The new North-west., 1888-10-12
HARBINGERS OF DEATH.
90 ANIMALS HAVE SOME MYsTEnl-
GUS, ABNORMAL INTELLlGENcEi

GUS, A6NORMAl INTElLIGENCE1
Strange Actions Of Dumb Creaeures-The
Cat and the Dying Child-Peculiar Co
incidsnces-Why Do Dogs Howl Unde.
the Windows of the sick9
Do animals have some mysterious psyche.
logical intuition Of the approach Of death to
the family in which they arc domiciledl It
would seem 30 from tho many cases On record
In which domestic animals have acted in a
strange and excited manner just previous to
the decease Of some member Of the house
hold. Sir Walter Scott frequently alluded
to this feature OF the dumb creation. Edgar
Allan Poo wrote frightful tale Of black
cat. Truth and superstition have both been
called upon to help contribute these remark
able stories to the literature Of the past
There are people today who believe tho cat is
invested with the power Of the evil eye; that
the purring tabby Of the flreside will suck
the breath OF sleeping infant A well
known professional nurse Of this city who
has an investigating mind gave her experi-
ence to reporter.
II am not superstitious," she said, '.but
am never called out to nurse in new place
Is no cat about the house. I find It impossi-
ble to divest myself Of feeling Of fear that
was grounded in me when child. An infant
member OF my family was dying. There was
q great scratching and mewing at the door,
and strange cat walked in when the door
was opened. It was q great, wild looking
creature, and it crept stealthily to tho side Of
the sick child, which it regarded with the
most serious attention.
IN AWE STRUCK TONES.
Then 1t went slowly out, and my mother
said in awe struck tones: ~"
The child will not live.'
"The little one died the next morning.
"What became Of the catr'
"lt remained with us and we could not get
rid Of it. For long time it was q constant
source Of annoyance. At last we put it into
bag and took it away suppose we were
afraid OF another superstition-that II We
killed q cat we would always have bad luckln
us that the only instance you know Of q
cat forerunning deathf"
"No. knew a family where the youngest
child, q boy Of Is, had pet cat which he
had raised himself He was out one day
playing, when the cat walked into the parlor
and standing before the sofa mewed piteouslv.
AkOooANA0
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"
II have had great trouble with my sick
dogs, bowling under the window"
"Cannot that be prevented by chaiuine up
the dogl"
ut is not always the family dog. have
known dogs 60 long distance to sit and
lying ILL"
"How do you account for thatr"
II have heard it said BY people who had
looked Into the matter that it Is tho unusual
light and noises that disturb the dogs Then
there is another theory that the powerful
sense Of smell in these animals enables them
to detect in the atmosphere odors noxious to
them"
AN APPALLING SOUND.
"Have you ever noticed any peculiar 10
suit from the bowling Of dogr
"Notbing but the nervousness and depres-
don OF the patient. must say it is an ap-
palling sound to hear at the dead Of night.
have known the patient to recover in several
cases. In one, death had already set in, and
It was favorite house dog that howled
all night. Even il one has no superstition, it
causes . thrill Of fear to hear such a melan-
choly and unusual sound"
It Is well known that bats are feared and
summed BY nearly every ono and arc used
as designs to presage disaster and i'll luck.
The Indians believe that birds contain de-
parted spirits. They consider this particu-
larly true Of the partridge and dove. All
races have superstitions concerning birds.
It is believed to be unlucky it bird flies
into room and out Here is true circum-
stance which recently happened:
a lady boarding with her husband at 4
hotel in Chicago was seated after dinner in
her private parlor when dove dew into tho
room, circled it once or twice and few out
again. The lady looked at her husband and
said:
IF were superstitious should say that
we were going to hear bad news"
The gentleman smiled and went on reading
his paper undisturbed. But in less than half
an hour servant raped at the door bring
ing the mail Only one letter lay on the
plate he extended, but that had wide black
border. It brought to the husband the news
Of the first death in his family for many
years-that Of his eldest sister.
Now the flying in Of the bird was without
doubt the nerest coincidence-it was week
later than the death actually occurred, but
it gave an impressive seeming to an old SUPER
stition and emphasized the receipt Of bad
tidings. Detroit Free Press