The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-08-08
CREW OF IROQUOIs SWEAR BY
HIM.
A Plucky Cat Which Fought Drown
ing for over Two Hours off Of Mid
way Islands

There is on the Government survey
tug lroquOis what the sailors think is
most wonderful animal. 1t is a big
tom cat who goes by the inviting name
OF Booze No Booze is not such a
handsome fellow as the devotees at the
shrine of Bacchus might be inclined to
suppose him. In fact he is built along
these lines which marked the flag ship
Of the famous pirate king, long low
and rakish Moreover he IS as many
hued as a pousse cafe for he belongs
TO the tortoise shell variety. OF the
entire crew who made the trip to and
from the Midway Islands none had such
a narrow escape or went through such
exciting experiences as Booze" And
II is for his bulldog tenacity, which Is q
bit of a contradiction in a cat that
every man aboard has voluntarily as
sumed the relation of godfather tn the
animal.
While the vessel was lying inside the
atoll by Sand Island the conduct of
Booze was exemplary. No midnight
maraudings, no Wee sma hour con-
Certs, kept the men from we'll earned
slumber and when everybody arose in
the morning Booze" too walked bright
and refreshed without a scratch or Il
bite to mar the feline mobility Of his
countenance. Toward the end of the
stay food ran decidedly short and in
stead of being able to catch birds in
perienced hard work in providing the
ships mess with ordinary sea gulls
eggs, and fish. Booze" felt the food
stringency as much as anybody and
whenever any bird did venture aboard
the ship he would try TO catch ii.
one evening while the vessel was
slowly cruising outside of the atoll the
birds had been more than usually num-
erOus and Booze had. in consequence,
been very active. When supper was
called Booze" did not appear for mess.
Where's the cat? inquired the bow
swain. Nobody knew. In fact there
was nobody who had seen Booze" for
the last two hours. Booze oh Booze
yelled the watch. But there was no re-
sponse. We'll! I'll be dashed" ex-
CLAIMED the sailor If that isn't the first
time l ever ordered Booze that I could
not get it," But there was no barkeep-
er in the shape of the cat To serve It.
a search was instituted Finally one
of the men happened to glance over
the side of the rail and there he spied
the head of the missing cat moving
along with the tug and it was very
plain that Booze like two day old
bottle of uncorked cocktails, was loos-
: ing his strength.
4 The men did not want to lower a boat
so an ingenious sailor lowered a camp
stool close to the struggling cat. Booze
rallied. sunk his long claws deep into
the canvas and clung on while the men
pulled him up to the deck. Booze"
could scarcely walk; he was so weak.
The cat had probably fallen into the
water while striking at the sea birds
and finding himself without any chance
I of help from the sailors made the best
of the situation by keeping up with the
slowly moving vessel He was i'm the
water fully two hours and the test of
endurance was marvellous. II seems
strange moreover that the cat was not
siezed by the sharks which infested the
waters I'm great numbers. only ten
acity bordering on the ferocious saved
/ Booze" as it has likewise earned him
comfortable berth for the remainder
of his days.