The Savannah morning news., 1902-10-07
TREASURY GUARDIANS.
Cats That Save Uncle Sam From Loss
In the Big Building in Washington,

Cats That Save Uncle sam From Loss
In the Big Building i'm Washington,
From the Washington Star.
The United States Treasury building
in Washington is not only guarded
from loss by the uniformed men who
constitute the night watch and remain
on duty through the lonely hours, keep
ing a constant lookout for any persons
who might have designs on the numer-
Gus strong boxes in the building, but
it is protected from smaller losses
through the depredations of hordes of
rats and mice which would infest the
structure by a few cats which have
wandered into the building at various
times and remained there.
How these animals obtained an en-
trance into the building is a conjecture,
but ii is thought that they made their
way through the windows or through
the doors when the attention of the
clerks and employees had been diverted
to more important matters than the
ejectment of stray felines. There were
at one time twenty-seven of these anil
mails in the treasury, but of late they
have thinned out and only a few re-
main. They are rarely seen in the
daytime, for they are deep in some dark
recess which offers shelter to them I'M
til the evening. The cats are seldom
disturbed, except possibly by the
brooms of the oharwomen, of whom
the cats stand in fear, for there is no
mercy at the end of a long broom or
a longer mop. The fear of the char
women tends to make them timid while
in the presence of other strangers, and
to attempt to pick one of these felines
up would be TO meet with vigorous re-
sistance, and by the vicious use of
their long claws. The cats in the
treasury department are not like the
petted felines of the household. They
are long and thin, with tails which look
like frayed clothesline, and are not
very well provided with fur.
1t is only when being fed by the kind
hearted watchmen with scraps of meat
from their midnight dinner that the
cats exhibit any traits in common with
their brethren of the back fence. Then
they will graciously permit their backs
to be stroked and their whskers rub
led, but any further liberties will not
be tolerated. They have a deep. cum
ming leer always on tap, as IL they
knew all the secrets of the gold-p pack
cd vaults stretching under the build
ing.
AS to their ability to keep the Treas
ury free from rats there is no question.
The officials of the department have
rot been compelled to move to another
building on account of the large num-
Der of rats and mice which infested
1t, as did the authorities in charge of
the postoffice at Turin, Italy, where it
became necessary to erect a new build
ing for the purpose of escaping from
the rodents. who destroyed great guam
titles of letters and packages. The i'm
rcrtant letters and documents in the
possession of the file room of the
Treasury Department would not long
withstand the ravages of the hungry
hordes of these animals if.it were not
for the keen watch kept upon them
by these cats. Hardly an evening pass
es but that they lay down their tro-
plies in the shape of dead mice and
rats before some of the watchmen.
Were it not for these faithful. unre-
warded guardians of the Treasury De-
partment the government would un-
doubtedly suffer through the raids of
the rats and mice.