New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-04-03
TIE CAT ABOUT TOWN..
on THE HABITS OF i'oN-
DON TOMS AND TAEBiES.
From The Spectator.

and the CITY," purporting to give an approx
r,atc census Of the Lcndon cats. ana 'he 50,
mate is four hundred thousand. 81 "hl'h mn
: are "unattached." and live largely on r'l"1r,
'bccauso London is the most waa'rfui cry ~
the world" AS London is also one OF IN" c,'
est cities in the world. ii is very d"unth' II NV
waste food comes ruch in the way or ''ie uii''
ia,.hcd London eat which. like other m'troinntal
paupcls levics handsome contributors on k'iu
hearted people. whose doorstcps ana ar''S !,
sets. and also catches numbers ~ p'-. SP'',
rows rats and mice. the thrc" last II when 30
live on London refuse. which the eat cats III 'ne
NOR. convenient form Of cold sparrow or mouse.
Evidence quoted by the writer shows thii TINS Is
so for no states that il most iarts u LONDON
the. rats have been dri,cu under ground INTO the
sewers by the warfare OF the cats re h'So
holds that the latter are somewhat chaleihE III
character are losing their disk" of water ana
wet and prefer to be out in the ram.
We rather DOUBT thcs" conclusions. and b'liev"
that f the London cat differs At all from his
country cousin IT IL In selecting different hours
for his sport and urnu'eGlcnt. Tic country cat ~
more or lc.s lively Ill day and hunts regularly
In the evening. The London cat Is sleepy ana
Quiet all lay because circu:st lnc"s make nm a
very early riser 1T any rate prevent nm
having his murn.rB sleep Tn" eNplana'iDh OF
the lanEuor and cnnui + the Lonlon eat Is 70 Dc
found in the fact that lOnS before Ne appears IL
the breakfast table with "A jndri app"til" ana
general air 81 alDofucss from the world ana i'S
pleasures lie has had a Tong morning = sport
often In delightful society. and then hr"ah!dStrd
comfortably IN the kitchen. The scenes Of these
early morning hunts are various and the hour
during half the year IS one before even the
earliest Of carly riscrS are about.
IN winter the London eats often seek their
sport under cover In one district near very
lar,r and famous brewery the sporting cats so
| regularly as soon rs the brewery gates arc open
to hunt rats in tn" brewery stores. ms ~
capital fun. as there hundreds II barrels.
esther stored "working." with LITTLE patches ~
ycitty froth oozlng from tn" hungholes ana
plenty - dropped corn and grains In the
ncighhorhold to attract all thu rats from else
where Under And among thcs" barrels they
may hc hunted with success for m hour 'r inorr.
Besides the brewery rats which are said To-
drink hoc- when they can get II. there are tenn
perAncc rats" which live by the river. and. 40
far ~ We know only drink water. These form
thu grand objects 81 summer sport 10 all I"'r-
Ion cats in rnn;r Of the Thames. from the docks
in the east - ChisNick in the west. and all along
~, old muddy f,rcshore on the Surrey side.
,vhrr, no nmhankmcnt intcrvcncs 10 spoil sport
We have meyer heard 4 an instance ~ London
cats catching fish by the river probably because
u.iu very recently there have been no Ash 10
-l'ch But tn" krcnn"ss II the cats for this
riverside bunting by the uial Thames IL such
that ih,y often return covered and clothed with
mud from the fpr shore where they have either
'all.n N from tho wharscs Or hav" pursued
rat escaping across the lcavngs II tn" river ebb
EARLY MORNING. SPORTS
IN summer morning. from / ~ about ,
London ceases rlr The moment 20 belong - the
world ID, rlon and f1r the moment Is given up
- tine sole IN ioyWcnt Z The London birds and
th" London cats. ~ thi7 ally hcWit"hing hour
| p: 'h- town is lulf" beautiful then. the cats
may be-. seen At 40 other tiu". npnar hs II all
tho. .tlrV.t rrrun Gonini. masters ~ the town.
'rl,n . may h. s'.n hat u Is not FIR nothing
that ID" rtr' have fgr Srn"rltipns maintained
ih.ir lnl.r. ud"nrr and asserted their rights to
',.i.n F'.r AZ that hour all tn" dogs arc shut up
al 'hc hoys. and grown-up people, too. are
asleep Th.I. is not "grn ml.kuan about or
IN nnalranAi. i engineer zinc TO his before
breakfast work The city IL theirs. Their le-
uranDr az this time j. absolutely changed. They
stroll about ,ho streets and Gardens with an air.
They cunycrs" In tn" c"u'r- II highways. They
wall. with certain feline abandon ana momon-
t1ry iuagn.'l.,nc" over edr!ons and squares For
The time they lrc not cats but lions and tigers:
r.. 10 chang tn ,iWilc they are no longer do
uestics. but gentlemen At Large.
Icforc suugis, one midsummer morning mo
writer was Watching the early bids hy the side
= th' London river ana wondering ut the
lirht - tn dam. pair II water we're
running the mud l'ft bv the cbb. sodgc-
wlrl,crs singing. ~ they had done all night.
nnd pair ~ turtlc-d yes lrW DOWN 10 drink be
fore sunrise When thu first beams II the sun
sent long shafts II Hight DOWN the river the
s.drr- uArbcrs V.r. instantly silent and almost
Immediately the blackhirds and sparroWs and
silrl.n@s appeared upon the - AS. At this mo-
mcnt another ornltholoslst APP AIRED on the
Soonc IN the person II an elegant young female
cat. She made great efforts 10 stalk the fat
hlackbirIs and cocksparroWS. natt"ning herself
Till her whole body seemed almost AZ level rs a
mat yet capable ~ a rush forward whenever
the Dir j. looked In another direction. But the
birds were perfectly equal t. the game. one
b,ackllrd in particular sldl,i of each time the
tlt came within distance. until he sat 1t last On
The edge ~ the wO Dd,n cam shedding. where. II
The cat made hor spring. she must fan into tn"
fhrr. He. too n'w on ana At this moment ~
disappointment another and an older cat lrap'd
lightly from the priyct hedge close by ana play
fully cuffcd the head II TIA" disappointed one.
This cat had probably been waiting on the
s,I,tss.