Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-09-16
HARBINGERS OF DEATH.
DO ANIMALS HAVE SOME MYSTER,-
Gus, ABNORMAL INTELLIGENCE?

. Gus, ABNORMAL INTELLIGENCE?
Strange Actions of Dumb Creatures-Ths
Cat and the Dying Child-PecuIiar CO.
the Windows of the Sick9
Do animals have some mysterious psvcho-
logical intuition of the approach of death TO
the family in which they are domiciled: 1t
would seem SO from the 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 Poe wrote frightful tale of a black
,at. 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 the cat is
invested with the power of the evil eve; that
the purring tabby of the freside will suck
the breath Of a sleeping infant. well
known professional nurse of this city who
has an investigating .aind gave her expert
ence 70 reporter.
81 am not superstit ous," she said, 'sbut
am never called out to nurse in a new place
without feeling glad when L learn that there
is no cat about the house. find it imDossi-
bic to divest myself of a 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. 1t was a great, wild looking
creature, and it crept stealthily to the side of
the sick child, which it regarded with the
most serious attention.
IL AWE STRUCK TONES.
Then it went slowly ont, and my mother
said in awe struck tones:
The child VIII not live
''The little one died the next morning"
''What became of the cat.n
sit remained with us and we could not get
rid of it. For long time it was a constant
source of annoyance. At last we put il into
a bag and took it away. l suppose we were
afraid of another superstiUion-that if we
killed cat we would always have bad luck."
lis that the only instance you know of a
cat forerunning deathF
mo. | knew a family where the Youngest
child, a boy OF ID, had pet cat which he
had raised himself He WAS out one dav
playing, wnen the cat walked into the parlor
and standing before the sofa mewed piteousIv
It was impossible 10 drive the animal from
that particular spot or stop Its cries. \ 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
people" remarked the same nurse, from
dogs. bowling under the window
Cannot that be prevented by claiming up
the dog2"
sit is not always the family dog. I hare
known dogs 90 a long distance to SIT and
howl under "A window where some enc vas
lying i'll"
How do YOU account for thatl'
II have heard it said by people who had
looked into the matter that it is the 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 10
them"
AN APPALLING SOUND.
Have You ever noticed any peculiar re-
suit from the bowling of a dog"
Nothing but the nervousness and depreS-
sion of the patient. l must say it is an APP
-palling sound 20 hear at the dead Of night !
have known the patient to recover in several
cases. In Ole, death had already set in. and
it a favorite house dog that howled
all night. Even If one has no superstition, it.
causes thrill of fear to hear such a Inelan-
choly and unusual sound"
Ii is well known that bats are feared ana
Stunned by nearly every one and are used
as designs to presase disaster ard i'll luck.
The Indians believe that birds contain de-
parted spirits. They consider this particu-
larry true of the partridge and dove. All
races have superstitions concerning birds.
Il 5 believed 10 be unlucky if bird flies
into room and out. Here IS true circuIn-
stance which recently happened:
\ lady boarding with her husband at q
hotel in Chicago was seated after dinner in
her private parlor when dove flew into the
room, circlei It once or twice and few out
aggin- The lady looked at her husband and
said:
IF / were superstitious should say that
we were going 10 hear bad news
The gentleman smiled and went on reading
hss paper undiSturbed. But in less than half
an hour I servant raped at the door bring
ing the mail Only one letter lay on tho
plate be extended, but that had a wide black
border. It brought 10 the husband the news
OF the first death in his family for many
years-that Of his eldest sister.
Now the dying ii OF the bird was without
doubt the mereSt coincidence-it was a week
later than the death actually occurred, but
ii gave an impressive seeming to an old super
stlticn and emphasized the receipt OF bad
tioSngs.--Detroit Free Press.