The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09
THE CATS OF HELLS KITCHEN
BORN TO POVERTY AND THE
STRUGGLE FOR LIFE.


Prom Birth 10 Death They Learn That Every
Mans Hand Is Against Them -Tnelr
One Pleasure In Life the Meeting al
MldniEht-The Scramble for Food.
The cats Of Hell'e Kitchen are tough cats.
They are tough for the same reason that
the cate of Fifth avenue are genteel. 1t
is all n question OF environment.
A Hell's Kitchen cat transported to Fifth
avenue would probably dive beneath the
sofa and remain there until it starved.
Were a Fifth avenue cat dropped suddenly
in the middle Of Hell's Kitchen Il would
die foolishly within half an hour from ons
Tor more) OF a dozen causes.
Along all the length Of Tenth avenue
from Thirty-seoond street TO Forty-ffth
there is not d tabby that takes a kind word
at its worth. Stop in the middle Of the
sidewalk some midnight when all the street
lie deserted save for the shadows that stink
from ash barrel to areaway and back TO the
random lumber pile and call kindly after
one Of the black streaks that dash across
the line Of light from the street lamp. II
will stop for the fraction OF a minute. Whis-
per after it soothingly and bend down
in inviting attitude and that blotoh against
the gray Of the pavement will dart out Of
sight in a twinkling. The law Of life for
cats and men in Hell's Kitchen Is the same.
only the swift and the ready in battle live
to eat.
A HeIl's Kitchen cat is born where no boy
can find II and where no man can crush
out it's life. Nor must the lean mother
forget that there are dogs and larger cats
10 worry the life o ut Of her young. Away
back in the darkness under some tenement
or in the loft of a ramshackle barn is the
nursery. Through some hidden crack the
mother lodges in and out In the forage
for food and while she is gone the infants
must not 30 much as peep lest there come
that way a pair of TRANCE green eyes and
a ravening mouth. Fear is the first lesson
of the kitten, and II Is also the stern faith
Of the grown cat.
When the spraying legs lave got strength
and the blue eyes Of the kitten are open
and st airing her only will the gaunt mother
cat allow the toddlers to slip through the
hole in the basement boarding or out 10
the shed roof near the nursery nest. The
little fellows roll and tumble over one
anot her, bat with their weak paws in mimic
warfare, and claw their brothers as they
will claw another cat some day when the
supremacy Of the alley In at stake between
two champions. TIE mother Tolls near the
edge of the corner board where she can
keep her eye on the approaches; for even
in the brief period when the Hells
Kitchen kitten may play before the serious
work Of fighting and eating begins there
is ever the danger that turks behind every
kittens shoulder. .,,
The infant natures quickly in Hen's
Kitchen. whether he Ne kitten or baby.
Babies are left to fight the flies and the dogs
on the doorstep Of their mothers house
before they can walk. Kittens must soon
begin the sharp fight to live. 1t is quickly
and sternly decisive. Either the kitten can
skulk better than his fellow, fight better than
his fellow when cornered and thus drive
his fellow to the gutter n the street
sweeper's can or his life is short.
The lean, sickly looking shadow that
slips warily from ashcan tn ashcan by night
or hides under the fruit vender's shelf in the
blazing MONDAY, dashing out for the scrap
of meat flung from the butchers stall and
back again to cover before a brick OF a broom
oan reach it, is the cat that gains wisdom
with zach pinched day. He knows no code
but that of self-preservation. His enemies
are legion, There is the boy who will train
him with a baseball bat for sport. There
is the bulldog belonging TO the colored sport
around the corner. whose cat killing record
is the boast Of his master. The shopkeeper
misses a fish and Stays the first cat he
corners forthwith. The woman, who hnds
IltI - blItdhtd 1 I " iihAi no ."
murderous broom.
One fearful lesson the young cat learns
early down in Hells Kitchen, avoid tho ROAD.
How many mangled heaps Of fur does he
see on those two lines OF steel where runs
the changing yellow car? A horse cares moth
ing for a cat; he will step on one rather than
shy and get a flashing from his master. The
wagons that roll back and forth in a tangle
OF spokes first terrify and bewilder, then
they kill. "
The starveling youngster in dragged fur
that lives q day and then another down in
Hell's Kitchen has little choice OF foraglng:
There are the sshcans where scraps of
tdint53 meat may be burro%ed for, hut "
a cat drops into an ashcan his head IS below
the rim and he cannot see approaching
danger. Or perhaps there is 4 trail over
fences and sheds up TO the back stoop where
the housewife keeps her meat in a wire safe;
should she by any chance forget to latch the
door there is more than a meal there, ana
the whole joint may be carried on TO be
devoured at leisure. But beware Of the
meat that lies temptingly within reach IN
the back yard; it is probably poisoned.
or course down by the packing houses on
Eleventh avenue there are meat scraps,
bones and bits Of hides that may be chewed
upon. Blu then there are the dog great
starved ours that fight all day long. When
they have crept to their holes at night there
is little left for the cats and the biggest get
the p%ickings. Then, too, where they clean
fish at the markets there are delicious NOR
sells if one can dodge in between the legs
of the cleaners.
For those that survive the hard months
OF youth there is one pleasure and one alone;
That is the midnight gathering. When all
the roaring men n women have gone u,
their burrows up and down the length OF
the darkened streets. when the last piano
tinkle lie stilled and the midnight squad
have tramped away from the police station,
then come the cats OF Hell's Kitchen 10
mingle in sweet intercourse
Out OF a areaways, hidden alley ends
and shadowy lumber yards they come;
lodging up the street from shadow 70
shadow, dashipg across lighted spaces like
smoky chickering's of an oil light. They
slim up the street in the shadows OF the
tenements to gather in groups of twos and
threes and squat with unblinking eyes 10
yowl into each others faces the gossip ot
the street or TO screech sweet nothings OF
love.
Sometimes two Of the younger cats will
crouch and spring at each other in mock
battle OF chase a rubber bal that a young
ster has lost in the crack OF the coping, hut
their play is done rather shamefacedly
and only in hRlting Ats and starts, for a
Hell'e Kitchen cat knows that play il not
for him.