Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-11-05

the basement.
Formerly great damage was often done by
mischievous rodents, which chewed holes in the
! sacks and thought nothing of boring clear
through bags of letters IN u night. Troubles of
! this sort no longer occur now that the official
pussies stand guard. Each city postmaster is
allowed from S8 to $40 year for the keeping
OF his feline staff sending his estimate for '.cat
meat to Washington at the beginning of each
| quarter. Care is taken not to feed the animals
| too high IN order that their appetite for live
game may be keen. 1t is laid down as a rule
that no meat shall be given when there is
mouse or a rat to be caught.
IN THE GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS
Cats are kept in all the government buildings
at Washington. In that of the State, War and
Navy Departments they are employed not only
to protect the priceless papers stored there. but
to guard against fire. Twice the War Depart
ment has been set afire by rats gnawing matches
on one of these occasions in the office of the
Secretary of War. in the middle of the night
A year ago the treasury had nine cats. but they
made themselves obnoxious and all were given
away but two. These are as wild possible,
getting living by foraging for themselves.
Mice are VIGOROUSLY fond of chewing up money,
but they have no chance to get AT Uncle Sans
paper cash. which is kept in rooms with iron
walls that defy their teeth. Rats occupied the
pension Office in great numbers while il was in
process of building. taking up their residence
in The walls and floors rs fast as they were put
up. Two years ago four cats were introduced
there to guard the records of the old soldiers and
they have driven most of the vermin away The
best rat killer of the quartet not long ago. be-
ing frightened at something. fell from the sec
Ond gallery fifty feet to the tiled floor and was
killed. The White House has two cats one a
black and white female, kept in the kitchen,
and the other a black Tom. which belongs in
the stable. Mrs. Harrison had four lovely NAL
| tese pussies, but they all disappeared
very likely.
AT THE CAPITOL.
But the Capitol is the greatest place in Wash
ingtOn for cats. The huge structure is fairly
aswarm with them. and at night they scamper
about in troops. Nobody knows how many Of
them there are. but the watchmen reckon them
BY scores. They are all Migrants and wild as
hawks. In summer they are scattered about
the neighborhocd TO some extent but in winter
they gather within the building At about 10
o'clock every night they begin a mad racing
through the empty corridors, which are made
to resound with their cries. The acoustic eff
fects produced are astonishing. Let single
grimalkin lift up his voice in statuary hail. IA
nous for its echoes, and the silence of the night
is broken by yell like that of damned soul
as loud as a locomotive whistle. A favorite
place for cat concerts Is the whispering gallery
| down below, known the crypt" where the
! feeblest sound is magnifie1 into a roar. I'm
agine :he demoniacal ensemble of half dozen
| feline songsters in such spot.
IN ENGLAND.
The British government PAYS certain sums
regularly passed through the accounts quar-
terly, for providing and keeping cats in public
Offices, dock yards ard store houses. Pats and
mice used TO do great damage to paper in the
imperial printing Office of France but now a
sum is appropriated yearly for maintaining a
staff OF cats there. which are fed twice dav
and carefully looked afte r by man who is paid
for that service. In Vienna four cats are en-
ployed by the authorities 10 catch mice on the
premises of the municipality. A regular allow
ance IL voted for their keep. and after a reason
able period of Gctive service they are placed on
the retired list with comfortable pensions. The
Midland railway of England supports eight cats
at Trent, which are borne or the company's
pay rolls for milk and meat. Their duty is to
guard hundreds of thousands of empty corn
sacks, and the importance of their work NAV be
estimated from the fact that twelve women are
engaged all the gear around in darning holes
eaten by rats in the sacks.
WHY CATS ARE INVALUABLE
1t is probable that railways in this country
would find it well worth while to keep cats at
their PRINCIPAL stations for the protection of
perishsble freight against rats and MICE Peo-
pie who are given to running down the feline
tribe do not realize how valuable the PUSHES
to msEhind. In truth they are indis-
I
would oyerrun all houses. buildings and cult
waited land. They are invaluable TO farmers.
protecting the poultry yards and guarding the
crops against yermin, which wouid otherwise
devour the fresh-sovn seed in the fields and
eat the grain before it was ripe for harvest
USED As CLOCKS.
The Chinese utilize cats as clocks They say
that the pupils Of their eyes grow steadily rar-
rover until ~ noon. when they are like fre
hair lines. gradually dilating after that hour.
When Chinaman wants to know what time it
Is he picks up cat ard finds out There is an
obi story of surgeon confined for debt in the
Fleet prison of London. who only escaped star
vation BY employing shillful tabby to catch
mice :or his food. Notwithstanding the accu-
sntion of selfislness brought against them. cats
are very atectionatc animals, usually attaching
themselves 10 one person in preference to all
others.
ATTACHMENT FOR OTHER ANIMALS.
Cats often become very much attached to
dogs. horses and even COWS. They will some
times rear young rats, rabbits, squirrels, pup
pies. hedgehogs and pigeons. There is record
of an instance where two cats were brought mp
by female dog. cat has been known to
make friends with sitting hen and to help
Keep the Young chicks warm by permitting
them to creep under her. The fact has yet to
be realized that the cat shares with the dog the
instinct TO protect Its masters property. A
cat properly trained will not touch tame rab-
bits, though it kills and brings home wild Ones
and its appetite for birds pauses at the domes-
tic chickens and ducklings. PUSHES are used
for peculiar kind of sport in Belgium. where
they arc tied up in sacks and let loose simul-
taneously, The one that gets home first winning
prize. II is recorded that in one such cat
race The prize was won by blind cot.
CAT SHOWS
! The cat shows frequently held in England
have done much to develop popular interest in
cats. Finely bred animals command at present
very high prices. The various breeds are as
well recognized and the points for judging
| them as carefully determined as with dogs
There Is a standing offer now Of 200 guineas
/ for male tortoise shell. Oddly enough,
tortoise shell cats seem always to be females.
At all events only one male Of that kind has
thus FAR been known of in England. 1t should
be borne in mind that this relates to the sort of
tortoise shell that is black, red and yellow in
patches, with no white
THE ROYAL CAT OF SIAM.
Within the last few years a new breed of cats
has be en- imported into Europe. 1t is the
royal cat Of Siam. For centuries past the only
| pure stock Of this variety has been kept con-
fined to the palace of the Siamese king and the
] most Jealous care has been taken to prevent
any specimens from being carried awav
Nevertheless a few have been obtained, though
| with great difhculty. These cats are Of an un-
usually anectionate disposition. They are of a
4 Ia V.xI g. 1T