The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-07-10
A FORTUNE IN FELlNES.
A LoNa-HEADED IowAN's UNIQUE
OCCUPATION.

Supplying North Dakota Farmers
With Cats to Destroy tho Field
Mice-A Carload of 1f70 Cats.
A long, low rambling frame house
stands on one Of the steep bluffs which
girdle the city of Dubuque, Iowa. 1t
looks as though it had become exhausted
after climbing the steep and had stretched
itself out on the rocky side hill to rest.
On home made sign which Is mailed to
one of the front door posts, is the in
scription: "Cash paid for cats" Mr..
Tony Sieg, the head of the place, enjoys
the unique distinction of being the only
wholesale dealer and jobber in cats in the
United States. He has discovered new
field of industry in the world of com,
merce.
Mr.. Sieg spent two years of his life on
a claim in North Dakota. He was frozen
in billiards. and parched in droughts, and
all his crops were ruined by field mice,
and then he quit and came back to Du-
buque. The hordes of field mice seem
to have made the most impression on his
mind, for after due deliberation he deter
mined to undertake philanthropic
work, which at the same time has proven
money making scheme. He determined
to supply the farmers of North Dakota
with cats to destroy the mice. He wrote
to John Maggie, one of his old neighbors
in the Territory, who organized syndi-
cate of claim holders and agreed to take
all the cats Mr.. Sicg could furnish.
So Mr.. Sieg nailed up his sign and
the news soon spread that he had gone
into business as the pioneer jobber in
Toms and Tables. Every small boy in
town whose family or whose neighbours
family had cat grew rapidly rich.
For the first few weeks after Sieg es-
tablished his unique business there was
constant procession of small boys
climbing the hillside, with sacks hang
ing over their backs, out of which came
the vocal expression of the concentrated
extract of feline misery. Another line of
small boys came down the hill. They
were minus the sacks, but their pockets
we're silver lined.
"Our first season, said Mr.. Sieg, with
tinge of pardonable pride, 1--WE did a
business something like four thousand
eats. Our first carload contained 1176
Of the animals. They were boxed up,
nix in cage. My man made trip to
North Dakota with them. Only few
lied, 1926 reaching their destination in
safety.
"The cats seemed to have gone en-
;irely out of their heads, however, for
when they reached Dakota nobody
could touch them. The railroad travel
ieemed to make them crazy. The last
night on the road they kept up such a
noise that the settlers along the line
thought the Sioux Indians were on the
warpath again. The cages had t. be car
.ied out into the fields and the animal,
released there. We shipped two moro
carloads last year, making 1900 in all,
which practically supplied the demand
and exhausted the supply for that year.
have several men located in North Da-
Sota who act as regular retail agents for
my goods and keep good line constant.
Iy on hand
Mr.. Sieg has six or seven hundred
cats in his barn at present. A first-class
cat fight happened to be going on when
we went into the barn. 1t was between
two long limbed, deep-voiced Toms, and
they had over 600 feline spectators TO
cheer then on. The noise of the battle
would have delighted the ears of the
lover of Wagnerian opera.
SIS there much in the business, Mr..
Sieg?"
"Well,' responded that gentleman,
with the air OF man who wants to keep
a good thing to himself, "the profits are
very fair. pay an average price of ten
cents apiece for the cats. They retail at
81 head That gives the jobber &
fair margin. "--Neu York Herald.