The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1896-09-12
CATS OF HIGH DEGREE
Shah of Persia Keeps Fifty Blooa.
Precious Mousers.

II Is easy to 7VVUu1tt the un1yeTs5I
popularity of the household cat ~
simplicity and gracefulness, its ~
feetionatc and inoffensive manners -
dear it to every unit of the farnil..
Puss has been the pet of popes ass
princes, peers and peasants, ever sinas
its complete domestieation. Plptaro,,
embalmed his fayorite cat; Card;aat
Wolsey always gave his own sea4 "a
honor by his chair; Rosseau, Sir Isaa.
Newton and host of other immor
tails were devoted to their cats IT..
species is well represented, too, in the
English royal houses. The shah ~
Persia surpasses all otherroyal devotees
in enthusiasm for cats. He has 50 NJ
them, and they have attendants of tbair
own, with special rooms for meals
When the shah goes away, they 90 too
carried by men on horseback. The late
car was very fond of the feline tribe
When visiting the king of Denmark ON
one occasion he alarmed the menials
by rushing out very early in the morn.
ing to the gardens. From the window
of his sleeping room he had seen bio
dog attack his fayorite black cat, and
without staying to complete his toilet
he had fed to her rescue.
The famous royal cat of Siam il n
large white, short-haired variety, with
black face and peculiar formation of
ear. 1t is a persona grata at the court
of Siam. It's preeiousness may he
Judged from the fact that it once tool.
three gentlemen of influence three
months to procure one for an English
consul at Bangkok. Our cat, according
to Sir John Mivart, is descended from
the domestic cat of the Egyptians.
among whose inscriptions it is men.
toned as early as 1854 b. c., and was
certainly domesticated in Egypt IS cen.
turtles before Christ.
1t was the object of extreme yenera.
ton, and Herodotus mentions that on
the death of their cats the Egyptians
shaved their eyebrows, and were always
more anxious to save their cats than
their household goods from a eonfa.
grafton. Mivart believes that the cat
was domesticated in Europe before the
| Christian eras The same observer
awards puss a very high range of in.
stinctive emotions, and enumerates no
less than is 'actiye powers" possessed
| by the cat. Over and above these phys
zeal faculties, other observers have
claimed for the eat a certain hygienie
value.
When in our sweet leisure moments
we toy and fondle our hearthstone
friend we unconseiously derive in turn
Il current of electricity. Its sureharge
OF electric fluid,n says Rev. j. G. Wood,
"makes it a beneficial companion for
persons suffering from nervous COM
plants" OF all the numerous variants,
the English short-haired cats are said
to be the best for practical purposes of
mouse and rat catching.
Though of less practical value the
long-haired Persians are in constant de.
mand at good prices. Blue-coated cats
are the most fashionable, as well
rs the scarcest, while chinehilas
come next in popularity. The
more familiar blacks and whites,
and even the common tabby, have all,
however, their hosts of friends and
guardians. a strange fact about the
blue-eyed cat is that it is nearly al
ways deaf.
Mr., j. Harrison Weir, n great au-
thority on the cat, once bought big
white blue-eyed beauty, which seemed
to be every inch a good cat, except that
its vocal organ was of such robustpow
er that her cries drove the household
frantic. After some strange expert
cnces the problem was solved by this
voiceful specimen being'taken to home
by a kind old lady who was herself
stone deaf,-London Standard.