Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-20
This and That
By Charles E. TrGcetpeH.

Sometimes the cat fancier feels sad
over the long procession Of furry
shapes which have come to his door
and gone away.
They came in the Spring. in the
Winter. in the Summer, some with
gray coats, some with yellow, others
white, others black.
Each and every one stopped amid
roaming to partake of a bowl of milk,
or bit Of beef, and then to go away
again as noiSeleSSly as he had come.
Some Of them we're full grown, able
to take care of themselves; others SO
small that they might have been held
in one hand. '"'
Yet each and every one ventured
forth again, tail held high, on the
mysterious missions which Nature had
assigned to them.
The feeding and care Of strays Is
a pleasure known better to the friend
Of cats than to the friend Of dogs.
Although there are more lost dogs
than cats, although they wander away
from their homes easier. and do not
seem to be able to find their way back
as well as cats. dogs somehow manage.
to take themselves completely out Of
sight.
1t seldom happens that a stray dog
comes to a back door for a hand
out" Perhaps this is so because q
dog Is typically a "one -man" animal.
He IS suspicious of every one except
his master.
The cat is friendly animal, If one
will take the trouble to- understand
him. Too many persons, alas, will
not take the troubled But the cat has
kind than the dog. He has slept in
the best chairs and in the best beds.
For centuries he has sat smugly in
frcnt of the fire. He has done his
best TO exercise his great function Of
mouSe-catching. so that he might
thereby earn his board and keep.
So when q cat comes to a strange
back porch. and meows softly for ad-
mittance. he does not come as a
stranger. no matter how much he may
mistake the inmates. but he comes as
a friend. as one who has had a long
line OF ancestors who were the friends
Of man. p
Perhaps this simple point Is too often
overlooked by those who do not like
cats, as they say. Likes and dislikes
are curious things. and many a man
who hates cats" as he takes, pride In
saying, had a grandfather who loved
them. Many a woman who claims to
despise them has son who cannot
resist the temptation to stoop down
and pet every furry wanderer that
comes his way. -.tt
No animal is so grateful as the cat
Tor good meal. 1t is common TO
call the cat selfish, and to say that all
It likes about a home Is its meals
that any one else who would feed it
would be loved as WELL but those who
have studied them know that this
charge is half sophiStry and the re-
mainder untrue. The dogs waeoin0
tail is no more indicative of thanks
than the satisfied purr of honest Tom,
VINO makes no great pretense of stick
ing oy you. only to run away the next
day as Fido may and often does.
When Tom comes to the back porch.
therefore, the friends OF his tribe
and there are many-will stop what
ever they are doing and will see to
1t that his faith in them is not in
vain. For 1t Is faith which he has. a
latin In humanity, and this Is all the
more strange. since his ancestry knew
thousands of incidents Of cruelty and
abuse, each worse than the one which
went before. Yet he Is buoyed up,
not consciously, because he does not
Va TIAHh 40 VIC az, Dut uilcOn~
sciously. with the whole of his ancestry
behind him, by immemorial- memories
OF the days when he was a god In far
Egypt. when he was sacred, when to
take his life was to forfeit life in re-
turn. So he comes to the back porch
today. half afraid on account OF the
evil days. half venturesome because of
his proud past, ready to flee at the
sight of upturned broom, or equally
ready to drink milk contentedly out OF
your best china saucer. -