The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-09-14
CITADEL INVADED BY CATS.

CITADEL INVADED by CAlo'
How 5000 British Soldiers, Protected by
Trench, Wall and Tower, Failed to Re
pei the Enemy.
(Quebeo Correspondence Of the New York
Post.
Unassailable from water front and pro-
tected toward the rear by trench, wall
and tower, the invasion of the citadel
seems an impossibility; yet there was one
memorable incursion which the full gar
~ison of 5000 British fighters failed to re-
pei. Tommy Atkins's cat was still in the
loop-hoIe of the trench wall when the
party emerged from the gateway; and her
appearance recalled to the Quebec officer
all particulars of the great invasion.
The incident has not been ohronicled by
historians, but there is every prospect OF
it being laughed down to Iemotest poster
ity. In Afghanistan, in India, in Malta,
in Egypt, wherever British soldier has
gone from Quebec. there the barrack-
rooms have rung widh the fame Of this
event.
Drastic REFORMS were to be instituted
in the commissariat department. and a
regiment, like other GLASSES, sometimes
opposes to drastic reforms. Tho dignity
of royal engineers Is not to be compro-
missed by vulgar dickering In provisions;
and when an increase of pay induced one
of their number to take charge of the de-
partment, the disdain of the others may
be imagined. Undaunted, the new man
entered on his duties and at once made q
minute examination of accounts. The
sergeant gave detailed explanation of
doubtful items. and all was satisfactory
until the colonel's eye rested on the line,
"cat meat
whats that? Cats meat A penny
day for cats meatl" The sergeant had
not anticipated any objection to an inno-
cent perquisite like cats meat. and the
colonel was not softened by stammered
9 xplantions.
parade that cat, Immediately r. The
only hope glimmering through the SER
geant's befuddled brain was quenched.
There was not cat that could be Tor
roWed within ten minutes walk OF the
office. One days grace would have en-
abled him to rummage for stray felines.
annd, like fellow culprit in Malta, he
might have begged and stolen a whole
regiment of eats; but without a moment
to conjure up either excuses or cats, CON-
fus ion was his portion. The item was
struck off, the sergeant severely repri
ma nded, and a crestfallen man emerged
from his first interview with the new
chief. For royal engineer to accept a
position which comrades considered
infra dig, was bad enough; but to split
hairs over perquisite was crime
against the social code of royal engineers
and clubdom. The young engineers de-
cided it was necessary to even matters
with the commi ssariat officer. The little
princes and potentates of old Quebec So
ciety were assembled In leading CLUB,
and hot-headed young Irishman of the
royal engineers was declaiming against
the colonel. A citizen, whose name is
prominent in the public annals OF Quebec
Suggested that the angry Hibernian pur-
loin some commissariat official order pa
per. Citadel supplies were frequently OBJ
tained by sending o list OF requirements
to the beadles OF surrounding parishes,
where it was posted on church doors ana
read aloud to parishioners The lrishman
and hs.civiIian accomplice wrote out no
tices on the official paper, offering
tempting price for all cats delivered in
the commissariat Office for the destruction
of rats and mice. The notice was de-
spatohed to score of parishes IN time to
be posted on church doors for the follow
ing Sunday. The young engineer dis
oreetly went on furIough to New YORK.
The hoax was never suspected by tn Q
beadles, and the notices were affixed to
church doors and duly read. After ser
vice the inhabitants went home to take
an inventory of their own and their
neighhors' feline stock Domestic pets
"A xy;, ,s1i+ nf rot .dQtnhIn0
were securely bagged, boxed or Grated.
Early Monday morning there was q
strange procession on all roads leading to
Quebec Judging from the sounds the
host moving on the citadel might have
been accompanied by n,ewlng orohes-
ira. Up Mountain hill, from the river,
across Charlesbourg bridge. along the st.
Louis road, up Break-Neck steps, on st.
Foy road, came men and boys with bags
and baskets and boxes, with crate loads
and cart loads of oats. The noise OF the
historic naughty kittens that lost their
mittens'' was music compared to the up
roar of these deep-votcsd Toms and grow
ling grimalkins. Cat instruments began
to arrive thick and fast at the commits
sariat office, and in vain the clerk pro-
tested there was some mistake. A man
from Lewis was most persistent. Like
capitalist. he had "cornered'' cats by
buying up all the felines of the town.
his caterwauling load was deposited on
the floor, and he would neither listen nor
wait for explanations. Yes. there was an
order for catsl He had read it, word by
word, on the church door. They needn't
try to put him off. Here were the cats.
Now count them. The Lewis man raised
the lid Of his box. One! Two! Three !!
Fourl Pandora's box did not
emit more confusion. Scared from the
fray en- route, out popped horde OF vote
earn fighters and prize rat-catchers. In
an instant Withholding cats were scam
pering through the department. with the
celebrity of a hunted flea. Desks were up
set, stools overturned, and the wnole
place overrun, while scratching matches
and and duels began under chairs and tables;
there was bedlam in the oommlssarlas
ONCE that Monday morning.
for years it was as much as n man
lie was worth to mention cats to two
people-tha colonel and the Lewis capltal-
ISL; and the consignment of the latter
was only the beginning of evils. Cats ar
rived all day long and the habitants were
too thoroughly Disguised to carry them
home. The cat invasion was the univer-
sal topic that year in Quebec, and the
lame OF lit gnrand tn every oarriGOn In the