The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-08-05
COLDS STORAGE CATS
Felines That 1.-Two Constantly in
Freezing Temperature.
Through Their Perpetual Exposure TO the
FrlGid Atmosphere the Animals
Hsvo Acquired Heavy Goats
o. Eur.

IN the cold-Storage warehouses of
Pittsburgh, says the Pittsburgh Dis
patch, when they were established.
there were no rats or mice. The tenn
pera ture in the cold rooms was too low
TO admit the existence OF these noe
turnal animals. The keepers OF these
places soon found. however. that the
rat was an animal of remarkable sdap-
liability. The ordinary rat Of the
United States came originally from Nor
way In that country. n2turallStS say
the animal was much better prepared
10 withstand the climate than 1t is II
this country were 1t suddenly trans
ported to a cold climate. II any orci-
nary cellar rat were put in cage, con
veyed by ship 10 Spitzbergen, and Re-
leased on that icy island. IL would
freeze TO death in few hours. Yet
there are rats in Spitzbcr-en- These
rats are fat rascals. with long and very
thick hair, and have adapted them
selves to the temperature OF the region.
II is just such rats as those Of the
northern region that have adapted
themselves to the cold-storage ware
houses. After some OF these houses
had been in operation for few months
the attendants found that rats were at
work in the rooms where the .tempera-
ture was constantly kept below the
freezing point In the warehouse OF
the Pittsburgh Storage company, be
fore its burning last fall, two rats
were killed by the employees. They
l. 4
fully long and thick fur, even
their tapering, snakelike tails being
covered by a thick growth Of hair.
Rats of this variety, whose coats have
adapted themselves to the conditions
under which they live, have domesti-
Gated themselves in all the storage
warehouses in Pittsburgh
The prevalence of rats in these places
led to the introduction Of cats. Now
IT is well known that pussy is lover
OF warmth and comfort. She delights
70 lie close 70 the fire when the snow
Is drifting around the house, and 10
wash her face with her warm, soft
paws. Cats, however. have a great
adaptability TO conditions The wild
cat of Africa, now extinct and living
only in the form of its domestic congo
ner, was nursed by the Egyptians as
timepiece, and so regulated her eyes
that by glance at them the inhabi-
tant of Cairo was able to tell the time
of day without the advent of Seth War
ner.
When cats were introduced into
storage houses and turned loose in the
cold rooms they pined and died because
of the excessive cold II appears, in
the course of investigation into this
subject. that one cat was finally intro
drced into the rooms of the Pennsyl-
vania Storage company which was able
to withstand the low temperature. She
was a cat of unusually thick fur and
she thrived and grew Fat In quarters
where the temperature was below
thirty degrees BY careful nursing
brood Of seven kittens was developed
in this warehouse into sturdy, thick
furred cats that love Tn Icelandic
cline They have been distributed
among the other cold-stOrage houses Of
Pittsburgh, and have created peculiar
breed of cats, adapted to the conditions
under which they must exist TO find
their prey.
These cats are short-tailed- chubby
pussies. with hair as thick and full of
under-fur as the wild cats of the Cana
dian woods One of the remarkable
things about them Is the development
Of their 'feelgrS- These long, stiff
hairs that protrude from eats noss
and eyebrows are, IN the ordinary do
mestic feline, about three inches long
In the cats cultivated in the cold ware
houses the 'feelers' grow to length
Of fi+e and SIX inches This is probably
because the light IS dim in these places
and all movements must be the result
of the feeling sense. In these two re-
spects. the growth Of thick hair and
the Development Of 'feelers,- the DO
rnestic cat shows the operation Of OAR
wins well-lonovn law Of the survival
OF the fittest IN the development of
their conditions adapted 70 the snvS
ronment-
The storage people say that = one of
these.suuY cAts is taken. mo the onsn