Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-24
This and That
BY Charles Z. Trscesosu.

Able Dimnet's new book, THE Art
of Thinking" which Is pleasing many
people with its subtle, gentle irony and
common sense, contains enough refer
ences to cats to make 1t quite plain TO
the reader that this Frenafman Is fond
Of the furry fellows.
One is reminded that many eminent
literary men and women have loved
cats, not only In France, England and
America, but in all countries where the
creature nourishes, and that Is almost
everywhere.
A perusal Of Emile Zola's master.
piece, "L,Assommoir, shows that he
must have been very fond Of them, al
though no mention Is made Of this fact
by his latest biographer, Matthew Jo-
sephson.
rhe cat fancier who reads "L,Assom-
Moira win need no one to tell him that
lola loved cats except lola himself. At
several points in the story comparisons
are made to the domestic cat, and one
Of the striking pictures Of this inter-
est-conpelling novel Is the finish Of the
feast OF the goose" as Anatole France
called it, showing neighbor's cat de-
youring the bones.
lola thereby shows better than any
biographer could that he both under
stood and loved cats, for no one would
end literary picture Of deserted
feasting chamber with q cat sneaking
in and eating what was left unless he
enjoyed the contemplation Of one Of
these animals thus enjoying itself.
ri aaA ~
come to him unless he had loved cats.
Edgar Allan Poe liked cats. Visitors
to his poor home have left pen-pictures
Of the great tortoise cat which sat on
the chest Of his beloved Virginia as she
lay dying and thus helped to keep her
warm. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle In his
Through the Magic Door," Q work OF
literary criticism which deserves TO be
better known, calls Poe the greatest
Guy de Maupassant running him close
second.
Both Of these writers preferred the
cat to the dog, although both. owing 70
their unusual mental make-ups, never
launched into praise Of the animal, IS
friend and pet, but simply used Il as
motive and In some instances the title
TO q story. poe's famous story on the
black cat Is well known. The French
master Of the short story has intro
duced the cat In several Of his stories,
especially In one which is of the nature
Of sketch rather than Of . tale. This
tells OF an old chateau which had open
ings In Its massive inner walls for the
family pet to wander around at night,
and Maupassant tells Of waking In the
dark to see pair Of cleaning eyes
looking at him. No doubt. the worthy
castle builders and owners of medieval
France recognized the yeoman service
performed by the cat in keeping down
mice, and gave the purref every op-
portunity to ply his trade without let
or hindrance. In passing. II Is inter-
esting to note that the French word
for cat Is "chat," and that their word
for castle or manor house u chateau"
so that one may well ask. Was the cat
named for the house, OF was the house
named for the cat, and do We get our
term "house cat" thence3
There are many other great literary
names which might be mentioned, but
we have given enough to show any
doubling Thomas (hunnap) that the cat
is the favorite pet Of such people, not
only because II Is picturesque and IN
teresting animal but Q friend whose
ways are like their own ways, and
whose quiet habits agree 30 wei with
their own. ia