The Republican journal., 1911-03-02
me CATS TALE.
..,es Way Back to the Days Of the
Su, s.,iest Egyptian Householder.

,.hes Way Back to the Days Of the
sp, Earliest Egyptian Householder.
Henderson in the Boston Herald
tIessN .hat the Queen Grandmother of
No" i'b has recovered almost the iden-
'atusa a. angoras overlooked in her hasty
irsI s asr o. from Lisbon, and now that a
spsrlIu Vase has taken to feeding heartily
ig nal' zee bits culled from the visages
pOn cnV "y Brooklynites, it behooves the
/ angs..if TO murmur, Thereby hangs a
D. ,,bising cat categorists, the cato
alessatrhps at a concentration of ca
ags , ,Sss that stretches the cats tail
&tF0P ,nck to those times when it was
Wy g% an by the early Egyptian house
RPy yho, returning home as the first
Od7l .gs Of dawn smote the pyramid
DE 10y .sa1 his sandals at the foot of the
oP' ~, .to;rs and endeavored to creep 81
t'al S w his chamber. Perhaps it was
'1ih! s'rriqinal midnight alarm clock that
s jfF rawled her way into the house.
III, elections. Even in 1911 she re-
1ts tss jovable trait of leaving her tail
si1s w t5e armchair rocker, or in the
1ati mouth, or against the door jamb
Ny i may provoke the greatest n.y.
Insls and profanity with the least effort.
i3Eit .sa GOOD old days when the obelisks
u ns sw the cat had the time of its
feEs l 1- along the Nile. There have
H' .nme attempts at tracing it's gene
sa. - mt though these have merely
Wy Fl. make the origin of the cat still
\, n ypicable, every cat cataloguist
'9I. ~ calling the Egyptian period
li' '.e IN which the cats condition was
While it lived the Nile tabby
iS' fsd and when it died it was num-
y m5urned by whole commune
~ gus An the aristocracy took purring
r. En-. an tocall any Egyptian dowager
~ s.4 rss to- pay her the browning com
S~.or Mr. even yet is it considered
-r. he alttenish.
'rsry,r THE CAT CAME UNKNOWN.
rs-., he cat came is as unknown as
>. There were cats in China and in
W., W. 7ng before they prowled across
s 5s back wards of Europe. In the mid
J. y" as., cats were as rare in England as
u Te.- oliquitous. No graymaulkin
I, -aggei up in Adams fishing tackle
Y say.l Ewes parlor curtains into
,,,s,. No mouser stalked the raven
n ne love on Noah's ark. Nowhere
4. er,ptares is pussy referred to I'M
n is some contend, there is dim
'isrers. to the introduction of the cat
with another familiar
.~;sR54 pet in the text: 'The wicked
is rr5m no man pursueth.
n i. worthy of note, however, that,
a,rrr the eat made tardy entrance
~ H. Christian world, it became re-
,rs9al. tav0rite soon after its advent.
H. Fryp ms spent hours of devotion at
4. @ts shrine. Even today the men
la. civilized world spend many late
.v. otion to ceremonial which
b, % If most important object the
I'm YET, universal as is the reverence
n a--.. Ne learn of her ancestry only
Id ron oli Felis Domestica down to
A. m.r- Cheshire, every kitten knows
III 50 much of its catagenesis as to be
III IL trace its direct descent in the fe-
aac4 upon time an ancient Italian be-
kari he had discovered the origin of her
aerp. It seems that st. Francis de
hut. who lived in Italy centuries ago,
ga.ei the envy of satan by sundry
E,gca feats that brought the saint
n:5 INTO renown and the devil into as
nta 5Isrepute. So satan sent upon
[ucs plague of mice which over-ran
4 goo. saints cell and drove him we'll
|gi distracted. Francis prayed for de-
[alce. Lo, in the folds of his cloak
|resrei quite suddenly a beautiful lit
|k8t u beg you to depart, said the
| athlmanely to the troublesome mice.
| g paid no heed. Like flash the cat
|alsi upon them, devoured them two
|Mhree at a time and became the great
E-dnother of every sleek ratter in
THE FAMILIAR OF WITCHES.
twas many decades later that kitty
am ayl ways. She became the IA
LA. Of witches and sorcerers. When
E3citizen of England, southern Eu-
h Or New England was favored by the
Of witch riding her broomstick,
Invariably saw a big, black cat as her
gEo- In times when it was con-
1 sninently respectable to burn,
7G Or nang all the old ladies and gen.
Ea i ones village it is not strange
pussy laid down all her nine lives
% a1. aEain. Later the cat, particu-
!'ts black cat, came to be consider
@.y And, indeed, when kitty was
nt mQuse-trap her owner might be
slr=l thrice lucky. By the way,
l4a Hamlin purchase healthy
instead Of snarling itself up with the
1S2m- piper?
@g before the prizefghter became
stsronal emblem, the cat had dem
Sated her ability to come back. In
always was difficult to get her
But even after that had been
Gpished the would-be catricide
count upon being met at his own
ESiep by the feline whom he had first
agl4d and then drowned in a gunny-
with stone about her neck. These
iao comebacks are too common to
sFe much notice. Only don't forget
Alexander Packard's coon cat
lost in 1908 from an automobile
wen Brant Rock and Whitman,
r4 carelessly into its whitman
seven months after it had been
~ y ior slain. And recall also the
the Mortified, N. H., cat who
<1s famous in 1907 because she re-
70 her birthplace upon the Ed
heath farm exactly every twelve
ss and then strayed to G. E. Cor
'oIse, six miles away, for the rest
Year.
FELlNA A LIFE-SAVER.
S,.ag the baby from the brook may
s'orite trick of Fido. But res
he whole family from a burning
u the favorite vaudeville turn of
sometimes for weeks at a time
MeStead can be reduced to ashes