Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-02-24
AN INVASION OF CATS.
A Feline Army Turned Loose In a Town on
the Mississippi.

the Mississippi.
"When / was living in steamboat town
on the Mississippi" remarked an old man
in barber's shop few days ago, there
was fellow who put up a very neat job on
the inhabitants, against whom he must have
had some terrible grudge. He came into
the town one day and distributed handbills
right and left, taking special pains to put
as many of them as possible into the hands
of farmers who had come in to sell their
grain.
"That was before the railroads came to
take business away from the river towns,
some of which had an immense trade The
place was in had 5000 or 6, 900 inhabitants
and was the shipping port for all the grain
raised for miles around, as well as the place
where the farmers obtained all their sup
plies. The last time L was there it had
dwindled to a village of 1900 and perhaps
by this time it has no existence Mt all, even
on the map.
'aThese bills that were so freely scattered
about stated that the advertiser had a con-
tract with a certain steamboat company for
furnishing large number of cats to destroy
the rats and mice that were very numerous
about the warehouses ut different landings
along the river. He therefore offered s. for
each full-grown tom cat, 81 for each healthy
female puss and 30 cents head for kittens
old enough to get their own living. All the
cats were to be delivered at a certain place
in the town on a Thursday evening-the
night that particular boat was due.
"Well, that Thursday afternoon came and
the streets of the town were Just crowded
with people. They came in wagons, on foot
1,x- ool- ov,1 -s,1
q sack, some of them several It reminded
me of the old riddle about st. Ives.
Each wife had seven sacks,
Each sack had seven sacks,
Each cat had seven kits
Kits, cats, sacks and wives.
How many were going to st. Ives?
'sBy evening between 5000 and 1000 cats
had been brought into that defenseless city.
They were left in and about vacant build
ing near the landing. The man who was to
purchase the cats was nowhere in sight The
country people were making inquiries for
him everywhere. A crowd of boys attracted
by the cater-wauliHg, went to the old build
ing and began amusing themselves by un-
tying the bags and letting out the eats. OF
course the cats began fighting and raised a
noise like 10000 demons. Suddenly a
stampede occurred and the animals rushed
pell NELL into the crowd, crawling over peo-
pie, jumping and fighting, and climbing
walls and roofs in a mad race for liberty.
The boys took after the cats, and the men
Joined in, determined TO rid the town of the
feline invaders. The next morning there were
q good many stray cats seen about in back
yards, and good many dead ones lying in
the streets and alleys. One boatman said
he counted over 400 dead cats in the river.
The man who perpetrated the joke was
never seen in the place again, luckily for
him.
"Do you expect anybody to believe this
yarn?" asked a man OF about the first
Speakers age.
''Has anybody been asked to believe it?''
was the rejoinder. And even the barber
was silent and the only sound audible was
the click, click of the tonsorial shears
echoing through the shop.