The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-02-26
IONDONSPINSTER
The GOOD ANGEL
OF $4,000 CATS
Miss Cording Relieved That
Felines Quitting This World
Live Again somehow

NEW YORK, Feb. Z.--That every
cat and every dog sent out of this
world lives again somehow, some
where" was the conviction OF Miss
Kate Cording, an elderly spinster OF
London. Eng, who spent Is years OF
her life In rescuing Tables and tom
mics from the streets and died pau
per because of her penefactions.
Miss Cording's belief, as well az
many things relating TO her remark
able efforts. are set forth In ofiicial
documents just filed In the Surro-
gates court OF New York county
They are there because the spinster's
estate. willed to the Royal Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ami.
mails, 10 seeking to prove its right To
$4,000 bequeathed to cat hospital
in London by Miss Elizabeth @. Even.
OF this city.
Miss Even was herself such lover
of cats that she once started b sani-
tarium for them In Harlem, with the
result that the department OF health
was appealed to-. The particular be-
quest In dispute was but one Of 10
made TO similar institutions to which
100000 In the aggregate was left.
The testimony OF witnesses taken
before q commission In London, with
many exhibits, were fled with the
New York surrogate. The exhibits
include two booklets written by Miss
Cording dealing with cats, photo
graphs of the Animal Refuge league,
which she established at No. 81 Trim
ity-st.. copy OF her will and the
prospectuses of several OF 40 other
cat refugees In the city.
From this data II appeared that In
1898 Miss Cording enlisted the aid OF
Miss Elizabeth Clegg, also an elderly
spinster. and the two, combining their
meager resources. set out to rescue
stray cats In London. The plan was
10 bring them in alive, fatten and
farm out the more promising felines
and kill the balance by humane
means. During the 15 years prior TO
Miss Cording's death 479,000 cats
were cared for and disposed OF.
At the time sheS began her actfvt
ties Miss Cording lived In one room
oyer sub-cellar kitchenette and sent
her cats to Mrs. Zoe Constance Nor
gan, who had established q feline hos
pitai and lethal chamber at No. "a
Ferdinand-st. Camden Town, q suburb
OF London. Some of the cats were
shipped by parcel post and others
were iugged by hand, the latter
method being most fatiguing, accord
ing to Miss Cording.
When the cats became too numer-
Gus for Mrs. Morgan to accommodate,
Misses Cording and Clegg organized
a. committee of seven women who fur
nished enough financial aid to take
over the Trinity-st. property and
make II into q hospital. A lethal
chamber, in which cats might be "re-
moved" with chloroform. was con-
structed In the kitchenette, an exer-
cising promenade was constructed in
the back yard. and an icebox was put
in for the food for the cats.
Photographs Of the lethal chamber
show It to be profusely supplied with
growing plants, while over the death
dealing boxes was the motto, "Mors
Janua vitae"--translated by Miss
Cording as Death the gate OF life"
1t was In speaking of this chamber
in one of her booklets that she inn
parted her views OF the cat hereafter.
speaking Of cats In general, Miss
Cording said that they We're as diner
ent as human beings. She occasion
ally met the idle rich" which had
strayed from home, and were more to
be pitied than the common garden va
rtety OF cats, as the latter were used
TO hardships. II was difficult to make
the two sorts mix well In the refuge,
but by patience she always accomp-