The Savannah morning news., 1900-12-29
CATS THAT LABOR.
vIsLvET-FOorED POLICE ON GUARD
IN TIE BIG WAREHOUSES;.

Ia the Federal service.
From the New York Mail and Express.
why does not somebody raise monu-
r,eut to the cat--not to the 10000 %,
that lois In beauty shows. but to the cat
that works. properly worth millions h
stored in the warehouses of this city
where. Tor twave hours Of every day.
and an day Sundays. It Is left absolutely
10 the care OF the cat Ben Jonson said
caro- would kill a cat. but tho veivet-shod
police Of the warehouses do not seem 20
worry over their responsibility. They
lsad ldyinc lives. They arc well-fed. arc
uetted a great deal BY men OF millions
and once IN a while have a ine battle
among themselves. No matter how dis
orderly they become. nobody cares and
their fun IS never interfered with. for the
more noise they make the more they
scare tho rats and mice.
II is a weird thing to be alone at mid
rlsht In one OF tha monster warehouses
on the harbor when all the men are gone
and only the cat is on guard. II is ike
citing In a huge drum, and tho distant
roar OF the city Is like a monster man
FnNNlnA MS MAMNfa WNtE tHH AAAhA Ntatss
Inside the stiffness is solid and painful
Here and there " is scratched by tho
.1ueak OF a rat, and less frequently by
me inquiring miaui OF Mr.. Thomas Cat.
a. he makes his steafhy rounds. Now
md then a short. sharp struggle in the
darkness tells that Mr.. Cat has seen his
duty and done IT,
sust Prove VaIor Daily.
n one will look out OF the window upon
the ships lying alongside he will see
things At first glance u viii appear that
tho knots on all the ropes are playing
,,tch: but long looking will dispel this
illusion. II Is rats passing back and forth
from the ship 10 the warehouse. Those
tired OF the tyranny OF Tom are prspar-
ing 20 20 70 sea 90 the next trip out
and those weary OF the wave are taking
IN their residence in the grain watts In
contempt OF Tom. So It Is that the cat
A., ever among strangers and must be
forever proving his prowess TO hold his
lob Ho can make no impression BY mere
Isl stamping his foot-he must Kill. kill.
These rats are cosmopolitans. They are
from ali lands. They travel from port TO
uort meet rats from all climates and ae-
gnre an acquaintance with cats OF al
nations SO the cat must be brave ana noe
dishonor the flag he rats under. In the
warehouses here there are big black rats
rom Italy. The native gray rat Is here
ana the English rodent asserts himself
Nice abound in droves. and the cat has
plenty 10 do.
FnmiIy Name Terriaes.
when a cat proves OF extreme value his
<amlv IS preserved. In the Dow stores
Brooxlyn. the same family has been on
guard for twenty years
"Rut 1 guess We shall have TO get a new
breed said the superintendent the other
cay only one tabby IS left OF the whole
tribe ana she IS a little thing" lie Kissed
aentiy-didn't say kitty or pronounce a
pet name-just Missed. IS II telling every
one 10 b. still Al tine sound a slender
gray cat dashed frum under table ana
stood with head erect as IL looking for A
rat Seeing none she sprang 70 the desk
and purred under the hand OF the s'g
man who had called her. The odd form
~ call for the cat - used because Il Is
said that the cosmopolitan rats know
waat the word cat means. and scatter
90 mention Of Il.
Her ancestors were noble fellows" the
fuperintendont went on 70 say but they
nave been getting smaller and smaller
every year ard fewer and, fewer. High
living, ] guess. She IS the last she's
good cat. Her family has made this
warehouse marked place. Even the
rats seem 20 know Il IS not healthy for
them here They used 10 eet our belts
lls they never DO 50 any more and this
one little cat. backed up by The family
rame. n able 90 control all the rats IN
This immense house"
u have Ave cats that do the work u
zen men," said the foreman at the Union
warehouse. a few blocks from Dow's
stores. The Union house faces Butter
milk Channei. and t. where hundreds %
hips from the Mediterranean and the
orient discharge their cargoes There
are many cats about the place. but I take
account OF only nve big Toms. These
keep IN the rooms where small grain
aud beans are stored in bags. Rats siriisai
IN gnaw holes in bean bags These cats
keep them away. II would take ten men
"h the time sewing up the holes N Il
were not for the cats What kindg on
lusi cats-big. strong fellows that I pic
- from the street-you might call them
foundlings."
Thousands on Guard.
IN all OF the great warehouses alonr
the harbor front OF Brooklyn the cat ,s
creature OF high standing. In some OF
houses there are nervous little dogs
mat bark at rats and everything else
nNt Dogs have not that fine sense OF honor
mot Keeps cat forever on watch during
Il' hours OF duty. The dog will nap, hui
tne cat marches proudly over the bags OF
Deans and piles OF leather and keeps a
fharp eye on the leather belts Bess
are porterhouse steaks for the rat world.
because the fber Is mellow and oily. Sew
.fai thousand cats are on guard In Brook
!Yn alone. As many care for the wares
ln Jersey City. while IN Manhattan their
number Is legion
ne ships. too. carry their complement
't cats-four OF Ave to the ship-and
many a warehouse cat OF celebrity Is i'm
dressed for duty on the high seas On
every lighter IN the harbor and on nearly
every tug there IL a mariner cat In fact
line actual duty done by cats in and about
i1e local harbor puts tho Idle dogs 60
ffame.
Postofface Cats.
Perhaps the most fortunate OF all these
ioiiing cats are the twenty fine fellows
flai guard the mails in the big post.
oNice on Broadway and Park Row SO inn
ioriant are these cats that tho business
az tho Office could not be transacted with
'rnatch without them, and a man is APP
nointeA 10 care for them-George W.
Cook. who Is called special officer and
tiptain % the cats. Cook buys ten
hounds of fresh beef daily for them. Zach
uni1alNs assigned 10 a special duty. just
@s tho human watchmen. One guards the
foreign mails. which rats delight 20
chew. Foreigners use vast quantities Of