Evening star., 1928-10-14
This and That
BY Charles E. TraceweH.

No two cats are alike in mental char
acteristics any more than they are in
physical appearance.
This needs restating for the benefit
of those who profess to believe that
these animals are as alike as peas in
pod.
Just as human beings differ from
each other, so house cats vary one be-
ing kindly. another Of a sour disposi-
ton: one solemn. another playful; one
intent en- being liked. and its mate not
caring whoop whether any one pets
II or not.
The procession of cats which has ap-
peared In this column during the past
four years shows all this very well.
First and foremost, of course, comes
Jack Spratt, he. of the white shirt
front and the gooseberry- green eyes,
whose adventures have been standard
Sunday morning reading for thousands
The various mental and physical
traits of Spratt are we'll known to
readers here, so that we will not go
of an ultra -affectionate disposition.
spiced with a tendency to bite and
scratch at times.
Little Nipper I and II come next:
These two small tiger cats looked a
great deal alike, but were utterly, diff
ferent in disposition. The first Nipper
was distinguished by has ability 10
meow a perfect "All right" in response
to the question, How are you. NipperH'
His prize feat was to claw himself along
rapidly upside down beneath the daV-
export. He vanished one day and has
never been heard of since.
The second Nipper, now living In
another section OF the city. is an IN
tensely solemn little fellow, almost
runt, but mighty warrior notwith-
standing. His chief trait is klndliness,
he never having been known 10 oil,
or scratch human being. Where's
Jack Spratt likes to be petted Nipp
does not.
A lady cat by the name Of Burlei y
was one of the first cats to VISIT or
backyard She was white and graz
spotted animal, with very afectlonata
disposition
There we're two Egypts, No l being
all black with bad disposition, ann
No. 2. black with white paws, white
shirt front and white nose. Both were
unlovely cats
Old Blackie may be remembered BY
some readers. He lived in a yard
nearby and came to viSi. Iacs Spratt
rolling him over on his back, he bit us,
following which we slapped him. He
Immediately left and was never seen
again, much to our regret.
Cat-O-War. sometimes called Cato,
was a great white tramp cat that once
assaulted Spratt by jumping down upon
him from the top Of the fence. His
paw was raised against every man and
he possessed an amazing ability TO
dodge missiles.
Peter Pauls. alias the Calico Cat,
owing to his white coat spotted with
brown. had a big head and a wicked
eye. While he would accept prodered
meat. he would not allow the donor to
pet him. but literally would bite the
hand that fed him.
A favorite evening diversion Of poor
old Peter Pauls was to fight with big
cat called Maltese for lack of a bet
ter. This cat had white feet and chest
and possessed an unusually large head.
Rusty, clown cat. with all-black
coat is still looking for Little Nipper,
whose society he seems to miss He
may be seen prying around the back
steps of the vacant house, as il de-
termined to find the hiding place of
his lost friend
Rhoda. she of the white coat spot
ted with light tan and gray, so that the
total effect of her was pink, mysterious
ly disappeared after a weeks sojourn
at Spratt's home. She was a nice
little cat, with liking for Coxwell
chairs.
Then there have been various cat
visitors. including a part-Persian cat
that drank milk and wanted in: Izzy,
neighbor, sometimes called the Bear
Cat because OF her dimensions; a gray
cat with a great tail. a small yellow
kitten that drank milk out Of q bowl
In the alley, gray kitten that insisted
on playing with the grass clippers, q
gray tiger kitten that looked Something
IKE Nipper, and big all-tiger cat that
came into the basement one evening.