Mohave County miner., 1888-12-15
HARBINGERS OF DEATH.
90 ANIMALS HAVE SOME MYSTEni-
ouS, ABNORMAL iNTELLIGENcEf

.
strange Actions Of Dumb Crestures--Ths
Cat and tho Dying Cliid--Peculiar Co
iscidcpces-wby DO Dog. Howl Cndss
the Windows Of the sick7
Do animals have some mysterious psychic
logical intuition of the approach Of death to
the family Ia which they are domicilcdf It
would seem 80 from the many cases on record
Ia which domestic animals have acted In q
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 frightffl tale Of black
cat Truth and superstition have both been
called upon 20 help contribute these remark
ablo stories To tho literature OF the past.
There are people today who believe the cat is
invested with the power os the evil eye; that
,he purrfng tabby Of the freside will suck
tho breath OF sleeping infant A well
known professional nurse Of this city who
has an Investigating mind gave her expert
erce 70 reporter.
II am not superststious," she said, ''but
am never called out 20 nurse In new place
without feeling glad when I learn that there
10 no cat about the house. I find it impoesi-
BILE to divest myself Of u feeling Of fear that
was grounded In mo when child. An infant
member OF my family was dying. There was
n great scratching and mewing at the door,
and strange cat walked In when the door
was opened. IL was a great, wild looking
creature, ard it crept stealthily TO tho side Of
the sick child, which 1t regarded with the
most serious attention.
IN AWE STRUCK TONES.
"Then it went slowly out, and my mother
said In awe struck tones;
1.-THE child viii not live
"The little one died Nc next morning"
"What became Of tls6cntf'
"ft remained with US and we could notget
rid Of IT. For a long time 1t was a constant
source Of annoyance. At last we put IL into
a bag and took il away / suppose VIC were
afraid Of another superstition--that IL we
killed cat we would always have bad luckr"
rs that the only instance you know Of o
cat forerunning deathf
'No. knew family where the youngest
child, a boy Of f3, 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 piteously.
| II was impossible to drive tho animsl from
that particular spot or stop It's cries. A little
been drowned-and was laid on the sofa at
| the very spot where tho cat had cried.n
81 have had great trouble with my sick
| people, remarked the same nurse, ''from
dogs, bowling under tho window"
Cannot that be prevented by chaining up
| the dogfr
SIT is not always the family dog. have
| known dogs go a long distance to sit and
| howl under window where some one was
| lying H."
"How do you account for thatr'
! II have heard II said by people who had
looked into the matter that II Is tho unusual
light and noises that disturb the dogs Then
there Ia another theory that the powerful
sense of smell In these animals enables them
10 detect in the atmosphere odors noxious 10
tbem.n
An APPALLING SOUND.
Have you ever noticed any peculiar 10
suit from the bowling Of q dogp
"Notbing but the nervousness and depres
sion OF the patient must say 10 is an ap
paliing sound to hear st ths dead OF night. ]
have known the patient to recover In several
cases In one, death had already set In, and
II was favorite house dog that howled
all night. Even IL ono has no superstition, II
causes thrill OF fear 10 hear such nelan
choly and unusual sound"
IL is well known that bats are feared and
Stunned by nearly every ono and are used
as designs 70 prcsage disaster and i'll luck
The Indians believe that birds contain do
parted spirits. They consider this particu
larly true of the partridge and dove. AL
races have superstitions concerning birds
1t is believed 10 be unlucky IL bird fic'
into q room and out Here Is true circum
stance which recently happened:
A lady boarding with her husband at q
hotel In Chicago was seated after dinner IN
her private parlor when q dove few into tbs
room, circlcd it once or twice and few on,
again. The lady looked at her husband and
said:
"If i verc superstitious should say thai
we wcro going to bear bad news"
The gentleman smiled and went on reading
his paper undisturbed But in less than hall
an hour servant raped at the door bring
ing the mail Only one letter lay on th'
plate he extended, bat that had wide blacl
border. It brought 10 tho husband tho new
OF tho first death In bis family for MANI
years--that of his eldest sister.
Now the flying in Of the bird was withou
doubt the merest coincidencc--it was h weel
later than the death actually occurred, bu
it gave an impressive seeming 10 an old super
stition and emphasized. tine receipt Of bat
tidings. Detroit Free Press.
4