The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-09-15
RESPONSIBILITY OF CATS.
They Have Been harged With Nearly
All Crimes known to the Calendar

ically said to have made the back oil
the domestic cat exceedingly broad, IN
exquisite adaptation to the moral LOAD
which that anatomical structure has TO
carry. We all know that most fires are
due to cats. Cats are culpably careless
in the use of matches. Even Messrs.
Bryant and May have scarcely been
able by their ingenious invention to
correct the influences of feline rash
ness. 1t is far too common thing for
cat, after lighting a cigar, to throw
wax vesta or deadly fusee upon the
carpet or the bare boards. These ami
mails will leave candles in immediate
proximity to curtains, and forget all
about them in an exciting chase after
mice that have as much right to live as
themselves.
a cat has been known to turn on the
gas, and then, hearing a scratching be-
hind the wainscot. to become absorbed
for half an hour before applying the
flame, with consequences which can be
imagined, and, therefore, if Henry
James will pardon us for saying so,
need not be described. Cats, too, are
addicted to the pernicious practice of
smoking in bed, especially Persian cats
who can not otherwise perform their
allotted task of reading through the
Arabian Nights twice a year Now,
as it is notorious that no cat will en-
dure a cover to his pipe, we need not
point out the great dangers we are in
by this unhappy levity. But there is
really no end to the responsibility of
cats, who are without any sense of
shame, and appear to be most imper-
fectly acquainted with the laws which
govern the ignition of infammable
bodies.
How many fires they cause IN Lon
don from January to December, Cap
tain Shaw alone knows. 1t is only
necessary to mention their too familiar
habit of saving themselves trouble by
carrying hot Goals in a shovel from
one room to another, for on this occa-
sion we may avoid the painful topic of
the frauds which they too often per-
petrate at the expense Of the in
surance companies. When all these
things are taken into consideration we
need not wonder, however deeply we
may be grieved, at the number of fires
whose origin is assigned in official re-
ports to the agency Of those noxious
and ubiquitous quadrupeds. Cats are
a powerful interest, and in the prevail
ing flabbiness OF public opinion, few
have the moral courage to speak the
truth about them.
Excellent is the spirit Of Dr. Low,
an officer of the Local Government
Board, who merits the respect and
gratitude of the whole community for
having brought out the facts about
cats without flinching. No cat, after
the publication of DR.. Lows memoir
andum, can shelter himself behind the
miserable plea of ignorance from the
duty of at once answering the chars-s
that whatever may be his recreations
and amusements, his serious business
in life is the spread OF diphtheria.
1t is the more courageous in DR..
Low to state this because certain
Irish-American cats are more than
suspected of having attempted to
blow up the premises of the Local
Government Board with dynamite
about five years ago. Undeterred
by these lucid memories, DR.. Low
charges into the ranks of our feline
tyrants with desperate determination.
He accuses them, not by insinuation or
inuendo, but in plain and unmistake-
able terms, of having caused an cpl
demic of diphtheria at Ealing. The
method in which this detestable plot
was carried out is truly diabolical.
A number of associated cats, whom
DR.. Low, for obvious reasons, abstains
from naming, conspired to eat the
remnants of the food, and drink the re-.
mainder of the milk, which had been
served to diphtheritic patients. Thus
primed for their horrible work thew
selected a number of healthy children,
with whom they began to play. The
children were particularly attentive to
the cats, because the cats appeared to
be unwell. Such is the lot of children
who never tease animals, though ami
mails are constantly teasing them. We
draw veil over the sequel, merely re-
marking that DR.. Low, as becomes his
high position, has no doubt that the
children were infected in this precise
way. The germs of infection are, it is
to be feared, everywhere, and life would
become impossible if we were always
specializing on the chances of coming
within the grasp of disease. Mean.
while it is desirable that criminal cats
should be brought to justice, and that
contaminated articles-edible, potable
or otherwise-should be destroyed
Saturday ReUiel0
Musical Instruments,