The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-01-27
HOW FRITZ IDENTIFIED HIMSELF.
Accom- mplishments That a Cat Found USE
full After Two Years of Absence.

Accom- pllsnments Inat Oab II Tounu SSS
full After Two Years of Absence.
Fritz Heath is the noble son of a worthy
mother Fritz is large gray and white
tiger cat. Fritz and his mother, Gyp, are
the proteges of Mr.. and Mrs. Thomas
Heath. Both are cats of unusual size and
beauty, that of Fritz being only marred by
Jagged rent in his right ear, incurred IN
some slight youthful disagreement. Fritz
is an amateur acrobat of considerable
ability, and will roll over, jump through a
hoop and turn somersaults at word of COM
mand He also has the trick of jumping
TO catch the edge of the table top with his
paws and swinging suspended while he
surveys the prospect Of a good dinner for
Fritz.
Two years ago there was mourning in
the house of Heath. Fritz had suddenly
disappeared. At night Gyp came into the
house, shifted at the basket she and Fritz
had occupied together since the latter's
kittenhood, and walked disconsolately
away. The Heaths thought perhaps their
pet had been carried across the canal and
could not get back, so they wandered in
Finegan avenue and the purlieus of the
the Fourth ward and searched diligently,
but he could not be found. Time heals
broken hearts, and as the months passed
by all but Gyp forgot the missing member
Of the household. She could not be in
duced TO go near the accustomed bed still
kept for her by the fire, and refused TO be
comforted.
A little more than two weeks ago she
jumped into the basket for the first time
since Fritz's disappearance, and lying down
began TO purr contentedly. A few days
afterward Mr. Heath and his wife returned
from an evening call. a cat, which they
in the darkness supposed to be Gyp, was
crying on the doorstep, and as they opened
the door it ran into the hallway and out
again as quickly. Later in the evening
Mrs. Heath heard the crying at the door,
and, being possessed of tender heart
toward suffering animals, proposed going
down to bring in the poor thing, which had
proved not TO be Ggp, and give 1t some
thing to eat. AS she opened the door the
cat darted into the hallway and up the
stairs to the Heath apartments. When 1t
came into the Lighted sitting room Mrs.
Heath exclaimed, "Why, Tom, it's Fritz"
Hearing his name Fritz bounded into
Mrs. Heath's lap, from hers TO her hus-
bands, turned somersaults, rolled over
and performed all the tricks he had been
taught, as if TO thoroughly identify him
self or to express his joy at getting home.
1T surely is Fritz" thought the rejoiced
Heaths, aud they examined the cats right
ear it was split There was little doubt
then of its being Fritz, but TO make assur-
ance doubiy sure small stick was thrown
down the stairs into the dark hallway.
Go get it, Fritz" said Mr.. Heath, and
the cat darted downstairs, returning in
stantly with the stick triumphantly bal
anced in his mouth-a trick, by the way,
common enough with retrievers, that few
cats have ever been taught to perform.
After a good supper the reclaimed Fritz
went straight TO the basket behind the
stove and cuddled down contented. Gyp
gave the intruder a smart rap with her
paw, but seeming at once to recognize her
prodigal son fell on his neck and kissed
him.
Fritz now stays very closely at home.
His two years absence seems to have given
him an increased regard for the shadows
of the family roof tree.
A strange question, and one which should
interest psychologists, is this: Did the old
cat receive some telepathic information
that Fritz was about 10 return which dis
PEELED her aversion to the basket? Had
she seen him prowling around the house
for two or three days, not daring TO come
back, or was it simply a coincidence?-
Syracuse Journal.