Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1891-10-10
rnE nopIE or rnn cATs.
This Is Not the scat Home" but n
Great Field for It's PntrOness.

This Is Not the scat Home" but n
Great Field for It's PntrOness.
Old Washington Market at West and
Vesey streets, New York, contains more
cats than any other building in the city.
During the day cat is hard animal 10
find in the market, except one pet tabby
belonging to a butcher, and it sits on the
block with an air of pride, paying little
or no attention to the scores of its rela-
tives that are hidden among the big
beams and pipes under the roof.
AS soon as the butcher closes his stall
this tabby curls himself up under the
block or in soft cushion on the desk,
and promptly goes to sleep. Maybe he
will awake once in while to chase a
stray rat into its hole, but that is all he
ever does
When the last stall is closed a new,
long drawn out and hungry, is heard. 1t
is followed by other calls equally hungry
and hollow, and down the cats troop.
The agile ones jump from beam to beam,
and from stall to ST u, until the floor is
reached. The timld ones come down
more cautiously In five minutes the
lower part of the market is alive. To
reporter who visited the market at mid
night recently the sight was startling.
There were cats on the floor, cats ON the
blocks. cats on the fish stands, cats on
the desks. and, in fact, cats everywhere.
There were white cats, black cats, tiger
cats, yellow cats, brown cats, and blue
cats; disreputable cats, handsome cats,
proud cats, lame cats, fighting cats, peace
full cats, runaway cats, sad cats, lively
cats, sick cats, big cats, little cats, and
kittens. If there was'one there were 300.
and to a cat artist the place would have
been paradise. Some of the cats
howled simply because they had nothing
else to do. Some were hungry and sour
ried around among the refuse boxes for
choice scraps; some were quiet and con-
tent to sit in little groups and purr softly
to one another, and others looked for
fight and found plenty of it.
During one of these periods of excite
ment the visitor, accompanied by the
Waterman, followed the noise and ar
rived on the scene just in time to see a
big black cat throw his opponent, a
yellow tom, on the floor and bury his
teeth in his throat Grouped about the
fighters were five other cats that made
up for their inactivity by bowling. Dur
no Hrrhf OF ~ ln 20 do n
move and each watched the contestants
closely.
Sullivan is at his work again, said
the Waterman. "There'n be dead cat
in minute.
He was right. The Waterman picked
up the body of the cat and said admir-
ingly:
Sullivan, you're dandy, but you
give me more troL lie luggin' out dead
cats than yer worth.
The black cat di1 not bulge an inch
until the watchl an had thrown the
victim into barrel at the door. Then
he smoothed down his fur, and when
last seen was in pursuit of big white
cat that had stolen bone from him.
The only other cat that has name and
areputation in the market is "Murley,
a huge tiger, with hang dog, sneak
thief expression about his face. He
fights only with small cats and kittens,
and these he kills whenever he can.
Sullivan has often chased him, but
NIurley is an expert climber and manages
to get away among the rafters. He is
held in great contempt by all the market
men, who spend many leisure moments
during the day throwing bones and
potatoes at him as he sleeps away in his
favorte nook. One day a big potato
struck him and knocked him off his
perch 80 feet from the floor. He fell
squarely on his feet, after turning three
somersaults, and ran away as if nothing
had happened.
Allnight long the cats reigned supreme,
and at the first break of day they
cIambered up to their nests and hiding
places. The hungry had fed themselves,
the fighters lad been fought. and the sad
ones had told their stories to sympathetic
listeners.
Ten minutes later, when the early
purchasers began to troop in the market
not cat was to be seen except the slick
domestic tabby on the block just waking
up Recorder.