The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-08-31
MICE DINE WITH HIM.
Colonel Coles Company in the Memphis
 Courthouse Library.

SoioheA Soie SolhpdHy III the MempnlS Courthouse Library.
 Colonel Cole, who is the presiding
 genius of the Courthouse Library is a | remarkable man. Colonel Cole has fought Indians in the canons of the
 West, he has followed narrow trails
 over the Rockies, has hunted the bison
 and buffalo on the broad and rolling plains of Colorado, has banned gold in
 Montana mountains streams, and has
 led a command in the land of the Montezumas.
 The Courthouse Library is located on
 the top floor. It is an old ramshackle apartment, with the ceiling cracked in
 sections and a general air of desuetude
 and desolation about it. It is here
 amid several thousands volumes of
 musty and calf-boun lore that Colonel
 Cole sits through the long hot summer days. No breeze ever finds it's way into
 the Courthouse Library, and at all hours of the day stiffness hangs over
 the place like a pail. Once in a while
 perhaps, some lawyers may wander in
 to look up a legal question or refresh
 his memory with a glance at the
 shelves, but beyond this the silence re-
 mains unbroken.
 But Colonel Cole is not lonesome, nor
 does he mind the gloomy surroundings
 and their accompanying mold. He has
 friends-small, interesting, vivacious,
 piquant pets. They know him and he
 has fatherly regard for their welfare. These friends are the mice. These mice have taken advantage of the cracks and crannies in the courthouse. and
 have established well-populated colo nies which seem to flourish, though
 on what they subsist is a mystery The family which has made it's home in the library is more fortunate than
 the other tribes of rodents which have been populating the building It is this family that Colonel Cole has taken
 under his fatherly protection. They
 possess a rare quality of intelligence
 and know the hours of the day as well
 as the clock in the Methodist Church a block away. In several places the | flooring has been cut, leaving small | holes, and to and from these the mice pass all day, walking and running about with no seeming fear When | Colonel Coe first arrives in the morn | ing he gives these mice their break | fast. He had peculiar way of calling | them, and at the first sound of his | voice they scamper to the small open ings in the floor, protrude their smooth
 meat-looking heads in an inquiring
 way, and then saunter out and gather in circle about his feet
 | After this their preceptor breaks a biscuit and divides it among them. | They eat with nice discrimination and
 with much more regard for etiquette | than a great many people, and after | finishing a meal brush the crumbs out | of their delicate whiskers with a grace l pleasing to watch. Colonel Cole feeds | these mice at regular intervals during the day, and they know just when the feeding time comes When at noon l the librarian eats his lunch the mem bers of his family are given an elabor- ate repast. Sometimes it is not con- | venient to eat this lunch at noon and | Colonel Cole defers the important duty. | On such occasions the mice become
 restless and climb up the table legs and upon the coat and shoulders of the | man who withholds their dinner. Colo nel Cole does not object to this and they climb up his legs and he will push them off in a good natured way and | open his lunch.
 There is in the office of the librarian
 dilapidated dictionary holder of anti auated pattern and decrepit underpin- | nings. Taking small fragment of
 biscuit, Colonel Cole ties about it piece of ordinary wrapping cord and suspends it about three inches above the floor, attaching the other end to the stand above mentioned. This is a
 signal of play, and the tribe make run ming jumps for the bread. It is a lit- tie too high and the highest jumper
 can just touch the bread with his nose.
 They run about the stand, fight each other, and roll over like kittens en-
 toying romp, and to end it all
 motherly old mouse climbs to the top
 of the stand, and, taking the string
 between her two front feet, deftly
 draws the bread up, much after the fashion of drawing bucket of water from well. When the bread is reached she breaks it from the string and let's, it fall. The hungry family
 below soon dispose of 1t, and again re-
 tire to the silence of their homes be-
 meath the floor.-Memphis Commercial
 Appeal.