The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-02-26

lished this. "She had one cat" she
said. whose ethical standards we're
low He was a difficult idler TO re-
form, as he would steal. but he nlti-
mately became imbued with sense
OF honor and treated his companions
fairly.
The exercising promenade was
found 70 be OF great value. II was
supplied with balls Of colored yarn.
the color appealing to the patients
and the balls bringing about 4 sort OF
sociable atmosphere which otherwise
would have been hard to cultivate
where cats OF all degrees were thrown
unceremoniously together.
Possibly Miss Cording's greatest
success lay In feeding the patients.
She discovered that rats and mice
were not proper diet. and In their
place gave fresh fish and horsenies
In the morning and milk at night.
Sundays a special dinner OF salmon
was the bill, and this was greatly rel
ished by the cats. which Immediately
thereafter settled down for long maps.
They knew the day as well as their
mistress.
Miss Cording's greatest diniculty
lay In getting hirelings who would put
the cats to final sleep as though
they loved their charges. She says
she engaged go such, and of the num-
Der but ave proved to be cat lovers.
The rest went about their duties
|heartlessly and mechanically.
She says they always seemed In q
hurry to finish the Job and keep even
ing engagements. (,
Collecting the cats was strenuous,
and at times dangerous task. The
Testimony and the writings show that
more than once Miss Cording and
Miss Cfegg were set upon by hood
lums, who regarded them as cranks
or thieves. This was particularly
true before MiSs Cording bought Q
tricycle. and Miss Clegg q bicycle and
attached baskets on behind.
In the White Chapel district an
noyances were often encountered. The
Inhabitants frequently regarded the
two ladies' as -cat pinchers" and
Cording had chased q cat into sub
cellar and wrested II from an urchin.
the urchin's father chased cat and
captor down the block. loudly de-
manding II she 'adn't any ome."
The wheels were acquired because
the ladies' found It most irksome and
annoying to carry four cats apiece on
the tram Now and then the cats
got loose and the passengers gvocifer-
ously objected, particularly when the
cats darted up and down the aisles in
an effort to escape. The new method
was OF service In another way. , In
riding after cats through parks and
squares the speed and tactics Of the
spinsters made 1t almost impossible
for the felines to escape Each was
armed with net on pole, and by
It's dextrous use II was q mighty agile
cat that got away.
Many cats were found to be SO
badly on that transportation to the
lethal chamber was inadvisable. To
meet this emergency Miss Cording in
vented lethal bag-a continuance OF
rubber with two glass windows. On
the street or anywhere the cat could
be asphyxiated with little or no diff
Guilty, the executioner meanwhile OBJ
serving the operation through the
windows. Those killed were always
taken to the refuge.
Had not the cats set up fierce out
cries and scratched desperately dur
ing their capture and transportation
the labors OF the ladies would have
been much lighter. These commo-
tons attracted endless attention. and
on more than one occasion Miss Cord
ing and her companion were forced
to seek the protection OF the police.
The hobbies" Miss Cording relates.
were universally kind.
She says that on one occasion
when she received q midnight emer.
gency call to slum section of Lon
don, bobby lighted her way with his
fash lamp to sick kitten, which she
then put out Of its misery. 1t was In
this connection that she berated her
employees, calling them "soulless
hirelings." Most people who saw her
about nights, she wrote, viewed her
with derision and mistrust.
Both Miss Cording and Miss Clegg
were on duty at night as/ well as day.
Their telephone number and the OBJ
'jects OF the refuge had been widely
advertised. and no matter what time
the telephone bell rang, one Of the
other was on hand to succor q cat in