The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-10-19
A HOME FOR POOR PUSSY.
Where Cats Find Refuge and Safety fron
Boys and Dogs.


Boys and Dogs.
In Pottstown, Pa, Were broad
brimmed theology still casts beDevo-
lent shade, a refuge for cars is ore of
the charitable institutions. In .his
establishment all sorts and conditions
of pussies are nursed and cared for,
irrespective of age, sex or religion. A
coFaforta BILE middle-aged woman is the
matron and physician in charge, while
small girl is employed as assistant.
Boys are not allowed; they excite tho
cats.
So sympathetic Is the matron's ra-
ture, so tender and slSillful her hands,
that she has large outside practice in
addition to her hospital work. The
| worst MANNED cat is carried in basket
softly lined; little kittens are conveyed
to the institution in the pockets of the
superintendent while the wounded are
bound up with a magic salve spread on
| rags. Broken legs are set in splints,
while the animals whose backs are
broken, are put out of their agony
| with chloroform and decently inferred.
Shy kittens are held by the nape of
the neck while dab OF butter is put
upon each of their feet. Then they
are set down in a corner to lick their
paws and reflect. BY the time the but
| ter and cheerful reflections are abb
| sorbed. the little ones show renewed
| confidence in human nature by trotting
up to the matron and demanding more
butter
One room is entirely given up to tho
hospital ward Ingenious little ham
moclls rest the broken bones and suffer-
| ing bodies while strong odor of cat
| nip fills the air. But catnip is by no
means the only medicine employed In
| fact, the matron asserts that it serves
rather as tonic than as an absolute
cure. She processes to know much Of
herbs and decoctions of mysterious
properties. The kittens. too young to
lap milk. are fed by means of glass
| eye-dropper. In the same manner cat
nip tea is administered to them. 1t Is
n plan to be recommended for use by
persons who are obliged to bring up
motherless eats by hand from extreme
| infancy. COnvalescents in the institu-
| ton described are cared for on n sunny
| porch, wire netting preventing excl
ting visits from strange and healthy
cats in neighboring yards.
| Through all this kind treatment the
cat nature seems to remain unchanged,
notwithstanding the matron's asser.
| ton that her patients are very "huming
In their feelings" From time to time
they make their escape into the outside
world through hole in the back fence.
| Some times such adventurers are re-
turned in the hospital basket, one-eyed,
no-tailed. and in one instance lacking
paw. With tears in her eyes the mat
ron told of the tragic end of one hand
some Maltese which she had brought
up from kittenhood. Said she
at were a beautiful cat, but bad
When he got big enough he would
squeeze out under the gate and stay
away nights. There were a sick lady
about block away, and Tom would go
and yell under her window. One night
her husband got mad and threw a rock
at him. 1t knocked him off the fence,
and he died"
The institution takes in boarders,
though with some reluctance, because,
as the matron says, the boarding
pussies gives themselves airs and stirs
up the other cats" But the boarders
pay well, and good mouscrs are rented
out, while many cat lovers relieve the
home of pretty kittens. The estab-
lishment was originally endowed by an
old lady with sum of money sufficient
for its support, and it receives occa-
sional donations. Small sums are con-
tributed by little girls, who have been
bereaved Of beloved PUSHES but the
small boys seem to send their pennies
! further on.-Washington Star.