The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-03-08
Look Before You Jump.

The Wichita electric railroad is getting
away with a good many of the cats.
There is hardly day and night passes
that some cat does not get manned or
killed.
The cat is one of the most active OF
animals, and the fact that so many get
killed by the street cars is a mystery that
g good many people have tried hard to
solve.
One day last week a Riverside car killed
a fine Maltese cat belonging TO Farmer
Doolittle's little niece, Fay Litzenberg.
Farmer went over to the street car Of
fee and sat down with Abe Crow to
talk over the death of that particular cat
and unfortunate cats in general that get
killed by the cars.
Now" said Mr. Crow, who has charge
of the running of ali the company's cars.
There is some unfathomable mystery
about this killing of cats by the street
cars. ! wish somebody could explain it
and suggest a way to prevent it.
Don't you think for minute" con-
tinued Mr.. Crow, that the motormen
do not try to prevent the killing of cats.
We may talk as we please about not
being superstitious, but most of us arc,
tust the same Nearly all of the motor
men believe that the killing of a cat
brings bad luck to them or their car and
they do their best to avoid killing the
cats.
lone night. about a year and half
ago / ran an electric car out 10 Fair
mount 1t was getting late and on the
return trip out south of the cemetery
] saw two cats sitting on the rails of the
track I was close to them when I dis
covered them. l changed the bell and
threw on the brake but the cats refused
to move. | killed them both. A few
days later one of the motorneers had an
accident with that very car on another
line and lost his place. l have often won
dered whether he or the cats were to
blame for it,
At this point in the connection, Roy
r. Sykes came upon the scene. He was
certain that it was a sure sign of COM
ing evil TO kill cat. He remembered
that one night two cats of the Thomas
lineage started a serenade near his home.
He not being in love with catdom opera,
went out and hurled a brick-bat at the
serenading party and killed one of the
cats, too dead to skin. Roy said he was
awfuIIy uneasy for about a week after he
killed that cat, expecting something to
happen. He was beginning to think he
had escaped the consequences Of killing
that cat when he found his fine bird pup
had disappeared. He has never heard of
that pup even TO this day.
Roy said the colored people of Wichita
thought 1t was sure sign of impending
evil for a cat to cross the walk ahead
of them. He was on South Emporia ave
nue. one night and saw young colored
man running. apparently, for his life. He
inquired of him what was his hurry The
colored man said he saw cat coming
down Williams street and he wanted TO
beat the cat to Douglas avenue so as to
cross ahead of the cat. He had escaped
bad luck by running.
Abe Crow said when the cats got on the
track to be killed they would face the
headlight of the, car and refuse TO move
until the caRFsn, aYeE, them He thought
the electricity somehow mesmerized the
cats so that they could not move. He
asked Farmer Doolittle how he would
account for ii.
well" said Farmer. you have heard
the DJunCGOH, always io'N btA'iI SNN
SUNNI. That is what the cat does. He
always looks before he jumps. You blind
fold a cat and put him on the ground
and any amount of noise will not induce
him to jump or run. OF course. il you
hurt him he would move away from the
point of attack. but he will not jump or
run when he cannot see"
The pupil of the cats eye expends 10
a wonderful degree so that it can see in
the dark When the electric car with its
bright headlight comes suddenly up on
the cat his eyes are not given time to
contract and he is blinded by the excess
of light. He can not see and hence re-
fuses to move. The street cars never kill
any cats in the day time nor on lighted
street at night. because the cats can
see the cars and get out of the way"