Evening star., 1926-05-30
This and That
By Charles E. TracesOell.

Cats, as a rule, do not pay much
attention to radio.
AS q general proposition they &C
cept this science and art with their
usual equanimity. probably regarding
1t as just another Of their human
friends strange activities. For the
most part they can hardly be said to
be radio "fans."
Nor can this be wondered at. What
| is there in music of orchestra or band
or sounds of the singing voice, that
could appeal particularly to a cat?
The house cat has its little ears
attuned to those sounds which thou
sands of years Of ancestral training
have shown are worth listening to
from the feline standpoint.
The foot Of the grocer's boy on the
lightful noise! The rustling of paper
bags Is another, for every bag may
contain delicious food.
The opening Of can OF salmon or
sardines evokeS more pleasurable
| thrills in a cat than all the sym
| phonies Of Beethoven possibly could
| do.
As for the click of the Refrigerator
door. any cat will tell you that there
is the most beautiful music in the
| world.
The cat thus is seen to be an erni
nently practical fellow, with hearty
yearning for the fieshpots OF Egypt
the land Of his birth.
Strange wanderers, true gypsies OF
the animal woridi Your music Is not
our music, and ours Is not yours. ex-
cept upon rare occasions, and then
your only applause Is a pricking up Of
ears.
The cat Jack Spratt, for instance
has never shown the slightest interest
! in the radio except upon a few occa-
sions, q statement that also holds true
Of the phonograph.
Jack has been tested with the latter
| instrument upon many occasions. to
see what reactions he would give. with
| uniformly dumb results. The phono-
graph simply does not exist, as far as
he is concerned.
Ernest Thompson Seton's limitations
Of wild animals, including the far
howl Of the mournful timber wolf,
leave Jack cold. We have never been
able to see the slightest interest in his
/, mobile tail, his eyes or general facial
expression.
only once did he ever look up at
the phonograph and meow. That was
when an orchestra record was play
ing in which high-pitched orchestra
| bells struck notes at intervals. Repe-
titions, however, failed to get any re
action.
Records with bird effects leave Jack
apathetic. THAT amt no bird, you
| can't fool me-" he seems to say.
X Y X X
The harmonica hour was the only
feature over local radio that ever drew
the unfailing attention OF Jack Spratt.
When the mouth organs got under
way Jack invariably would lay bach
his ears, get an agonized expression
upon his face, and, looking UP at the
speaker, indulge in O few heartfelt
meows.
AS lens as this program was on the
cat would act in an uneasy manner,
| ard would hop up on some ones lap
| as If for protection. Evidently the
high.pitched notes hurt his sensitive
ear drums.
Playing in harmonics on a violin
often draws his attention, as does VIC
lin playing in general, just as certain
high notes will cause dog to howl.
What interests Jack most about radio
is what makes human listeners some
what put out--the strange and un-
usual noises that now and then Will
crop up, usually the result Of trouble
at the broadcasting station.
A slight clicking. in the flow Of the
most beautiful program, will imme-
diately cause Jack to look at the
speaker.
No doubt he thinks there is q mouse
therein.