Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-05-30
TOM rooTs AND sNooPERkArz.
Two Remarkable Cats Who Have Done
Some Remarkable Things.

Two Remarkable Cats Who Have Done
Some Remarkable Things.
Mr.. Christian Gudebrod of New York
recently had occasion to mourn the loss
of his favorite cat, SnooperkatZ, that an
imal having nysteriously disappeared.
4 reporter of Tho Sun called upon Mr..
Gudebrod to ascertain the facts in the
case.
As tho reporter entered his Office he
heard hoarso Scat, d--n you" and
the next moment big black cat came
flving through the air. The moment it
landed on its feet it darted through the
open door and flew down the stairs just
in the nick of time, for ont of an inner
room ran Mr.. Gudebrod with an empty
inkstand appraised in his hand.
Pardon me-" he said, stopping short,
but that cat-er-did you wish to sec
me?"
The reporter explained the object of
his visit and was invited into Mr.. Guide
brod's private Office. Mr. Gudebrod
seemed to be much affected over the alb
sence of his Maltese cat.
"Oh, sir" he said, unless You are
lover of cats you can have no idea how
feel about Snooperkatz. There was
only only one cat in the world hike him,
and he's now dead. Have a cigar"
When man looks you straight i'll the
eve and maintains an earnest face and
speaks in fsrvent tones, it would be cruel
to entertain captious suspicious.
Eyes, sir; that other cat is dead. How
did he die? Well, sir, it's rather re-
markable story. and don't ask You to
believe it, but nevertheless l will tell it
to you. Tom TootS-that was his name
lived in my apartments, and when |
was not ut home he had the run of the
place. He WAS wonderful cat and
could leap and stand on his hind legs and
on his fore legs like II trained dog. He
wasn't very pretty to look at, because he
had lost the hair on his back and his tail.
You see one day he upset n bottle of
mucilaSe and got the stuff all over his
back and paws. l took him into the
bathroom and let the water run on him
until he was clean. To my great sur
prise he liked the washing very much,
and the very next day he upset the mu-
cilagc on purpose and went into the bath
to wash himself, He happened, how
ever, to turn on the hot water, and be-
fore he could ret ont all the hair had
been scalded off his back. You have no
idea how bad l felt about his disfgure-
ment, for he had been n very handsome
cat.
We'll, rs l was telling You, he was
quite n gymnast, and nothing gave him
SO much delight as toperform his tricks.
| rugged up II swing in the window, and
Tom Toots used to climb up and swing
i'll and ont. Through the carcleSSness of
q servant. 4 glassful of whisky was left
on the table one afternoon, and Tom
Toots upset it and licked it mp. 1t must
have gone to his head. for when mo-
meut later he began to swing in and ont
Of the window he lost his balance and
fell into the street below and was killed"
Mr.. Gudebrod looked his visitor full
in the eyes and seemed to be affected.
After clearing his throat-his voice had
grown quite husky-he went on:
well, sir, you wanted to know about
Snooperkatz. Snooperkatz was more in
telligent than Tom Toots, but he hadn't
Tom Toots' lovable disposition. He was
always up 10 mischief, and never could
trust him. but in spite of all his faults |
became attached TO him. He was a beau
tiful cat, very beautiful cat; but sir,
he was not honest. remember"
just then the door opened softly, and
the head of y yellow cat polied in. Mr..
Gudebrod jumped to his feet and with
Il Yell hurled the inkstand at the cats
head. Whether it was from long cNpc-
rience or 10y mere chance. his aim was
true. The cIt caught the missile plump
upon his nose. and with Il howl fled from
the room.
Pardon me, our thut-er-,n, YES. As
l was saying. Snooperkatz WAS br"uti-
full. but he WIS not to be trusted. Why,
sir. that cat would steal postage stamps
from my desk and take them down TO
the milkman in the morning 10 buy milk
for himself! Heaven only knows where
he ever learned that trick. but he did il
every morning. As soon us ht heard the
milk wagon ratIlirg down the street
he would pull out the little drawer in
which keep my stamps. lick mp 5 or 10
cents worth and then run down stairs
IL the m;.kmau. did not know of this
for Il long time. but when the janitor
told me about ii | questioned the milk
man. and the rascal confessed. Let me
give You IA light.
Yes. SuOOperkatz was very dishonest.
The depth of his depravity was some
thing startling. Why, sir, that cat would
climb up the screen door of the elevator
and push the button, and rs soon as he
saw the elevator coming up he would run
down the stairs and eat up the elevator
boys lunch. And yet, although know
you will not believe it. I became strong
fto,.ho1 T. that cot owl NN.h.n,, Iva Il
appeared l cannot tell you how grieved
felt"
Has no one seen mm since he went
away?"
LAS far rs have been able to ascer-
tain-no. AS result of advertising and
sending out circulars Offering n reward,
an army of small boys and men and
women have come here with cats Of all
kinds and sizes and colors and DISPOSE |
tons, but no one has brought back
SnooperkatZ. AS Il matter of fact, |
have been forced to the conclusion that
those people were not sincere, for when
they found that they could not claim the |
reward they departed, leaving the cat
they had brought behind them. AS o
result we have been overrun with cats |
ever since our Snooperkatz disappeared. |
To be perfectly frank with you, it was
one of those abandoned cats that you
SAW me treat so violently rs You came
in. Aud-er- this yellow one, too
yes. But we never treated Snooperkatz
like that--oh, dear. no."
Hard to Keep Clean.
Haverly-No man can take charge Of
the street cleaning department without |