, 1889-02-22
THE TRICKS OF PUSS.
A MAN WHO TRAINS CATS TO DO
MANY AMUSING THINGS.

Walking Ropes-Fraterlizing with Birds
and Mice.
Cats have generally been regarded as es-
peciaIly and only useful for the purpose OF
catching rats and mice. II cat has never
been supposed to be an intelligent animal;
nothing like as intelligent as the dog.
But as a sportsman the cat is eminently
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, whore the cat can't follow
1t, 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
q cat will watch the parent bird till it goes to
its nest, thus revealing its 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 a great fuss and evidently distressed,
the chances are that somewhere near a cat is
watching to see where the bird goes But the
bird at such times is usually too sharp for the
cat, and stays away from its homo for fear Of
betraying its birdlings
PROFESSOR F~REDERIcKs' PEra
LAhSoAJ u lIluu LII EuBHuLu u u C1lc-
He Is a professional trainer of animals, such
as the horse, the dog, the goat or the pig.
He has a large number of cats and has given
them considerable attention. He Is Professor
Frodericks, and is an exhibitor of his pets.
Ho exercises them In the morning In the
back garden OF his house, and feeds them on
cats meat, bread and milk. They are not
easily trained, and are not reliable In a per-
formance, being a good deal like children,
who will never "show off" when expected.
They get obstinate every now and then, and
the only way to treat them when in this con-
dition 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
arc usually taken for the purpose. The
trouble with kittens Is that they are too
playful In being trained they think the
traiher wants to play and don't consider the
matter at all serious. Every boy or girl
knows that lessons can't DO learned without
serious attention, but as the kitten doesn't
realize this he never can learn
At Professor Fredericks' performance the
cats first climb a 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 tho climbing, but the
control of the cats movements after 1t gets
out of Its masters reach. 1t Is expected to go
to tho top of the pole, but whether 1t reaches
that point depends entirely on its inclination.
Then a cat is mado to walk a tight rope.
Considering the elevated peaks of roofs and
giddy cutters a cat will traverse in a dark
night, one wouldn't suppose walking a tight
rope to be a very difficult job for it. In this
case, as in climbing, tho training Is in the
cat walking the rope under special instruc-
tona
One of Professor Fredericks' cats, called
Sloper, is trained to walk a tight rope strewn
with mice and canary birds. He lifts his feet
deftly over the mice and the birds, and
makes tho return journey with n mouse on
his back
1t 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 ut one of the pro-
fessor's exhibitions recently. A cat who was
performing, yielding to u temptation quite
natural to cats, bent his head and caught a
rat in bis mouth. A word to the wise Is suf-
iciept, 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.
CATS HAVE NO ~ECT
Portuguese cats make the best performers.
In Lisbon they take a great interest in cats,
from their being the means of keeping the
streets clear of mice, which would otherwise
readily get a foothold there. All the cats in
Lisbon ave a lean appearance, from being
engaged in mice hunting. Black cats learn
easiest, and only ono 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
Tho professor holds the view of many peo-
pie that cats have no affection at oil, though
they are so fond of a single locality. They
do at times show signs of affection, though
nothing like the dog or the horse. Still, a
cats affection is largely dependent on being
fed regularly. To make a cat perform in a
private room is quite another thing from
making 1t perform before an audience. Still,
cats can be trained to care little about an
audience and to get over stage fright; and,
hke 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 IL a stranger crosses the boards when n
cat Is performing the animal will pause and
look round at him inquisitively, like Theo-
dore Thomas, If interrupted when leading his
orchestra Professor Fredericks' influence
over animals Is a natural gift He once be
longed to o circus company. One day the
lion tanner, when about to enter the lions
cage for q performance, scratched his face on
a nail, which drew blood. Knowing the
effect of blood on lions, he declined to enter
the cage and put the lions through their
PAGES. T audience were clamorous, and it
wns necessary to provide some one to amuse
them with the lions
Fredericks, who had never tanned lions or
had anything to do with them, entered the
cage and went through with the performance.
He said afterward that he was only nervous
upon opening the deer OF tho cage Once
inside he knew he had control When asked
what he would have done had the lions at
tackled him, he replied, Nothing; l could
only stand still and DO eaten till somebody
outside had got tho red hot irons ready"
The professor, however, gave up having any
thing to do with lions. Ills wife naturally
worried about his entering the cage. So he
turned his attention to cats and finds his
feline performances very proftable-Phila
dslphia Call
Color Kindness.