Evening star., 1929-10-06
This and That
By Charles E. TraceHeLl.

The amiabIe and enthusiastic Capt.
Boggs, half-year-old kitten, threw him.
self at the back Of our favorite chair iri
one of his periodical outbursts, which
are becoming more and more frequent
as he grows up.
Boggs is growing in SO many ways at
once that he is becoming something Of
a nuisance. His alley ancestry crops
out at every paw. When he casts his
long-tailed person at a chair 1t means
that the bottom Of 1t will come OF
shortly.
What Boggs claws. he claws. There
is no halfway with Capt. Boggs.
Swinging beneath the cushions. scooting
along on his back, he imbeds these ag-
gregations of sharpest claws deep into
soft material
Ripl Rip! Rip!
Boggs takes a felinely fiendish de-
light in all this work. Pure play. he
calls it. but his play is worse than
some cats destruction.
We fear that it is his alley ancestry
which Is to blame. Just where, in his
long line, he got his desire to purr Wig
orously, and to gain the appreciation Of
human beings. we do not know, but
there is no questioning who is respon-
sible for that large frame, that hefty
chest. those long legs, those big paws.
Boggs' father goes down the alley
every morning, just as the first touches
Of dawn tinge the sky. A black
and white fellow too, his distinguishing
mark is a black cap which fits down
over his eyes.
His sons cap does not come down so
far, and leaves plenty of room for a
white blaze, in which the single black
spot on the end of his nose shines like
diamond in the sky.
The sire of Boggs treads the alley on
soft pads, ever alert to movements high
and low. His greatest fear is mankind.
Human beings mean uplifted brooms,
hard kicks, threatening hands and in
imical voices
Now and again he touches noses with
his son, looks at him proudly, and goes
his way. THE true breed, the true
breed" he purrs, in one of his rare
moments Of satisfaction. He does not
drive his son away, as he does other
cats.
A true house cat since birth, Capt.
Boggs nevertheless longs for the free
dom Of the alley, where sharpness of
claw, quickneSs Of movement, bulge of
chest, mean something. @.
In the house these sterling qualities
are only a nuisance. They cause him
to leap onto the kitchen range. barely
escaping good singeing. They impel
him to Jump grandly, chair to mantel,
at the risk OF tearing down pictures and
vases.
In the plenitude of his strength
Capt. Boggs finds time to annoy Jack
Spratt, his striped host. The cat Jack
Spratt merely tolerates Boggs. At first
the latter tried to induce Jack to play
with him, but as he has grown larger
day by day he seems to have deter
mined to force Spratt to notice him. .
He secures this notice by making q
plunge at the older cat and attempting
to bite his white neck. We are con-
v1nced that Boggs does this with the
best 1nteations. but Jack Sprstt does
H0G know II.
So far he has contented himself with
Kissing vigorously: the time will come,
however, and shortly, when he will have
to adopt more strenuous measures, for
Capt Boggs Is growing in pep, power
and tmpudence every day.
The mark of the alley cat shines
through his civilized manners In his
little black eyes. round and peering, lie
pirate dreams. He somehow senses life
and action afar, and means to reach
them in good time.
Let his father beware, for a new mas.
ter Is at hand, a civilized alley free.
booter, fed with the best milk, the bsss
meat, the best vegetables, ready to rsp
and tear, ready to fight, to yowl, to run,
If need be. Capt. Boggs Of the, Cat
Marines Is on his WaXl