The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-08-20
HERE'S A SMART CAT.
SIZE Made Il VERY INTELLIGENT
MESSAGE BE1RER.

" nave q monopoly
intelligent animals they are, if not
always sleek and handsome. Not long
ago a lady on Beacon Hill raj in need
Of a servant, and to whom a daughter
of this eolored house hold had been
recommended, called N evening al
the little house up an alley where the
people lived. A stout black woman
came to the door.
"Does Eliza Orangeblossom live
here2' the lady asked.
"Yes, she do, ma'am; but she amt
in jes' dis minute" said the stout col
ored woman. But eff you'll step in,
III sen out arter her.
She led the way in and seated n
lady IN the living room OF the house.
There were several cats present, one
Of which, a scrawny but alert-looking
Maltese with green eyes, rubbed up
amiably and inquiringly against the
visitors dress. ~
You come way from dere; you
Maltyla exclaimed the coiored woman
to the cat. You hyah me2 Now
you go ober t. de chu'ch and git Lily
and bring her home. You go fetch
Lily" she repeated, holding the door
open. M
The cat, after Siding and wavering
on the threshold a moment, as cats
always do in order not to appear too
obedient, disappeared through the
door.
''Will-will the cat bring your
daughter2" the lady asked in astonish7
ment.
Laws bless ye, ma'am, you wait
and seel" said the colored m
Some minutes went by, and the
lady began to think the mission vas
quite a failure, when the door opened
and a strapping colored girl came in
with the Maltese cat at her heels. The
girl had hardly got in when she broke
OUT
NANNY, did you send dat ar Malty
to fetch me2'
"Co'se | did,
"Wal', now, I'm tired o. havinedat
cat follerin' me up wherever | go.
Seems like | can't go nowhere but you
send her after me. Dere / wus in de
pra'r meetin' sittin' quiet in de pew
listenin' to Matildy johnson relatin'
her experiences wild grace, an all It
once in walks dat cat right up de
aisle, and begins mewin' and yoWlin'
at de pew door. Oh, dey wus all
lookin' and laughin', and nothin' fer
me ter do, o. co'se, but ter went right
out. l hope yen 'scuse me, ma'am,
but | reckon you wouldn't like ter be
fotched home way f'om de pra'r
meetin' by a little screechin' Maltese
cat, neither!"
The visitor could not help inwardly
reckoning that she wouldn't. But her
admiration for the cat was so great
that she made a point afterward to get
one of her kittens. The animal, how
ever, was a great disappointment. Not
that he seemed to be lacking particu-
larly in inteliigence-he was intelli-
gent enough, ON the contrary, he got,
himself lodged and fed and petted
without rendering any return what
ever. He sits in the window pretty
nearly the entire day, watching the
panorama on the street with evident
interest, and never appearing to dream
for a moment that he has any social
duties .-Boston transcript.
A Dodge to Beat Letter Thieves.
A gentleman who is in business in
this city has a correspondent in a
Texas town who, whenever he trans
mits money in any form by mail, COW
ers the envelope with an astounding
array of hieroglyphics, evidently in
tended to scare off thieves.
He showed me one of those queerly-
decorated envelopes. Along the top
of the reverse side was written 'De-
coy Letter No. 10-lkm, p. 0. j."
Across the flap of the envelope were
drawn rough pen lines, and sidesways
from the centre the words private
marks.p Below these signs was the
nscription:-"Witness-O K, at "a"
with a formidable flourish beneath
it.
my Texas friend always ornaments
his envelopes in this fashion, said my
informant, land he appears to believe
that postal pilferers viii not dare to
touch a letter so embellished. 1t is q
queer notion to get into a business
mans head"
Talking of marking envelopes, / had
a little experience with a British mail
clerk in London last year which bears
ON the subject,
] usually mailed my letters to the
DisputcB at the Post Office at Charing
Cross. 1t was always necessary to
have them weighed, and the same
man, a iorid individual of whose
features l can only recall a singularly
dubious eye, performed the service
for me. In order to insure the letters
reaching the hands of the proper au-
thority in the Dispatch office with the
least possible delay, | was wont to
write along the top of the envelope,
News, Important" Every time /
handed one of these big missives to the
meaty eyed clerk in the Charing Cross
office, l noticed that he looked hard
at the legend, News, Important, y and
a smile Of scorn would curl his upper
lip.
One morning I gave a letter to this
clerk to be weighed, and business be-
ing a little slack he took time to
say;--tHi suppose you think that
writin' News! important on that
letter'H make hus 'urry hit through?n
No said |, Il know of nothing
that would make you hurry, unless it
were dynamite"
Ever. afterward when / went to
Charing Cross office | noticed that the
prominent eye of the f%acetious clerk
watched me warily. | think he sus-
pected me OF being an In~yineible,-
Pi5sbagg Dispatch.
An Abuse of Journalism.