The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1902-06-18
BABY KILLED BY PET CAT
A STRANGE CASE VoucHEo FOR BY
DENVER PHYSICIANS
The Animal Caused Death by Inhaiing
tho Breath of Its Little Victim - How
the Doctor Explains It-Most startling
Theory from N Scientific standpoint.

pTcdtn OI u sleeping cnlld ana cause
the child's death. The only question
now open is how the animal does its
deadly work.
Ever since the recent death of the
eight-months-old baby of Gustave
Brown. in Denver. Colo. this question
has been a dominant topic in Denver
homes.
With mother the feeling that a
cat can harm her offspring is more
than a belief; it is an instinct which
for ages has caused the Punishment
OF TIE cat from the same room with
the sleeping baby.
There is, according to the highest
medical authority, not shadow of
doubt that Baby Brown was killed by
a large pet maltese cat
The physician who tried to resus-
citate the child says death resulted
from the stoppage of the supply of
air - the lungs.
The coroner's certificate says death
was due to suftocation.
The baby and its mother were both
in absolutely perfect health and there
is not one chance in a million that
the child died of apoplexy or heart
uisease.
The circumstances of the child's
death are told by the mother as fol-
lows:
about tho middle of the forenoon
/ put the baby in its carriage for its
morning nap. and. as / have always
done, left him in the back yard with
the parasol lowered to keep the light
out of his eyes and to prevent the ad-
mission of too much cold air. | had
a man engaged to clean the house and
was so occupied that did not run out
to look at the baby as often as gen.
orally did to see that he was well COW
cred and sleeping quietly.
AT noon when we were at luncheon
left the table to look toward the
baby's carriage, and at that moment
saw the parasol moving. | thought
the baby had awakened.
He was so sweet and happy when
ne first awakened that | thought for
fun | would run out and steal some
of his smiles and play peek-a-boo at
him to see the dear little things de-
light. | went to the kitchen door,
and as opened 1t and started down
the steps | saw the Maltese puss, the
family pet, jump out on the other side
of the carriage from under the para
sol over the baby's face. | thought
rothing of it, especially as the cat had
often jumped into the foot of the car
rage and lay there asleep while the
baby was taking his nap.
when | reached the carriage, push
ed the parasol away and leaned down
to look at the baby there he lay dead,
his little mouth slightly open. Not
a mark of Disagreement was on his
white face"
This part of Mrs. Browns story is
who also saw the cat jump
down from the babys carriage, and
who ran over to the Brown yard when
the mothers scream announced that
terrible had happened.
DR.. f. +. Waxham was hurriedly
summoned, and two other neighbors
helped their friend in the effort to
restore life to the child by rubbing
and by all the other methods they
knew. DR.. Waxhams efforts proved
equally fruitless. The child had prob
ably been dead, he said, for some
time.
This startling corroboratlon of the
old theory that a cat can cause a
child's death by sucking it's breath
has called forth many theories and ex-
plantations.
A majority of people believe that the
cat put its mouth into that of the
child, who breathed back the animals
breath till suffocation resulted.
DIR. Waxham. who was called in the
case, says:
ut is my positive belief that death
came to the baby in just this way,
and to my own satisfaction the old
saying is proved. | have heard of
death having been caused in this way
before, but | have never believed it
until now. This is the first instance
that ever came under my observation
or that | have ever heard of directly"
The assigned cause for this strange
tendency in the cat is that the smell
of milk in the child's mouth first in
duces the cat to put its own mouth
" thin that of th cnild. AS 1t gets
the taste OF the milk 1t sucks the
child's breath, and finally becomes
oyerpowered by an unexplainable fas.
cination.
Those who have heretofore scoffed
NJ the old saying hold that the theory
Of Coroner Horan is the most reason
able. This is that the cat lay down
upon the child's face. and the little
one, unable to draw its breath, soon
suffocated.
Against this must be placed the ar
gument that strong eight-months.
old boy in struggle for breath would
easily displace an animal the size of
4 cat.
The most startling theory from a
scientific standpoint is that the breath
~ oil animals of tho cot fou,tI,, oot,