The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-05-15
AN AN

ASNSl VIII you VI li1c Ouu SeslIuS j I1Cb l
at Pontiac who was going to do away
with carpets III floors by sticking lit
tie pieces of caipcting on the feet with
mucilage."
Jones looked at the younger man
with severity. jackson, l was just ON
the point of telling a story about a lit.
tie idea of my W when l lived in
Iowa several years ago. Enrich us
with the tale of your bright young
friend some other time.''
Eyes" returned Peters, ut does very
well for you to say that. but my story
was going to be u true one"
"Give us your story. ~Jones-sive US
your story" said Smith e~ncourasingly. |
II was going to-" replied jGa~s. ut
was a number Of years 80. F. ,,&s liy. |
ing out in Iowa no.: D>s; MONIES. My
place was on the Des Moines river bot.
tom, and the bluffs were literally alive
with wildcats. The wildcats from all
over the country seemed to be in the
neighborhood that year holding a wild
cat worlds fair; a fact, gentlemen. !
had IL fancy stock farm. and between
| the resident and the visiting wildcats
they played the very deuce with my
blooded chickens. l don't need to tell
| you, gentlemen. that l am MORALLY
afraid Of a gun"
"Seems to III that's a pretty serious
admission for a man who only last
night was telling how, down in Arr
kansas. he used to spring up bears
with a -four inch hickory plank and
shoot them on the wing, like clay
pigeons" said Jackson Peters.
IAN idle tale, Jackson, an idle tale.
A man must relax a little sometimes.
As / vas
"But you offered to bet $50 that
81 couldn't shoot those wildcats, you
see, so what could l do? Night after
night they walked off with my choicest
fowls. One day a bright idea occurred
to me. It was nothing more nor less
than every time l heard any disturb
ance among the chickens to put my
head out of the window and call out
'Scat!' in a loud voice."
The narrator paused and looked at
Jackson Peters %defiantly. But Peters
only blew a cloud of smoke ceilingward
and arched his eyebrows slightly.
"vThat was a clever notion observed
Robinson, very clever notion. Worthy
to rank with your plan for extracting
the latent energy from tramps."
mo. Robinson. no." answered Jones,
smiling, and evidently much gratified.
"No, you are too kind. My tramp idea
showed genius: such things come to a
man but once in his lifetime. This
was simply an indication of a special
talent for dealing with wildcats. Still,
If o would believe it. my plan proved
utterly valueless as far as frightening
the cats away was concerned. l scat
ted myself hoarse every night for a
week: still those wildcats went right
on carrying away my poultry. But l
felt that the principle was a sound
one, and l looked about for the weak
point in the application of it. ! soon
found it.
II was employing the same volume
of scat for wildcats which is used in
the case of tame cats. and wildcats are
three times bigger than tame cats. My
first thought was of a speaking trum-
pet. but l soon decided against 1t. l
determined to make Il clean sweep of
the whole matter. I sent to Chicago
and got an improved Edison phono-
graph with intensifying attachments.
l set the intensifier at the ratio of
three to one. l then shouted a bat
terry of seats into the receiver in my
natural tame cat driving voice.
wound up the clockwork and set the
photograph near the %henhouse. A
small wire connected the clockwork
with the henhouse. so that a cat on en-
tering the door would set the phono-
graph off, causing it to speak once. l
went to bed. gentlemen. and slept
soundly till morning.
"After breakfast my foreman told
me that at about midnight, when the
I first wildcat started to enter my chick
en- coop to feloniously abstract my poul-
try, that photograph sort of cleared its
throat and remarked 'Scat!' in a voice
which ratified the windows. Gentle
men. my foreman was Il man in whom
L had the utmost confidence. and he
told me that after that %phonograph
) spoke he observed 4 long, gray streak
Of wildcat reaching from my henhousc
| door to the underbrush, about 200 yards
distant. The same phenomenon was
noticed by my foreman in the case OF
subsequent cats. lost no more chick
ems through the depredations of this
!, obnoxious form of vermin."
Jones paused and lit his cigar, which
had zone out. He blew an aggressive
cloud at the lamp. elevated his chin
and looked at jackson Peters.
= Peters rested his cheek in his hand
and seemed thoughtful. After some
seconds he drew a long breath and
said, "Jones, may l trouble you to tel
us when this interesting and valuable
iucidont tnoE nlacnSV a