Evening star., 1925-03-22
Heard and Seen

The cat Jack Spratt is very fond of
baked beans. He is very particular
about his beans, however. There is
only one brand on the market he
will eat. Perhaps he likes the catsup
they use.
Another equally well known brand
of canned beans has no place in the
dietary of the flnicky Spratt. No mat
ter how hungry, he will not eat them.
Place plate of the first brand before
him, he will fall to greedily.
One imagines him as the Puss-in-
Boots of the baked bean industry.
What a great "ad" could be con-
structed. with two pictures, one show
ing Jack eating plate of beans, the
other displaying him turning up E,s
white nose at another plate.
Jack Spratt eats So-and-So's Baked
Beans" would be the caption for the
first picture.
Jack Spratt will not eat Thus-andt
Thus's beans" would read the title
to the second picture.
Jack Spratt, the baked bean cat,
might come to occupy a place in the
industry similar to that held by pre-
cocious babies in the motion picture
world.
Mister Jack. as the woman who does
peas. Almost any good brand Will suf-
fce. Inferior goods he has little use
for. His disregard for foods he does
not like can be felinely cutting.
A well known animal fancier re-
Gently presented me with a big box
of 'cat food
Your cat will like it." said he
accepted the gift with thanks, but
with reservations, for 1 know Spratt.
And do you think that striped ami
NAL would eat "cat food?' He sampled
q few crumbs. but has not touched it
since. A half-starved kitten that wan
dered to our house backed up Spratt's
! judgment, and would not eat II,
either. That grub is what you might
call hot-dog cat food.
Water is another article the cat is
| never known to touch. Only once
within memory has he drunk any.
That time he came upstairs and
meowed, and then led me to the bath
room, where he looked up at the
drinking glass.
1 drew Spratt glass of water, full
to the brim, of which he Tapped up
perhaps as much as a quarter of an
inch. He has refused water since.
Milk is his drink. He scorns il as
food. He Is very fond of cream, upon
which article no one can fool him. He
is never too full to appreciate bit,
of cream.
Once Jack jumped up on the table
and dragged a slab of cottage pud-
ding down on the floor, and ate near
ly all of il before he was discovered.
The zest of theft added TO the taste,
evidently, because he has never touch
ed it since.
1t is needless to say that Spratt is
fond of catnip. This herb, sometimes
known as catmint, is a delicacy of
all cats. They usually select certain
| bits from the pile, rejecting other
leaves.
Fish, too. he eats with gusto. He
can smell the "old fish man" block
off, even with all doors shut
Beefsteak, however. is Jacks great
dish. Give him plenty of beefsteak,
he asks for nothing more. The most
important factor, in his opinion, is
the amount. Nothing short of half
pound satisfied him.
Jack is of the belief that plain, sim
pie beefsteak solves all the problems
of diet. It gives him the vitamins Of
raw meat, together with all the pro-
tein and heat elements his system
demands.
The ne plus ultra, as it were-the
catswhisker-or food, is beefsteak,
Spratt is firmly convinced. Beefsteak
is the cats meow Of all foodstuffs.
'"The COW Is my friend" says Jack.
What more can a cat ask than plenty
of steak and plenty of milk to drink,
and plenty of cream to top-off with"
c. e. TRACEWELL