The Holbrook news., 1910-05-20
GOLDEN AGE FOR CATS.
FsIines Were venerated by the Am cients-ChanEe in Middle Axes.


 FsIiner Were venerated by the An
 cients-ChanEe in Middle Axes.
 That truly was the golden age of
 cats. The slayer of a cat in Egypt
 was punished severely, but when the
 felines died from natural causes they
 were carefully embalmed and laid
 away to become mummies. Herodotus
 writes of great numbers of pilgrims
 on -one occasion roc, ,OOO-going annu-
 ally to the city of Bubastis to attend | the festivals of the cats
 1 Even to-day in Cairo there remains
 vestige of this ancient veneration
 for money is appropriated to feed all
 the hungry cats of the city, while the
 pilgrims to Mecca do not fail to pro- vide for the cats they encounter on their journey.
 The Greeks and Romans were also fond of cats. When the rats migrated from Asia and invaded the granaries of Europe relief from the plague was found in the cats which were import ed Then, too, the Norsemen had their cats, and so well did they think of them that they incorporated them into their mythology. Two cats draw the chariot of the goddess Fridja.
 Then came a change and in the mid dle ages, says the Baltimore Ameri- can, the cat was looked upon as a thing of evil The day of witchcraft prevailing. every sorcerer or sorceress made it point to be accompanied by a cat, preferably a black one, which resulted in many of the little animals being killed because they were so feared.
 In the Flemish town of Spres there was a "Wednesday of Cats" in the second week of Lent, which was orig mated in 962 by Baldwin IT., count of Flanders. On this day each year it was customary to fling cats from the top of lofty tower, and many of the animals were killed. It is said that this custom continued until 1868.
 The question as to the origin of the domesticated cat has frequently been raised There is but little doubt that the first race of cats were wild, but they were undoubtedly we'll domesti- cated before the middle ages and cer- tainly before they were imported into Europe. At what period, however. none can tell, so it is generally assumed that the Egyptians, whose works have been lost in the ages. are responsible for giving the cat to the present time.
 There are yet eXtant many races of wild cats. from the Nubian of northern Africa to the bobcat of western Amer 1 ica. but the link between these animals and the domesticated variety is diffi- ! cult to locate, if it does at all exist.
 Nor is the cat considered as pet alone. It has a commercial value, for | the skins have been found to make ! excellent gloves for women, while the l hair or fur also has a value. While i dealing in catskins is not extensive 1 in this country. it is a trade that has grown to considerable proportions in southern Europe, where cats are bred for the purpose.
 Cats are primarily. divided into two classes, the long-haired and the short haired. To the latter class belong most of the cats that one sees. and they are known as just common" cats. In the long-haired class are the Per sians and Angoras, the aristocrats or the family, which are highly prlzed because of their magnificence, their plumed tails being one of their great est marks of beauty.
 The raising of this breed Of cats IS practiced in this country and there are dozens of catteries where the animals are as carefully attended as though they were children. They 1 ,o,.o ;,dir;dua1 quarters are grOOmed each morning, fed with the choicest morsels and their every action IF watched.