The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-05-28
STRANGE THINGS AT SEA.
+ Cloud Graded Frog and a Cat That
Would Not Drown.


Would Not Drown.
A remarkable story about the Ameri-
can ship Iroquois picking live frog OF
a cloud ia midocean excited a murmur
of comment along the water front, and
had the story come TO port with almost
any other man but Captain Taylor it
might have heen doubted Taylor rep
utation for veracity is well established
in Portland. 80 the strange stcry was
taken without "A grain OF salt AND with
only a few drinks of whisky An I'm
usual tale of the sea always bnngs 10
mind another. and the frog story OF the
Iroquois was no exception
There's strange things happen on
board ship, sometimes said Al Belts.
the well known river pilot, and scrap
ing frogs of the clouds with a topmast
is not the strangest ] remember an &C.
currence on board the old clipper Plum
duff, which was so remarkable that l
am frequently accused of handling the
truth in careless manner when | re-
late IL.
"The Plumduff was en- route from
Calcutta for the Columbia in ballast,
and | was first mate under Captain
Timbertoes. Among other live stock
aboard was maltese cat. The cat be-
haved very well for the first week or two,
but when we got over on the equator She
made the night hideous with her inces-
SAINT yowling. Old Timbertoes had the
govt and did not sleep well anyway,
and this inhiction nearly made him
crazy, so one night he came out. and,
finding the cat i'll good, convenient
position, kicked her over into the sound
ing sea.
1.-THE only witness 10 the deed was a
| lascar sailor at the wheel, and when ne
| told the rest of the crew we almost had
a mutiny on our hands, as they prophe-
| sled all sorts of bad luck would happen
! to the ship Nothing came of 1t, how
ever, and as we were in good ballast
trim we came flying along i'll rafting
shape, and about 80 days after leaving
the Ganges our mudhoOk went down III
Astoria harhor. In due season the GUS
tom house boat came out, and when the
officers clambered aboard Denny Curran,
the boatman, Stacked away on his Ian
| NdIu anu HIS DOul NullO utouiit NtAN~N
the stern. A moment later we heard a
yell, and Denny was coming up the
ladder hand over hand as though the
devil was after him, and in his boat,
making a united chorus of meows,
was our old maltese cat and five halt
grown kittens.
"When Denny recovered his BREATH
he stated that, as his boat swung
around under the stern, the animal
Immediately sprang off the top OF th'
rudder, and the unusual sight nearly
frightened him to death. We then wen
back and made an examination Of TIT
rudder and found that with her claw
the abandoned cat had scratched cav
ity out of the top of the rudder, ant
while the lascar sailors had beef
} mourning her death she was engaged
in rearing family. The rudder, being
. high out of the water of course pre-
: vented her getting wet very often, AM
a number of fishbones still reposing Il
D the cavity indicated the diet which ha
: kept her alive She was taken ashore
1 and think Scott johnson, the Aston
: stevedore, has some of her descendant
yet, and to this day they will eat notl
r ing but sea fish. Portland Oregoniar