Evening star., 1923-05-04
BY w. III. CLAGErT.

Dear Folks:
Believin' it only just and fair to
chronical any incident bearin' on vital
questions of the day. for the beneft
of them who advocate the entrance
Of the United States into a world
court, league Of nations or some such
arrangement. lemme tell of the be-
havior durin' the last three weeks OF
p group of alley cats that have made
life in our neighborhood almost nn-
bearable for nigh OF to two years.
To get full significance OF what
happened l must go back TO the sum-
mer Of 1921. when certain cat
named BABY" made its appearance
in our immediate vicinity! Baby
was half-breed Maltese and be-
longed to an old lady who occupied
the attic room in nearby house ana
who proudly boasted of helm honey
tidy spiritualist.
Her beliefs. of course. have nothin
to do with the matter at hand. only
in that she had an uncann3 habit OF
always communin' with her dear dead
departed al the unearthly hour OF
o'clock in the mornin'. aud while
can't vouch for what part Baby
PLAYED il these procccdin's. judged
by the outlandish noise he made at
thar time il must have been more
than that OF an on-looker.
Old Soul Disappears
oWsum'ever. one day. without any
warnin' whatever. the old soul dis
appeared-just dropped out. as it
were-but BABY stuck around. and
while for time his grief was most
intense. and disgustin'ly loud. he soon
became reconciled when another old
lady moved into the vacated attic
and let him feel plainly he had found
a new mama.
The second roomer was anything
but spirituslist. doin' her COM
munin' at all hours of the day and
Baby" Here. Baby" Come to muv-
yer Baby" caused more than one
neighbor to register complaint,
Time wore on. when she. too. made
a fadeaway. and once more the pa m
pered BABY" was left all alone. but
havin' broadened much physically the
second disappearance bothered him
little. for in about four days there
after he had swept all conventions
aside. and evidently havin' heard the
lot with the vast horde of tramp
felines that infest the locality.
Up to the time Baby" made his
dash from the straight d-narroW
an old one-eyed marauder called
'iallow" had ruled unn:nterruptedly
since Mister Wilson's second term
and it didn't take binoculars to see
that il was "Baby's" intention to
depose the battered leader if such
could be done,
haven't the slightest idea what
rules of precedence cats follow III
T,t art ,.jf
that around our baliwicfi the sole
requisite TO leadership is ability to
hold at bay all pretenders to a GER
tain garage roof. which squeaks very
badly and greatly needs f1xin.
Hard Won Victory.
II was a sleepless night. one long
to be remembered. when Baby" made
his play for the throne. and there still
be cats in neighborin' areas that
claim the young Maltese invader
would never have succeeded had old
va low been in possession of both
Of his lamps: But he did succeed,
and to the victor went the spoils. for
the moment "Blackie." Spots" Ca
rary." Teddy Roosevelt and the rest
Of the gang caught A glimpse Of their
longtime ruler beatin' i; hot-foot for
far-away roofs. they Immediately
claim. The king is dead. long live
the king
For six months Baby" ruled with
an iron hand. demonstratin' by his
proud. unbendin' manner. and auda-
cious dictatorial mien that every
breed represented in the territory
should bend low in suppliance and
know who was it. In other words.
the Maltese sovereign was everything
ruthless despot could be, which
made it quite evident that it was
only a question of time as to how
long the exasperated discontents were
gonna stay put!
AS the nornin's slipped by and I'd
Squint at the sassy monarch, perched
on his rearwards, lickin' his whiskers
and sneerin'ly challengin' any cat in |
the outfit to lay paw on the roof !
the more convinced 7 became that a |
hot time was brewin.
Tactics Abandoned.
After many individual attempts to |
q nethrone the despised tyrant. in all of /
which the attackers were most un- |
mercifully mauled. such tactics were |
finally abandoned. and the disgusted |
delegates. all havin' become allies by !
now. began to assemble in the pri-
vate garden of Mister Franklin
Adams. counsellor of the Pan-Ameri-