The morning news., 1899-12-31
ANIMALS ARE HARD TO LOSE.
WONDERFUL DIRECTION SENSE OF
SOME DOGS AND CATS.


Follows His Master Around the
wOrId-kitty Trails Its Mistress
over Five Hundred Miles.
From the Chicago Chronicle.
Two OF them were retired sea captains
and they had been talking about the story
recently printed in the Chronicle, of a
Newfoundland dog which Travelled fifty
miles. crossed the Mississippi and walked
over two tiers of ships ,ying in the river
in order to find the particular one from
which he had accidentally fallen over
board nearly a week before One or two
members Of the company had expressed
measure of incredulity in regard to the
truth of this story. The two old sailors
smiled. The bringing forth of a food of
"reminiscences was an easy matter after
that.
"A big gray tom cat, who was positively
un,osable, sailed with me in the Pamlico
for many years" said one. He had been
travelling with the ship for several years
before 1 took charge of her. and the man
who commanded her during that time told
me that no matter where he left him, the
world around, he was sure to rejoin the
ship sooner or later. He had tried in vain
to lose him several times, and had finally
given up The attempt in despair.
At the time he tried to dispose of it first
the Pamlico was making the round from
Liverpool, England TO St. Johns. New
foundland, and thence to Pernambuco,
Brazil, and so home.
The Cat Came Back.
When the ship sailed from Liverpool on
this particular voyage Tom was left be"
hind on the docks Six months later he
was observed peacefully washing his face
in the rigging of the Pamlico again, hav-
ing come aboard, somehow or ether at
st. Johns. How did he get there? Vel
nobody knows exactly, but he must have
made the trip to Newfoundland in some
other vessel, stopped off there-perhaps
reasoning in some dumb animal manner
that 1t was the first stop made by his own
vessel-and came off to the ship in srma
of the rowboats. Nobody notic d m
until he was comfortably making his
toilet in the rigging. He provided against
all possible attempts to leave him bshnd
again by keeping out of reach of the SAIL
crs until the vessel was Wcu Under way
During his period Of absence the Pam leo
had made an entire round trip from Liv-
erpool to Brazil and back again. Tom ev-
wait in St. Johns sufficiently to wish o
undergo it again. He wasn't a popular
cat for many reasons but none of the sail
ors cared to do away with him summarily,
somehow or other. And as he rezolutely
refused to be lest or stay given away he
sailed with the Pamlico for more years
than a cat is popularity supposed 10 have
lives to his credit. When l let { fl follow
ing the sea steadily he was still with the
old vessel If he hasn't pad The bit o.
nature long ago he's pretty sure TO be with
her still.
Couldn't Lose Him.
II tried to lose Tom myself more than
once, but 1 never succeeded. The first
time left him, safely bestowed, as sup
posed, in the custom house al st. Johns.
On l went to Pernambuco, back 10 Liver
pool and so on around to Newfoundland
again. Considerably more than six months
were consumed in this manner and when
entered the custom house at st. Johns
they told me old Tom had been missing
| some thing over half year. The officials
who had taken charge Of him did not
doubt that he had been drowned or killed
| in a fight. / wasn't very sorry because
none of the men cared for him very much.
| and I don't take to cats myself. But
when we got out to Brazil again / was
treated to a genuine surprise.
II had sent the captains gig ashore
with some of the men aboard, and when
| il came back to the Pamlico, 10 and be-
| holdl there wos old Tom in the bow calm
I ly stroking his face with his paw None
/ OF the men had seen him come aboard,
nobody at the custom house knew any
thing about him. But there he was, and
/ il his conduct doesn't argue in favor of
/ a cats reasoning / don't know what does.
/ That he should be able to pick out the
| vessel Of his choice from among a river
| full of them was remarkable enough. But
I how If he couldn't reason and didn't un-
derstand just where we were going, did he
! know enough to take a vessel headed for
/ the same port? That's what I'd like TO
know.
Always Caught the Boat.
After that we tried him at half dozen
different times and always he found us
/ Several times he travelled around the en-
| tire beat before he did so, but he invari-
ably managed to catch us somewhere
/ When he got tired of chasing the Pamllco
| from port to port he simply went ashore
/ at the nearest place of entry and stayed
there until the ship came around. After
/ he'd make the experiment a few times he
! did this anyway; never bothered to chase
/ US at ali. He merely went to the port he
4 fancied or back to Liverpool and awaited
/ us there. l don't believe we'd have been
/ able to lose that cat If we'd iourneyed to
/ the North pole instead of Pernambuco.
Somehow or other he learned all abou,
/ the trip TO be made beforehand and then
\ he made use of this knowledge Just as
/ a man would have done. And he seemed
! TO know by instinct whenever a port was
| to be missed for any reason and skipped
4 ii, too. Yes, sir; that cat could cer-
/ tainly reason or something very like it,
| The cat which some of our boys brought
/ home from Cuba as a mascot and which
/ being set free in New York harbor
| promptly made its way to its own shin
4 a ND re nVrrF s-I,.. \
/ illustration of this curious power which
! seafaring cats possess
Dog a Good Follower
Most old sailors could tell true stories
/ and better stories than the one we've
I been arguing about, too--of cats and dogs
! who had followed vessels If they felt so
/ inclined" spoke up the other captain. II
4 had dog ] thought heap Of myself once
and It followed me all around the world
| in very truth and found me in all sorts
OF queer manners. One time left him IN
/ China. ] didn't mean to- but some Of the
L h