The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-17
THE FAMILY CAT

From the Nashville Tennessean.
 What follows is written, not from the fullness of the heart, but by request To use phrase somewhat current and de- cidedly slangy, the writer cannot see the family cat for dust. Cats are bad citi- zens Their veneer of domesticity is very thin. Atavism catches and controls them more easily than it does any other do- mesticated animal. No perfect system of conservation is possible so long as cats are encouraged. The cat is the most de- structive agent in the ,faunal world. Family cats and cats that have been family cats but have reverted to the wild | destroy more birds than all the hawks, 1 all the owls and all the small boys com ] bined
 l. cat is always referred to as "she" 1 That is significant. Really, just about | half the eats are he Now, any race that, being half male, always takes the female pronoun is, to say the least of it., suspicious. There is no manliness in the
 cat. And, it must be said in candor. there is no womanliness in the cat The cat never plays the game openly and | aboveboard. The cat does not give and | take-only takes. The cat never enters an open field for fair fight, never gives | the adversary an equal chance, as, for 1 instance, the dog does. The cat is a l sneak, a pussy y-foot crouching, crawl l ing, creeping devil. The cat is a turncoat
 and traitor. The cat lawns over your feet and purrs. The cat, when the inn pulse to fondle strikes you. scratches like a depraved woman in a free-for-all fight D,,t 1xlx I1h fn | about the black side of the cat. If you l want the full indictment. with all the counts. get little book entitled 'Idle 1 thoughts of an Idle Fellow and read the essay on cats.
 There must be something good in ths family cat, else very excellent people would not ask to have an editorial writ ten the subject. Else. the cat would
 not have had place in the home through so many centuries. Maybe 1t is tho
 writer's misfortune that he can't see the good. But, going far back in his mem ory, he can recall some fondness for some
 cats. There comes the memory of somt
 bitter weeping that he did, as a very
 small boy. over family of kittens whos' , father had cut their throats from eal
 to ear.
 Oh, it will be necessary to borrow th' ' pleasant memories of cats from others.
 There is a certain small boy-not st
 small now, though. as he used to be- who means a great deal to us. He cam } to this town some years ago from anothe
 town--and he was very small then Nearly a year after he came, he ex
 pressed desire to go back home. H
 said there were some people there h. i; wanted to see. Being pressed to nam
 them, he could go no farther than one bo.
 with whom he had played. But, pon dering the matter long. he concluded with "and our old nanny cat"
 Now, if the picture of an old mamm
 cat can cling in the mind of child
 after the pictures of all the people h
 knew save one have faded, then ther must be something not bad in fami
 cats. Maybe the rest of you know abou
 it. If you do, or if you think you dc
 take no prejudice from this stuff
 Agnos. We do not know. If it help you any to believe in cats. go right alon
 believing in them.