The San Francisco call., 1904-04-21
MEN aualMAa,EERS IN
THE f0RaHZ HZheWORLD
MONIES
Il Bngdboo for PaSStes.

Strate IOr WIFI OF e1eclmenl against
an Italian tenant on the ground that
he killed and ate cats, discovered that
English law does not recognize such
gastronomic eccentricities as sufficient
justification for the summary dispos-
session Of tenant who pays his rent,
the Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals has taken the mat
ter in hand to protect London's prowl-
ing felines from the gridiron and stew
pot of this alien invader. For several
nights a dozen Of its most skillful and
trusted agents have been stalking the
squares Of Bloomsbury, where the cat
eater is reputed to do his hunting, in
the hope of catching him red-handed,
but thus far he has succeeded in
eluding their vigilance. AS an official
Of the society explained, it is a diff
cult matter to prove the guilt of man
who swallows the evidence of his
crimes. 1t is reported that the society
for the protection of stray and home
less cats, of which her Grace the
tends enlisting a large force of anna
teur detectives in the pursuit by offer
ing a substantial reward for the arrest
and conviction Of this ruthless de-
stroyer of feline felicity.
Meanwhile the whole grewsome story
Of what led to the landlords futile
appeal to a police court has been re-
vealed. With a friend the sojourner
from sunny Italy was returning home
about midnight when, crossing Rus
sell Square, he espied a fine Thomas
cat engaged in serenading a female
tabby.
What a lovely stew he would make"
he remarked, and then to the amaze
ment Of his companion he crept
stealthily forward and suddenly grab
bed the unsuspecting animal by the
tail Swinging it in the air he dashed
its head against a curbstone and in
another minute had resumed his way
homeward with the dead cat tucked
under his arm. Half way down Gull
ford street another cat was encoun-
tered and with an adroitness which
bespoke long practice was similarly
captured and dispatched.
About noon the following day the
landlord noticed his lodger making
preparations for a meal and casually
asked him what he had for dinner.
"One of the finest rabbits that was
ever eaten," was the response.
Having previously skinned the ami
NAL the lodger even permitted the un-
suspecting landlord to see how he
cooked it. AS gastronomic curios-
ity the recipe is worth recording
First the Italian cook took a quantity
Of onions chopped very fine and mixed
with garlic and parsley. These he
boiled with butter in a stewpan, and
then added pieces of the animal cut
up as is customary with rabbit Over
the dish he sprinkled -four. poured in
a bottle of claret, allowed the mixture
to simmer over the fire for three quar-
ters Of an hour and ate it with great
relish. Next day he had another "rab-
Bit for dinner. 1t was the discovery
Of the skins that gave the thing away
to the Mortified landlord. And in turn
the Italian was astonished that his
partiality for cats as an article of
diet should be regarded with abhor-
renee. How anybody who would eat
ously filthy habits as a pig could turn
I'D his nose at a cat which performs
it's ablutions several times a day was
beyond his comprehension. But the
Italians logic was lost on the British
landlord. He ordered his tenant to
leave at once, and when the tenant re-
fused had recourse post haste to a
magistrate to learn that British law
was on the side of one who chose to
regard his temporary lodgings as his
castle for the time being.
In Northern Italy. according to an
italian resident in London, cats are
regarded as a dainty among the poor
people and, the state forbidding their
sale for food, they are called ''rab-
bits" by the butchers.
They are bought as rabbits and
eaten as cats" said the Italian. II
have eaten them many time and can
vouch for it that they taste much bet
ter than the English hare, the meat
being exceedingly tender and as
sweet as a nut. Many people in
Italy keep cats as the English do rab-
bits-to kin and eat And their
skins are worth more than those of
rabbits.
THE proper way to eat cats is to
roast them in an oven until brown,
with onions, garlic, parsley, bay leaf,
red wine and some herbs peculiar to
Italy. They are not nearly so good
when boiled. AS food English bred
cats are not to be compared with
Italian cats. The latter are much bet
ter cared for and fed on the best milk.
/ tried an English cat once, but that
was enough. 1 have never eaten an
other"
1t is probably because cats are such
favorite pets with women that not
withstanding the general masculine
aversion to them any species of cru
city practiced against them raises
such a prodigious outcry. A lost or
defunct cat has been the means of
adding $4,000 to the fund of the Royal
National Lifeboat Institution, as was
stated at its recent annual meeting. A
few years ago a woman left the insti-
tuition the residue of her estate,
amounting to that sum, with the pro-
viso that ii was to be paid on the