The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-09-30
Lost Shoes When "Cr1tter'
YOWled in Dark Cellar.
HOODOOED MANY YEARS AGO
Fought FeIines That Wanted to
Eat Dead Man.
Stayed All Night With Corpse
and Crazed Pets.

bob" Miller. city detective, would
fight a man with gun, face an en-
ragged woman with a rolling pin, or
fight n revolving buzz saw. But he's
afraid of cats If he should be slip
ping down a dark alley. gun in hand,
on the trail of a burglar and some
ones hearthstone pet should let out
vowl Miller would throw his gun away
and run.
one night he was slipping thru a
dark cellar out at the state hospita.
in his sock feet with shoe in each
hand. Two cats decided to settle a
dispute Just a few feet in front of him
and decided suddenly. He threw both
shoes at them and yelled. ran bindly
in the dark. then spent half an hour
crawling around on his stomach try
ing to locate his shoes. That was
years ago but the incident that in
spired the fear of cats happened long
before that.
"One time when lived out in Wich-
ita county, said Miller the other day,
AN old man who Kept about twenty
fat cats around him got discouraged.
took a dose of rough-on-rats and died.
Frank Grimes. afterwards state
treasurer, hunted me up and asked me
to go out to the house and sit up with
the body that night We didn't have
any undertakers out there but the
doctor fixed up some sort Of solution
to battle the body with.
Cats Wanted to Eat Body.
"'You go on out to the house.
Grimes said to me, and I'll send an
other fellow out to keep you company
later on in the evening. Keep all the
windows up and battle the old mans
face in that solution every fifteen min
utes'
Il went out to the house. opened up
the windows, bathed the old mans
face and sat down to wait for the
other fellow. He didn't come and no
one else came. That didn't bother me
any but 1 did get lonesome.
Along in the night those fool cats
took a notion to eat the old man up.
I had heard about such things but
didn't believe it. The first thing 1
knew a big fat cat landed in one win
dow and made for the body. 1 raped
him--the cat---over the head with n
broomstick and he went out the win
dow. Right behind him was another.
I hit that one, too. But they kept
coming one after another and later
in punches. 1 got along all right until
it came time to battle the old mans
face again. BY the time 1 had fin
ished that job the room was full of
cats and they were trying to get at
the body When L grabbed the broom
stick 1 scattered cats all over the
walls.
Fought Cats All Night.
Il fought those cats all night.
Frank had said to keep the windows
open and I supposed there was some
good reason for it. 1 didn't mind the
fighting but after had the bunch of
hungry cats buffaloed they sat down
outside and yowled, yowled. That go.
on my nerves.
Il didn't think at the time that the
fight and the yowls got to me but a
year later a cat let off a yowl right
in front Of me in the dark and 1 near
iy ran myself to death for half a
block. Then I knew the nights ex-
perience had affected me.
IRA hate to say that I am afraid of
a fool cat but for a second after one
of them let's out his unearthly yell I
am scared. I admit that much"