Evening star., 1925-02-07
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

station has ever put real. genuine
cats meow. on the air. 1t would be
a knockout" especially during the
bedtime stories hour. Any good cat
would willingly oblige--if a large
piece of heeIsteak were held just
out of reach.
Perhaps Jack Spratt's unique meow
is rolling note, much like that of
a canary bird. This meow holds a
note of inquiry. and Is usually utter
ed when Jack Is pleasantly disturbed.
A cat, 1t may be said, can be
disturbed either pleasingly or un-
pleasingly. This, from his stand
point, Of course. If your cat lies
asleep in a chair. If you walk up to
him and gently stroke his head, he
probably will give evidence of his
appreciation by the canary-like sound
referred to above.
This meow is sort of a cross
between a straight meow and a roll
marvelously resembling the ordinary
rolling of the canary. The big diff
ference IL that in the cat 1t Is not
prolonged
II 1t were possible to devise some
means Of teaching the cat to continue
this trill, new species OF canary
cats might be put on the market.
Another variety of meow Is a
querelous one given when q cat is
rudely disturbed when he Is asleep
The roll. so liquid like, Is entirely
absent. In it's place II soft, some
what sharp sound. as II to say, For
heavens sake, can't you let a feller
sleep?"
When a cat sees aparrows out on
the walk, he is very apt to give vent
to series of sharp chatterins
sounds, much resembling the lingo
of monkey at the zoo. There is a
small Rhesus monkey out at the
National Geological Park that chat
ters for all the world the way Spratt
carries on when he sees sparrow
and cannot get at them
This sound Is somewhat allied to
the whimper a cat puts up when 1t
Is spanked for some infringement of
the sanitary laws. Looking at you
somewhat remorsefully, the cat slides
on under bureau. giving vent to a
series of slight whimpers, as II re-
pentant, but unwilling to admit it.
+ -
cat has two varieties Of meows
to get in and out a house. When 1t
shows up in the early morning, after
a night in the open, its meow is some
what piercing, as If determined to
carry through walls.
Once, on Pennsylvania avenue, In
the early morning, saw a big black
cat stand in front of a Chinese mer-
chants door and set up a tremendous
clamor to get in. 1t was quite an
ugly cat, its face made more ugly
than usual by its determined meows
Soon the door opened slightly, an old
Chinaman peered out, the cat slid
within.
The meow to get out Of the house is
pitched lower, and is no way near as
loud, Is II the animal realized that
those whose attention it was trying
TO attract were there in the house
with him.
The war cries Of the cat are many
The clamor made to strike terror into
the heart of a larger foe is distinct
from the ordinary war cries. II is
made by a smaller cat who is quite
sure that the battle is going to GO
against him. The mating calls of cats
are like no other meows they make
and are easily distinguished.
Splitting must be classed as a form
of the cats meow. Every one has
heard it, when a cat was treed by a
dog, and the feline had it's back up
and eyes glaring. claws unsheathed.
The cats growl is seldom heard, but
Jack Spratt has favored me with sew
eral demonstrations. These growis
were given when a dog came barking
UP to the window In which Mr.
Spratt was summing himself, with the
pane between. There was no neces-
sity for splitting, he knew, but the
situation demanded something out OF
the usual. E
So Jack growled like a dog, deep
down in his throat.