The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1892-07-01
MONKEYS UTILIZE A PAT.
They Beguile Him with Caresses and
Then Use Him as Cushion.

Then Use Him as Cushion.
There are now four monkeys at Lincoln
park. They are in possession of strange
playfellow, whom they are utilizing as
only a monkeys ingenuity can suggest.
Adjoining their cage stands another con
tanning a large number of white rats. For
many months the pink eyed rodents have
excited great deal of inquisitiveness on
the part of their four neighbors The
monkeys have spent the greater portion of
their time peering al the rats, and the lat
ter have exhibited similar interest in the
monkeys. A week ago the keeper trans
ferred the largest white rat in the cage to
the monkeys den. to see what would be
the effect of the nearer companonship.
When the rat made his advent into the
monkeys cage the cunning animals
screamed with delight but none of them
made the slightest effort to harm the Wis
itor On the contrary, they showed a
marked willingness TO share their food with
the newcomer, and the rat was allowed to
remain
With reluctance born of distrust, the
monkeys hesitated for long time before
cultvating closer friendship. Finally,
one afternoon, while the rat was fast asleep
beneath the trapeze, which is suspended
quisitive monkey in the cage cautiously
lowered himself from it by his tail A lit
tie black paw was extended and five tawny
fingers hesitatingly stroked the rats soft
fur. 1t seemed to answer his expectation,
and in a few moments fast friendship had
been formed, and there was harmony among
all concerned
One after the other the monkeys fondled
the rat in their arms and stroked its fur
They would climb with it to the highest
perch of their cage, but not once did they
drop it or show the least inclination to
harm their pet Monkeys and rat ate from
the same dish, and frequently sedate old
1 fellow would interrupt his own meal to
give choice morsel to his little white com
panion or to stroke his back as the monkey
family gathered together around the dish.
This state of affairs continued for sew
eral days, until in an unfortunate moment
for the rat, at least-a new use was
I found for it. Monkeys, like human beings,
delight in comfort. The monkey cage is
not fitted up with cushioned seats and the
occupants seemed to long for life of ease.
After much apparent thinking and scratch
ing of ears, one old monkey decided to util-
ize the rat for cushion. Ii gently
placed the rat on the floor of the cage and
Ntt1 vi IT, nt TAU tliu uOb ulONe-ln ldCtt
he seemed to enjoy the new use to which
he had been placed-and the intelligent
monkey chartered with delight. The rest
tried it, and they were equally pleased.
From that day until now the white rat
has served as a seat for the monkeys, who
become almost frantic when an attempt is
made to remove their luxury. They have
continued to be as kind and gentle with
their pet as ever and, since the rat seems
to be none the worse for the peculiar use
to which he has been put, he has been al
lowed to remain.
Visitors at the Zoo spend much time
watching the queer proceedings, and at al
most any time one can find demure mon
key seated upon the patient rat scratching
his ear or picking his teeth in sagacious
monkey meditation. Chicago Tribune
It is computed that at the opening of the
present century there were about q, OOO, 600
people who spoke the English tongue. The
French speaking people at that time num-
bered about 81 100000 and the Germans ex-
ceeded 30000.00O