Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-06-07
A PARADISE FOR CATS.
The Peculiar Regard for the Feline Race
in the orient-The Numerous Cats
Of Persia.

/ All cats, says the New I Ork S3E71, are
not the wanton and roisterous animals
that nightly sit and MARBLE on your
neighbours fence. In Mohammedan
i countries the eat is an object of con-
| sideration and respect, amounting in
/ some parts OF Islam TO Veneration. For
this worshipful regard among thefaith-
| full, the eat is indebted to Mohammed.
Rather than disturb sleeping cat
which had curled itself upon his coat
one day. Mohammed deliberately cut
away that portion of the garment on
which the cat was reposing. From
| that day to this the MuSSulman world
| has regarded the cat with veneTatiOn.
The Persians, particularly, are def
/ erentlai in their treatment Of the cat
! / have seen cats in Persia treated with
| an exalted consideration that would
| have made the famous SIM office cat
spit with envy.
! One day / was the guest OF Ali Khan,
! the h0iliHa of khni, large city in
/ Western Persia. Soon after my ar
rival the noontide meal was announced.
! ''BiSmillah Sahib, sad the hoibim. and
| followed by several counselors in long
| gowns and snowy turbans, he led the
way into the diniR@-room. The dining
cloth was spread in the center of the
| floor. The 30jkim and his venerable
associates seated themselves Oriental
fashion. on the floor; | was provided
| with little stand table at one end.
So far there was nothing remarka-
! bic; Ii was merely an ideal ASiatic
| dining-roOm scene. The remarkable
part was vet to come: and come it did,
lx-.,. ,>Afx- T. IL.
| shape of five times IS many cats as
there were human guests. In the
room were many open doors and win
dows, as is usual in Il Persian house
| As we entered / noticed that several
of the famous lOng-haired eats of the
country were lowering eXpectantly at
th IS entrances. Already the number
,..ys sufficient to arrest my interest.
| Nobody took any particular notice of
them, however, but me.
Every moment another cat or two
jumped airily up on one OF the
| window siiIs, and walked right in. In
less time than it takes to tell it the
number had swollen to twenty or more,
and before we were half through eat
inc I should think this number was al
least doubled The room, outside the
dining space, was literally alive with
cats. Whenever n seryitor brought in
a new dish, or took anything away, he
was followed across the room by q
swarm Of eats that trotted in noiscless
confusion at his heels.
Not meow was heard, however
nor q quarrelsome sound during the
meal time. Every cat held its tail
aloft, a4d they passed the time in ST.
lently moving about. They were the.
most orderly and decOrous lot Of cats
imaginable. There was little or no
disposition to oyerstep the bounds of
pr0prieties. They seemed to have ac-
qUired the stateliness and pOliteness Of
the people with whom they were asso-
ciating.
Neither the ROiEjm nor the counsel
Ors seemed to regard this remarkable
scene as anything unusual. Whenever
one of the eats ventured to invade the
edge of the dinner cloth he would be
gently, almost apologetically showed
back. The cats were fearless and ia
milar. Some of them stroked and
purred against the venerable diners
backs 1t was very evident that they
never knew what it was to receive a
blow or rude rebuff at the hands Of
man.
After dinner the servitors promptly
removed the remnants. The intruders
promenaded the apartment awhile
after the food was removed, and then
gradually dispersed as silently as they
had collected. This was more cats
than had ever seen together outside
cat show. Owing to linguistic short
con1ings, [ could never make out
whether they were all pensioners of
the municipal bOl2db, or merely neigh
borhood cats attracted to the official
repast in this manner every day.
After this extraordinary introduce
ton to the cats of Persia, the reader
would naturally expect to hear equally
extraordinary things about their mid
night revelirgs. For, sad to say, the
Persian cat is not always as circum-
spect in his behavior as he IS when
lowering around the outskirts Of
hojbjn2'S banqueting board. Nor does
he always wait for the setting of the
sun to tune himself up. Not less than
for its wealth of hair is the Persian cat
on its native heath celebrated among
Ferenghi travellers for its early matt
nee concerts. At all hours of the day,
when the felines Of other lands are in
duling in dolce far nie'ate and saving
their vocal organs for the mystic
seances of the night, the cats of Persia
are promenading the walls and house
tops, uttering plaintiff melodies that
sound like the wailing of lost souls
There is more genuine zitherish pathos
in the ''meOww-wa
blabbabI- Owwrr'' Of Persian Thomas
cat than there is in a muezziD,s call to
prayer.
The unfortunate tendency of the
Persian cat to carol in the daytime 81
well as in the night is the cause Of
many little unpleasantnesses between
the European colony in Teheran and
the natives. Fifty cats might MARBLE
on Persian's roof day and night, and
owing to their being under the special
protection of Mohammcd they would
never be molested. This, Of course, a
Ferenghi cannot be expected to endure
When L was in Teheran big white cat
took fancy to perch himself on the
wall of our bOndb, and looking down
into the yard, favor rs with d musical
melange at any hour of the daT or
night. In Difference to the preiud.ces
| Of our Mussulman neighbors, we con
tented ourselves atfirst by shooing him
aWav Finally, however we con
Guided that his soul-harrowing refrain
could no longer be endured. II Mo
| manned wouldn'tor couldn't come and
| fetch that cat, we determined to send
it To MOhammed.
It would never DO to shoot him open
] I