Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-01-30
THE TRICKS OF FUSS.
A MAN WHO TRAINS CATS TO DO
 MANY AMUSING THINGS.

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 sation in England-Climbing Poles and Walking Ropes-Fraternizing with Birds and Micc.
 Cats have generally been regarded as es- pecially and only useful for the purpose of catching rats and mice. The cat has never 1 been supposed to be an intelligent animal; nothing like as intelligent as the dog. | But as sportsman the cat Is eninently successful How a four legged animal can catch a winged bird, who has nothing | to do to get away except to fly up in the air, where the cat can't follow | it, is remarkable Nevertheless, pussy may
 be seen almost any time in summer stealing through the long grass, crouching, slowly | whisking her tail from side to side, now | crawling forward and at last bouncing on the unsuspecting bird before it has time to get Its wings going and rise in the air. Then | a cat will watch the parent bird till it goes to ! its nest, thus revealing it's locality, when puss will mount the tree and eat up the young
 birds When a bird is seen hopping about over fences and shrubs, chirping all the time,
 making great fuss and evidently distressed, the chances are that somewhere near a cat h
 watching to see where the bird goes. But the
 bird at such times is usually too sharp for the
 cut, and stays away from its home for fear of
 betraying its birdlinga
 PROFESSOR FREDERIcKs' PETS Lately man in England has trained cats He is professional trainer of animals, such as the horse, the dog. the goat or the pig. He has large number of cats and has given them considerable attention. He is Professor Fredericks, and is an exhibitor of his pets. He exercises them in the morning in the
 back garden of bis house, and feeds them on cats meat, bread and milk They are not
 easily trained, and are not reliable in a per formance, being good deal like children, who will never ''show of" when expected They get obstinate every now and then, and the only way to treat them when in this con- dltisn Is to let them rest. Professor Freder- icks never uses force in training them, and never thinks of whipping them. Kittens can't be trained At least all effort thus far has failed, and substantial middle aged cats are usually taken for the purpose The trouble with kittens is that they are too playful. In being trained they think the trainer wants to play and don't consider the matter at all serious. Every boy or girl knows that lessons can't be learned without
 Ierious attention, but as the kitten doesn't realize this he never can learn.
 At Professor Fredericks' performance the cats first climb pole One would suppose that there would be no need to teach a cat to climb a pole; that it would be done naturally
 But 1t is not simply the climbing, but the control of the cats movements after 1t gets out of it's masters reach. It Is expected to go to the top of the pole, but whether 1t reaches that point depends entirely on it's inclination Then a cat is made to walk tight rope Considering the elevated peaks of roofs and giddy gutters cat will traverse in dark night, ono wouldn't suppose walking tight rope to be a very difficult job for it. In this case, as in climbing, the training is in the cat walking the rope under special instruc- tions
 One of Professor Fredericks' cats, called Sloper, Is trained to walk tight rope strewn with mice and canary birds He lifts his feet deftly over the mice and the birds, and makes the return journey with a mouse on his back
 It is generally supposed that all cats are fond of mice and birds This is not true One cat in eight doesn't care for either. A curious incident occurred at one of the pro fessor's exhibitions recently. A cat who was performing, yielding to temptation quite natural to cats, bent his head and caught rat in his mouth. \ word to the wise is suf-
 dcient, and, the cat being wise, upon a word from the professor dropped the rat The boxing cats are an attractive feature. They stand on their hind legs facing one another, on two chairs, and fight quite scientifically.
 CAAS HAVE NO AFFECTION.
 Portuguese cats make the best performers In Lisbon they take great interest in cats, from their being the means of keeping the streets clear of mice, which would otherwise readily get foothold there All the cats in Lisbon have lean appearance, from being engaged in mice hunting. Black cats learn easiest, and only one cat in three can be trained at all. Professor Fredericks' first move is to teach the cat to sit up and beg; then they must creep through chairs and crawl over the backs After that they walk across the stage on champagne bottles
 The professor holds the view of many peo- pie that cats have no affection at all, though they are % fond of 6 single locality. They nothing like the dog or the horse Still, cats affection l. largely dependent on being fed regularly. To make a cat perform in a private room is quite another thing from making it perform before an audience Still, cats can be trained to care little about an audience and to get over stage fright; and, like actors and actresses, they very easily get used to applause, though it is not asserted that the cats, when once used to it, pine for it, and grumble about want of appreciation when they don't get it
 But if a stranger crosses the boards when a cat is performing the animal will pause and ASoA Ao0AAA oS kAAAA A44A0ASACAV uhc Ad0O- dore Thomas, if interrupted when leading his orchestra Professor Fredericks' influence over animals Is 8 natural gift He once be- .longed to circus company. One day the lion tanner, when about to enter the lions cage for performance, scratched his face on @ nail, which drew blood. Knowing the effect of blood on lions, he declined to enter the cage and put the lions through their paces. The audience were clamorous, and it was necessary to provide some one to amuse them with the lions
 Fredericks, who had never tanned lions or had anything to do with them, enteyed the cage and went through with the performance He said afterward that he was only nsrvous upon opening the door of the cage Once inside he know he had control When asked what he would have done had the lions att tackled him, he replied, Nothing; could only stand stin and be eaten till somebody outside had got the red hot irons ready" The professor, however, gave up having any thing to do with lions His wife naturally worried about his entering the cage. So he turned his attention to cats and fpds his feline performances very proftable.-Phila- dalphjo Call