The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1915-01-02
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A TOY.
By Cecilia Fenton.


| am a black cat, small, but of aris-
tocratic, German lineage. In my youth
| was very beautiful. But now l have
lost one eye, and part of my left ear;
my fur in places is thin and straggly.
and the tip of my tail is gone. All of
these blemishes are connected with
the strange experiences that have been
part of my life, for already / have lost
eight of the lives allotted to me. | am
now resolved to employ these last days
In giving to mankind a record of my
unusual career
Deep in the heart of Germany there
is a quaint little town called Some
berg. 1t nestles quietly in the long
valley of the Thuringian mountains.
Southwest of Sonneberg is the ia
nous Schwartzwald or Black Forest,
one of the spots of the world where
fairies, witches, COLLINS and kobolds
are still to be found. Although | have
never been through the Black Forest,
| heard many stories of it while I liv-
ed in Sonneberg, for that was my ma
tive place.
| still recall the queer old town with
its tall houses topping toward each
other across the narrow streets which
lead from the market place up the
slope of the mountains.
That old weather beaten house
which clings close to the side of the
hill is the old homestead in which hun
dreds of generations of my family
have been born. For we are no facto-
ry-made toys-it is the proud boast of
our race that never an ear a leg, or a
tail was sewed on, except by hand.
That curiously dressed old
now ninety-two, who is working on a
wee black kitten, began to make them
when she was five years old, and that
has been her occupation ever since.
Many of her ancestors did the same
honorable work.
But to go on with my story. You
know that America buys several mill
ion dollars worth of toys from Germa-
ny every year. Each spring there is a
great Toy Fair held in Nuremberg. at
which we are displayed. American
~"jobbers," as they are called, buy mill
ions of US to carry home. 1t was
through this fair that l left my father
land and came to America.
But before this happened | went
through a terrible experience in which
lost my first life. Grossmutter Stein
had just finished me and the whole
family we're gathered around admir-
ing my unusual beauty,-my fur was
so soft and silky and | looked as nat
ural as those common live cats do, ex-
cept, of course, that | showed my SUI
perior birth. Baby Gretchen, who
was standing near the charcoal fire.
cooed and coaXed so prettily that |
was placed in her arms. Imagine my
shudder of horror when the little thing
flung me straight toward the glowing
coalsl
That was a terrible moment and I
shall eve forget Grossvater's heroic
rush to my rescue No man ever de-
served a Carnegie medal more than
he, and l hope that Mr.. Carnegie, when
he reads this life, will see that it is
awarded.
After this thrilling experience 1
was sent, with my brothers and sisters,
to- the Toy Fair, where we were pur-
chased by an American jobber.
The voyage to America was another
milestone in my nine-lived career, for
the steamer on which we sailed was
no other than the Inflated Titanic.
Had it not been that the Americans
little girl, who was with him, chose
me above all the others as her own
special pet, l should have shared the
fate of the rest. AS it was. | never
left my mistress's arms, and after suf-
terlng untold horrors of cold and hun
ger we were at last picked up By the
steamer and landed in New York City.
The Americans family was a veal
thy one, their home a beautiful place
on the Hudson, and everything seem
ed to point to a happy existence. But
alas
There is always a cur
For each creature with fur"
as we say in Cat-land. This family
had the vulgar habit of permitting
their children to associate with COM
mon live things. Dogs, ponies and
even pigs-guinea pigs, I think they
were called - were tolerated on the
place for the amusement of the chill
dren. What l endured from the ieal-
ousy of those low-bred animals, no one
will ever know.
| shall never forget the day my lit
tie mistress took me to see her pony.
She insisted upon his giving me a ride.
Neither of us liked this, and naturally
| made good use of my sharp nails.
The pony gave a savage kick which
threw me on the ground, and no one
will ever convince me that he did not
step on me %purposely. I was uncon-
scious for a long time and when |
found my senses again l was in a
soft bed of cotton. Here / remained
several days, unable to move.
My next experience was still worse.
One day my little mistress took me out
to see Abner feed the pigs-as if /
wanted to see those disgusting live
creatures eat! She set me upon the
edge of the pen and through her care
l~essness, | toppled in, right under a
nose! | shall not go into the de-
tails of the few, but agonizing mo-
ments that | spent in that pen.
Two weeks after that l was cozily
up on a cushion in the parlor,
Towser, a despicable white
poodle, bounced right on top of me.
wanted my cushion, which of
7 ..oc,,roJ - .s-. L. TrT.a1