to hear at the dead of night. have known the pa- tient to recover in several cases. In one, death had already set in, and it was favorite house dog that howled all night. Even if one has no super- stition, it causes thrill of fear to hear such melancholy and unusual sound"
 BIRDS OF ILL OMEN. It is weIl known that bats are feared and summed by every one and are used as designs to presage disaster and i'll luck. The Indians believe that birds contain departed spirits. They consider this particularly true of the partridge and dove. All races have superstitions concerning birds. It is believed to be unlucky if bird flies into a room and out. Here is true circumstance which recently hap pened:
 A lady boarding with her husband at hotel in Chicago was seated after dinner in her private parlor when 8 dove flew into the room, encircled it once or twice and few out again. The lady looked at her husband and said
 "If I were superstitious 1 should say that we were going to hear bad news"