The Washington times., 1902-08-17
7 AVE you heard of the cattery?
4 Washington has one. maintain
L ed through pure philanthropy. 1t


1 L ed through pure philanthropy. 1t
is located in the swell northwest
section of the city and is pretentious
affair, one of the best appointed, per-
haps, in existence. The institution is pre-
sided over by two women of wealth. cul
ture and refinement. They are sisters.
both widows and childless. One is
mental scientist who has made fortune
giving what is known as the absent or
thought treatment, for the cure of all
the ills that flesh is heir to. \ fifteen
minutes think in her library will cost
woman out in Californis dollar. And
the curious part of it people pay the
price.
The other sister is the "house physi-
cian,'' SO to speak. She it is who has
fitted the splendidly equipped hospital
in the roomy basement Of the handsome
mansion. She can diagnose a cat case
with the skill of hospital doctor. She
has cured more cases of mango" than
any legitimate doctor has OF nervous
prostration. There is in this feline fami-
ly just now, some forty-odd cats, the
duced by massacre of large batch of
incurables and reprobates. These mas
sacres occur at stated intervals.
Plebes and Aristocrats.
There are house cats and yard cats.
The privileged ones have the run of the
house because of their better birth.
They form the aristocracy of the set
tlement. They are all handsome, sleek,
well-groomed animals. The most dis
tinguished and valuable is Richmond
Pearson Hobson, a pure white, short
haired, bob tailed cat, valued at $500.
Hobson. true to his illustrious name
sake is a fighter of such ability that
all the cats make tracks as soon as he
appears. 1t is funny to see the sour
rying of some twenty-odd cats at his
mere appearance. He has licked ev-
cry cat in the institution. He takes
them all as they srrive and makes
things lively for the newcomer. The
house physician, who is devoted to Hob
son, says he would rather fight any day
than eat plate of delicious fish.
There is the Old Maid who has now
reached the ripe age of eleven summers
snd is childless. Another interesting one
is Doggy so named because he has so
many traits of dog. For instance his
mistresses never go out without Doggy
\eecorts them to the street car several
locks away. When he has seen them
safely on the car he turns back and goes
straight home. The other house cats are
sliss Grant. who is stone deaf, Spotty,
brought from Connecticut, and Aguinal-
do, coal black animal, the most re-
cent addition to the house colony.
The Yard Cats.
The yard cats are not "a lot of cats"
but family OF individuals. each with
his own name, his own characteristics
and his own little place in the home,
respected alike by cats and mistresses.
The home is a neat one-story structure
built especially for this purpose and
located at the rear of the quite spacious
yard. 1t is built OF wood, is twenty feet
long by eight wide with many windows
to give plenty of sunshine and ventila-
tion. 1t is divided into three rooms with
wire partitions. each room having an
outside door. Within these compart-
;nents are shelves filled with straw,
forming the cats bed chambers and the
floors are deep in straw for the cats to
burrow in. Each cat has his own place
and sleeps In 1t.
The cats yard is divided from the
main yard by tall wire fencing. This
wire also goes over the top, completely
encasing the house and yard. When all
the cats have retired and are at peace,
the wire gate is closed, mainly for the
purpose of keeping Hobson out. Among