Evening star., 1925-10-18
This and That
BY Charles E. Trdce,ceU.

Jack Spratt. the most valuable
player in the Tomcat League. leap"d
high i'll the air to spear the flying
mouse.
Flying mice. il might be said are
not seen every day. This being q
jazz age. however, mice are likely
to do almost anything. The mouse
in question, being of th& catnip va
riety. its winged course is easily ex-
planned.
In order to pep" up Spratt's play
we had tied the mouse amidship at
the end Of a long string, and thus
were able to make the imitation rodent
do feats utterly outside natural his
tory.
While the manufacturer OF the
mouse might stand convicted of ma
ture taking, in some ways he has
improved upon Nature herself. His
animal, being made of flannel stuffed
with catnip, will last several months
and at the same time is possessed Of
an incompatible flavor
No cat has ever been known to turn
up his nose Al a Catnip mouse. Th-
do, however. require some motion on
the part OF the mouse. and. when this
stage is reached. can be attracted by
the simple expedient mentioned
The aerial mouse. of course re.
quli IS cooperation on the part or the
holder of the far end of the string
say or feet long-but no person
who likes his cat will mind il.
Often, il seems to me. Jack Spratt
looks up as if To say. Mister. you
certainly do get lot of fun out Of
that mouse. don't you?"
There are times when the cat con
GpSrpndS
if declaring, Well. l really don't want
TO play, but ii seems to amuse YOU
Mister, 40 here goes
Then Spratt leaps high into the air
batting his forepaws together after
the mouse, much as base ball player
reaches for high one
OFTEN Spratt catches the mouse on
the fly, bringing it down to the floor
with a thump. Sometimes he misses
1t, whereupon he bounds after on all
fours, often turning complete
somersault he lands.
A cats backbone seems made of
rubber, so mucn can he twist II, at
times forming a complete circle with
himself. The sudden twists would
either break a persons back or give
him terrible 'crick' if he attempted
to emulate the cat
Felnes tumble. roll, plunge. cavort.
SiucStCp. iOll Gnu oNtl emu. spring UP.
eyes wild. tail held high. ears laid
back, legs set for the spring. whiskers
alert. They have grand old time in
simple, natural ia shion.
Looking at Jack Spratt play with
his mouse | wished we humans could
find some universal amusement that
would satisfy us.
Jack never gets tired of his mouse
Nature so made him that the lure of
some moving thing satisfies him.
With us. however, all is different.
Playing games, no matter how fine
they are. tires us, and, when we go in
doors. reading books finally becomes
more tiresome than the other.
We grew tired Of the phonograph,
and now some of us are growing tired
of the radio.
1t is an old. old thought. THE 90
is filled with hearing and the eye filled
with seeing. and there is nothing new
under the SUM-" said the preacher
thousands Of years ago.
Since that time men of all climes
and ages have said much the same
thing, over and over, I'm tired of It,
give me something new
And an shat time the Jack Spratts
of the world and the Black Beauties
and the other animals have been go
ing right along about their business
indulging in their sports, getting as
much fun out OF them as ever.
Happy Jack Spratts. Happy Black
Reautiea'