The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-05

man uuQS LEdt DN WOunQlnE the cat ne
has injured his own wife. In Sternberg's
folklore or Northamptonshire. we
read that a WOodman out working in
the forest had his dinner stolen every day
by cat. Annoyed at the repeated theft,
he lies IN wait for the cat and succeeds
in cutting Off her paw, when 10. on his
return home he finds his wife minus a
II may not be generally known that
witch stories OF this kind survive in our
own day and in our own country. Mr.
j. Hampden Porter got the following
story, at first hand and from people who
Deliet ed in it. and we quote from his
account in the Journal OF American Folk
Lore;
Mr.. H owned a mill among the
Smoky Mountains in Georgia Three Of
nis millers died successfully Of some OBJ
scure disease that puzzled the doctors
After a while people felt afraid Of go
ing into the place. which became va
cant; but one of the neighbors who lived
down the stream volunteered to run the
mill The first evening. while kindling a
fire on the hearth, a brindled cat stole
out Of the chimney, and quietly took a
place IN a dark corner near the door. BY
and by the cat got up and walled at
/ the door, clawing to be let out. She
rubbed against the mans legs and look
ed up at him. Then his worst fears We're
realized, and seizing an AK, he struck at
! her, cutting of one foot. With wild
half-human scream, the creature darted
up the chimney and disappeared, while
he, thoroughly unnerVed FASTENED home
and found his wife bleeding to death from
a severed hand.
Scattered through the volumes of the
Journal of American Folklore are nu-
merous references to cats and witches,
showing how deep-seated and persistent
the witchcraft superstition is in this coun-
try. These medieval notions were
brought here by the immigrants from
Germany, Austria, Russia, England and
Ireland and by the negroes from Africa
Every once in a while they crop out in
various parts of the United States, es-
pecially in those places where the imml-
| grants have remained by themselves or
secluded. AT the present day" says the
Rev. I. F. Dyer, in Germany there IS
a deep-rooted belief that witches, when
bent on doing mischief, take the form
/ of a cat, and many stories are current
of their frightening their victims by ap-
| pearing as the nightmare or, II dis
| honestly disposed, of their drinking their
/ neighbors' beer" And what could be
more outrageous in the German mind than
| drinking ones neighbours beer!
Ever since her association with witches
| pussy has had a bad name. There has
/ been a strange prejudice against her, ana
/ on this account. in days gone by, cats
were often tormented or otherwise mis-
| used by the ignorant common people.
| Brand in his Popular Antiquities refers
/ to the old English practice OF hanging
up cats in baskets and shooting at them
/ with arrows. In some counties they were
enclosed, with quantity OF Soot, IN
wooden bottles suspended on a line, and
he who would beat out the bottom of
/ the bottles as he ran under II, and yet
| escape its contents, was regarded as
] quite nero OF the brutal sport. ENl-
/ IDENTIFY the practice was common in Eng
/ land, for Shakespeare alludes to II in
| Much Ado About Nothing" where Ben
edict says: Hang me in bottle like
/ a cat and shoot at me-.
on the other hand, in some places the
I bad name and reputation of the cat nave
saved her from speedy death. The Eu-
ropean peasant often regards the cat as
an uncanny creature, and considers II
+ bad luck to kill one. The negroes of the
south are afraid to kill a cat, although
3 vyil1 extent.
/ The strange prejudice against the cat is
4 reelected in various ways in folklore. The
/ popular notion of the cat is one of dis
! trust there is no confidence in her good
/ qualities, or that she will not bring bad
4 luck. And so we find more things said
/ against her than in her favor. In Ireland
/ people entering a house say, GOD save
/ all here except the cat" However, the
Germans think that it is a good thing to
have cats around the house. who has a
cat has happy married life says a Ger
From early time it has been a bad sign
to have a cat cross your path. If this oc-
turn back to the house. In the northeast
| of Scotland it is considered unlucky to
/ meet black cat at any time. If setting
/ out on journey you meet cat and
should happen to look 1t squarely in the
1 face, you should postpone your journey.
/ The sneezing OF a cat is considered an i'll
omen. In some parts of England it is a
/ sign that the family will all have colds
i In Sussex If cat sneezes she must at once
De put out OF the mousse TOT lnIee Sucn
explosions would bring misfortune upon
! the family. 1t should be added here that
ii is now generally admitted that domestic
| animals transport the germs Of disease.
The popular notion that cats suck the
breath of children, and so cause their
death, is worldwide. Even adults are
sometimes afraid of having cats in their
sleeping rooms. Mr. Mooney in his ac-
count Of the folklore of the poor whites
of the Carolina mountains, says that they
hold 1t is unlucky to take a cat from a
house. Among these people, ut BODIES III
fortune to a child when the cat appears
to be unusually attached to it,"