The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-01-21
CATS ON OCEAN LINERS
They Are as Much a
Part of the Crew
as the Men.

4
| lay alongside her dock the other day.
| ''Of course there are cats aboard. Who
ever heard of a ship without cats? /
| couldn't say how many, for you must
remember this ship is as big as the
Waldorf-Astoria, and there are cats
| that eat at the officers table and cats
| that eat with the stokers, and nobody
ever stops to count them.
Cats don't sign the ships articles,
but they are as much a part Of the crew
as any man that has the ships flag on
his buttons. There's the old tabby cat,
Minnie, who hasn't missed a trip since
she first came aboard eight years ago;
and a fine ratter she is. She wouldn't
eat a rat any more than you would.
for she has been trained not to, and
she gets plenty of good beef and NUT
ton to eat, with fish for dessert now and
then; but she knows her business, and
she doesn't leave much for the profess
sional rat catchers with traps who over
haul the ship every time she gets n
port.
Now and then" continued the mate
there is some rivalry between the cats
in the matter of place. Minnie has
always been the saloon cat until lately.
A few months ago she had a family Of
tom that looks like his mother, decided
to GUST her from her berth on the saloon
deck. He began by making friends
with the officers. and then every time
he saw his mother coming he chased
her away, until now, for the sake of
peace, she is obliged to stay down
among the firemen, while the victorious
tom is the saloon cat"
A little further down the river the
Oceanic was at her pier, and there was
the same story of the ships family of
cats. Sometimes there are two, some
times a dozen on board, and they fol-
low the men around like dogs. There
are such stringent rules about the land
ing of dogs at different ports, that a
dog on ship is a rarity. The sailors
and officers must content themselves
with cats and pigs. The cats never
take a night off and go ashore when
the vessels are in port, not even with
the temptation of a good row with the
family of cats that are on every wharf,
for wharfs and warehouses along the
river front would be carried off bodily
by rats but for a well drilled corps of
ratters.
Cats often steal aboard and sail off
as stowaways. The Oceanic's favorite,
Jennie, sneaked into stateroom at
Liverpool three years ago, and stayed
under a berth for two days before she
was discovered. When she came out
she began doing business going after
rats and proved herself such a fine
ratter that every man in the crew will
take his oath there isn't a rat on the
ship.
'"Tricks?'' said Boots. Sure; she is
full of tricks, is Jennie. She can do
everything but talk, and you couldn't
get her to taste bite of anything but
minced chicken.
Every cat has his own place on the
ship. The focas'l cat, a big black and
white fellow we call the Bachelor,
wouldn't dare to come into the kitchen,
where Jennie belongs, any more than
Jennie would dare to go aft where the
gray cat stays. If one chances to come
into another's territory, there's fight,
sure"
i've heard it said, though I don't
know how true it is" said the first
mate, with q seagoing mans terror OF
straining the truth, that if any part
of cargo is damaged by rats during
the passage, and the owner can prove
that there were no cats aboard the ship, |
he has a good case against the steam
ship company for damages" The deck
and the second mate standing
by looked wise and said nothing.
land it's many a meal owe to ships |
CATS went on this mate, with an ac-
cent of Anglo-Scotch-Ir blend.
No, L don't eat rats he said, an
the question. But when I |
was prentice on a sailing vessel, |
where they give the men pea soup |
twenty-one times a week and ships !
biscuit made of bean meal and sawdust |
the rest of the time L learned to watch |
the cat, and every time I saw the cat
make leap and run, 1 ran, too, and |
that night I would have a flying fish
for my supper-and there isn't another
1eep sea fish that can equal it,
Speaking of fish reminds me of the
time the Bachelor got a fish bone
through his upper lip said the second
nate, a big fellow from Liverpool with
of sailing vessel days and
ships biscuits that couldn't be broken
With Ratchet "One of the men saw
aim struggling with his paw to get it
'ut, picked him up quick and put him
n sea boot to keep him from scratch
ng, and pulled the fish bone out, and
he Bachelor has followed that sailor
around like q dog ever since"
My word." calculated the deck stew
lrd, little man in a little jacket. with
L tendency to skip his his, but these
ats are sensible. They know a ship
better than do; and when steamships
lseu to carry sails, it was nothing to
Zee cat up in the rigging. You'd
hink Jennie was a member of the roy
u family the way she sits up and
Lsks for her minced chicken and won't
nave anything else
Il was standing in the fo'cas1 one
lay put in the Liverpool mate, and
ooked down through the hatch to the
second deck below and saw Jennie
ooking up.
Meow she said, and I said
P-s-s-t!' She didn't wait for another
word. but started aft because she