Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-03-04
CATS AFRAID OF RATS.
A COLONY OF RODENTS THAT FUSS
 DON'T WANT TO EAT.

DON'T WANT TO EAT.
 It Hay Be That a Belief fin Spooks Is
 What Saves the White Rats-A Citizen
 Who Wasn't Sure About His Vision, and
 He Went to the Doctor.
 A citizen who had lost his reckoning and who was pursuing tortuous course along Mulberry street very early in the morning chanced to look down into the basement office of a nocturnal worker near police headquarters. He seemed to be somewhat alarmed by what he saw. A frolicsome kitten was apparently giving boxing lessons to score of big and little white rats on the top of coverless pine table. The rats took the cuffing of the kitten very amiably, and came up for more as if they rather enjoyed it. The convivial citizen grasped the iron rail- ing in front of the basement tconvulsively. and, with an intensity of purpose that was evident from the corrugations on his forehead, sought to convince himself, by harder gazing, that he was the victim of an optical delusion
 A young man of serious aspect came out of an office next door and saw the befuddled stranger peering into the base ment. The stranger also observed the young man, whose guileless expression gave no indication of the gay deceit lurking in his soul.
 'Scuse me-" said the stranger. "but ish there lot of white razz and a kitten there?"
 White rats and kitten? Preposter- ous! My dear sir, you need medical at tention. half suspect that you have been drinking"
 The strangers face grew pale. He brokenly murmured his thanks to the good hearted young man, and saying he was going down town to get Dr. Perry to straighten him up, he meandered away.
 WHAT THE CITIZEN SAW,
 He had seen, as anybody may who passes the basement, just what the face tious young man led him to believe he had not seen. If he had been sober and had gone into the basement and had a talk with the owner of the rats, MT. Frank Hastings, he might have heard some interesting things about them. MT. Hastings has bred over hundred of them. Only one developed a vicious spirit. It bit it's owner whenever he put his hand near it, and, fearing it's exam pie of ferocity might be initiated by the rest of the snowy colony, MT. Hastings decided to give it to the giant tom cat of his guileless next door neighbor. This cat had often looked through the base ment window, devouring the rats with his eyes and apparently longing to make more substantial meal of them. The wicked rat was taken next door and put down in front of the tabby, who sur prised the onlookers by backing away from the trembling little creature, which made no effort to get out of the way. Tom surveyed it few moments and cautiously approach and sniffe ed around it.
 Then he turned his back on it and am- bled into corner and lay down. He was not permitted to stay there undis- turbed. The rat was taken over to him and placed on his back. He got up, let ting it slide to the floor. andfrotted into another corner. A lean aaad hungry looking vagrant cat was hunted up and brought ill, and the rat was set down be- fore him. He refused even to smell the rodent, and escaped from it into the street the moment the door was opened. A bull terrier was brought in and he, too, wouldn't touch the little animal.
 Mir. Hastings asked his guileless neigh bor, who has reasons for everything, why it was that a white rat seemed to be sacred to cats and dogs, and the neighbor said that he guessed the white rat be- longed to the same family as tho white elephant worshiped by the Siamese; or, maybe, the cats and the dog thought the rat was merely the specter of an every day rat they had killed long ago. Mr. Hastings restored the rat to its com rades, hoping the fright it had received might cure it of biting. It bit him again fifteen minutes later, and he gave it to a tough boy in Mulberry street who was not as sentimental as the cats and the bull terrier. The boy killed it with stone.
 THE LION AND THE LAMBS.
 The peaceful disposition of the cats to- ward the bad white rat suggested to MT. Hastings the idea of gettinga kitten for them. It is female kitten, and was presented to Mir. Hastings by Baker John around in Houston street. It is just about twice as big as the old blind grandmother of the rats, but it's spirit is colossal and fierce enough to throb against the ribs of Sullivan. Probably this is due to the diet of mince pie it reveled in when with the baker. It does not display it's ferocity unless a strange dog happens to come into the of | 6ce. Then it drives all the rats, except ! the old blind grandmother, who will hot ! be driven, into the box, and marches to | and fro, with it's back arched and tail | erect, sputtering and growing at the in- truder. If the kitten could talk on these ! occasions, Mir. Hastings has no doubt | that it might say to the big dogs:
 "Im the guardian of this household, | and you can cross its threshold only over my dead body! Spit! spatl'
 There is one cannibal among the rats. It is female, with black spot on it's neck, and it devours it's progeny The blind grandmother is as full of the ma al foolspo O ho, U,sth fret hr~x>rl