The morning times., 1896-11-08
-Four
Clever
| Cats.
BY O. F. GEMB.

"They are lust common cats remarkcu
the professor There is nothing particular
about them except that they have lived
with me two years and will do anything to
please me, no matter how they dislike it
Now, Prince, III ere, that brindle fellow has
a particular dread of fire; watch him.
Prince, you scoundrel! wake up there,
and come here 10 me-
Prince, who was taking genuine cat
nap on his high stool, stirred lazily and
looked undecided whether 10 obey or not.
I'm getting ready, Prince!'' the train
er admonistied, taking d box OF matches
from his pocket. There was sou ht-
tie thud as Prince jumped to the iloor,
and then he came slowly forward before
the footlights; the footlights being only
figurative in this case, for il was day
lgnt and they Were not lit.
They are lazy in the morning. re-
marked Princes master. You know it
IS the nature OF cats to be most active
= night IL is at night that they catch
..'e most rats
&c professor held up a gaily-striped
rcop he selected. bid Prince jump through
81. This he did two or three times, and
Shen some lnilammable stuff was put Oh the
.:oop;i il was set on fire, and the docile cat,
after demurrlng short time, and showing
i,lainly his disnciination, leaped through
ne flaming circle. This done he ran off
his stool and assumed his old attitude,
much as 10 say that he had had enough
oi such doings.
How do / train them" said the pro-
fessor. Not by britsng, nor yet through
lear. / should never feel that i could
trust them if / depended on such means.
i have been constantly with my cats,
oil fr..lr ~. ,tsrI ba,r
were children. l found out their taste i'll
the way of eating, and catered to it, and
treated them we'll, but never got cat
10 come TO me merely because / had
something he wanted. Watch Niger kiss
me" He stopped over the black cat on
The stool next To Prince, and the animal
lifted its head and rubbed the masters
cheek affeclionately, licking his ear with
It's tongue.
Niger turns a backward somersault," ;"
the writer was told. He is the only cat
living who is able 10 do it,
w hat made me think of training cats?c
Well! l had trained dogs, horses, mon
keys and kangaroo. My kangaroos were
a great success, but / took <aem to Chi
cago and they died. The climate was
so different and they Were not used to it.
One day while walking near a pond in
The suburbs of London / saw an old lady
and baSEct- She had cat in the bas-
kel ana she offered two boys who were
idlinsnear SIX pence III they would drownit.
They were Crazy Tor the Job but had
nothing To lie the cat with and came
IL ask me for a piece of cord. Always
fond of animals, l hated to see the crea-
ture killed and as l had piece OF string
In my POCKET / offered to tie the victim
for them. Theg earned the SIX pence and
the cat, or iIalf-grown kitten, was pitched
into the pond | purposely tied the string
SO that 1t could get loose and had the
satisfaction afterward of seeing 1t scram-
Die out drenched and shivcring. and crawl
of i'm The sun. | discovered accidentally
two or three days later that that kitten
mad found its way back TO its old home, Ger.
tainly ten miles from the pond. 1t had
been carried TO the spot in a closed basket
ana th. IA Il that ii had sense enough to
make its way back suggestedto me that cats
could be trained
And did you begin with the kittcno'
Yes Darkie. there. with the white SPOT
on MS forcn"ai IN InaU identical kitten.
had no difficulty in persuading the old
iady 10 let me have him. A II my cat-actors
were gwen me. Prince, proud as he looks
now. was a sutty little kitten sitting in
me ashes OF q chimney corner down South.
j had stopped in at a negro cabin in yir-
ginia TO get out of a show er. and he looked
at me so inteligently when | stroked him
that begged him from his mistress.
Tom was born on board ship. He has
. bit OF Maltese blood, but it doesn't in
trfere with his work. He can walk fur