The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-06-06
PETS AND THEIR. TRICKS.

Everybody admits that it is time a new pet was invented, enc that shall be cheap to buy and to feed, amusing good
 tempered, giving no trouble in the house, and pretty-but above all cheap. Novelties are recommended every day, but none of them can pretend to fulfil
 these simple requirments We speak
 with some practical knowledge of the
 subject. Endless is the number of pret- ty and amusing creatures up and down
 the world, but very nearly always they have disadvantage of some kind.
 At this moment the virtues of the
 Cape jerboa, rock rabbit" or dossy, as he is called at home, are proclaimed with enthusiasm in public and private. Those happy ladies who possess a spe- cimen are not to be suspected of exag- geration. The dossy is a charming lit
 tie animal, with all the merits claimed for him. But perhaps, they do not tell all, or perhaps they are indifferent to sportive habits which might not, suit everybody. We never owned a dossy, but once we spent several days at farm house in South Africa where one was cherished. His special delight was to find somebody reading or writing or asleep-that is, absorbed. On making. that joyous discovery he crept, noiseless as mouse, to the greatest distance convenient, and in one demon spring leaped upon the persons knee or shoul- der or on the table beside him-hying off light as a bird and out of the room, almost in the same movement as 1t seemed. Nerves are robust upon the veldt, but in England that pretty trick would soon reduce old ladies of the fam fly to a gibbering condition.
 We know exactly what would happen for we once had mongoose which showed the same sense of humor; but, unable to jump, it produced the effect by just the opposite means. Our easy chairs and sofas were covered with dra- pery to the floor. When the mongoose saw anyone lying back, inattentive to earthly things, it climbed softly up the hanging material, always behind. Not the slightest rustic betrayed it's ap proach, until the victim started up with shriek, feeling a cold, black muzzle suddenly pushed into her ear. Thero was triumphant mischief in Goosey's face as she scuttled off full-speed to her box; in fact, the evidence of direct in tention and of humorous impulse was complete. Elderly persons however, did not appreciate the sport and we had to send her to the Zoo.
 Another pet of which we can speak with the authority of experience is the meer-cat. There is none more amusing, quaint, and dlightful, unless by bad luck he should prove to be treacherous-fe- males kindly treated from the beginning are nearly always trustworthy But the most affectionate of these charming little animals is firmly resolved to have his own way and if the growing signs of temper be dlsregarded 1t will surely bite. This is a very small disadvantage for ladies, since it gives the plainest warn ing, but children soon learn how sharp and long are the meer-cat's teeth Then 1t flies at dog just as a dog flies at a rat, never making friends with one And no human power will prevent a eer-cat scratching up the earth for 'tis it's nature to-" If you keep the earth covered, so much the worse for your boards and carpets-London Stan ] dard.