Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-10-12

aboard one Of the ships that pass in
the night, be greeted with such music
that he would prefer to be deaf for the
time or have his ears filed with wax
like those Of the companions of Ulys-
ses, near the Island of the Sirens.
Yet it is not the melodious song of
sweet mermaids,"
Whose siren voice, enchanting,
draws him on
To guileful shores ="
but the chorus of a thousand cats as
sembled on the shore of Devils Island
For this strange Danish colony, be-
sides two human beings, includes only
cats, transported there by two persons.
a furrier and an engineer, who have
built residence for themselves and
sheds for their felines. Their agents
travel all over Scandinavia to buy I'D
the cats, whose skins they use in fur
manufacturing lucrative business.
The feline tribes, which are carried in
large wired chests to the island. live
on good terms with each other, are fed
on fish and offal gathered from the
neighboring islands, and generally
lead an idyllic life. From their
wooden homes, which they only occupy
at night and during the coolest sea-
son, they swarm over the length and
breadth Of the island station for feed
ing, whereupon they again dispense in
groups and bands, or seek solitary
or erotic retirement. The feeding is
sol RI
As soon as the boats filled with forage
arrive at the wharf the hungry cats
crowd the surrounding territory like a
sea of. waving furs. They fill the
landing bridge and stairs, and the ad-
joining shore teens with outstretched
tails, glowing eyes and pricked ears.
a breed of 10000 cats is expected for
the next year. The cat colony on
DEVILS Island is said to be the only
one of its kind in the world, and may
afford a sugges ton for insular enter
prise to our Eastern Shoremen, "the
| Yankees Of the South" or to other
Chesapeake riparians and islanders.
In spite of the Dreyfus affair and the
strong anti-Semitic agitation in
France, the French army has about
500 Jewish officers, among them briga-
dier-generals and even generals of d.
visions. In Italy General-Lieuten-
ant Giuseppe Ottolienghi, a Hebrew,
! has recently been promoted to the
| grade of general the highest military
rank in her army. He is ,ne COM
mander of the fortress, or garrison, of
| Turin, the old capital of the kingdom,
a position, which owing to its prox-
unity to the French frontier, is regard
ed as one of the most important COM
mands of the Italian army In Austria
there are no less than 1000 officers
protesting their ancestral faith. The
three branches Of the English army,
the regulars, the militia and the vol
unteers, count 100 Jewish officers.
Several Of them have attained the rank
of colonel. AS remarkable incident
in the career of one Of the most dis
tinguished Jewish officers in the Aus
trian Army, General Baron Won Eiss,
a favorite Of Emperor Francis Joseph,
it is mentioned that when he was
slated for the Cross of the Order of
Maria Theresa, the Hottest distinc-
ton on the continent, which is held
by only six officers of the empire he
declined the honor because the statutes
of this order restrict it's membership
to Christians. Called upon to thus
choose between the grandest prize of
his profession and his faith, the
gallant old officer preferred to sacri-
flee the distinction rather than his
religion. He had previously been deco
rated with the Great Gold Medal for
conspicuous gallantry on the battle
field.
There was tame stag. who belonged
to a lady living in the suburbs, writes
Helen Ward Banks from Manila, in
the Philippines. He was a pet and
allowed to roam around at his will.
The ponies did not have the same free
dom. When they were taken out they
must be tethered. One day the man
who fed the ponies tied one Of them
with a very short rope and then care
lessly put its punches Of hay beyond
it's reach. The poor little beast vainly
strained at its rope to reach its meal.
His owner, watching from the window,
was about to go to his help when he
saw the stag standing by taking in
the situation. She waited to see what
would happen. The stag soon found
way out Of the difficulty. He bent
his pronged head, lifted part of the
hay on his antlers and put it down
under the pony's nose. Then he went
back for more, until the grateful
pony had his full meal before him and
was making a hearty breakfast.