Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-11
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES 3. TRAcEWELL.

He made some sort Of answer--we
have forgotten what. Then we sug-
gested "a nice cat"
"A catp' stormed thu gentleman
Why, I killed three cats last week."
Miss Morses arguments In favor OF
the dog will be admitted by all friends
OF animals. 1t is precisely because Fidc
has one big life to give that he Is &c
popular with tribe Of two-legged AMI
mails the members of which are more
bent on getting than giving.
1t Is precisely because the domestic
cat Is so human in this respect that
many persons dislike her. Tom gives
very little, and accepts everything. But
he does 1t with such royal favor that
he wins the universal regard Of those
who are able to see him calmly, without
prejutice.
A cat is. q sort Of ambulating test OF
ones instructive or built-up prejudices
| In either case they are equally preju-
dices. Our proposition to the above
quoted gentleman was that he could
not have cat In his home 80 days
without becoming interested in 1t. And
| most human beings tend to like what
they become interested In.
Would Tabby leave her cozy home?
Indeed, she would mott Her very
| habit Of staying by the fireside Is what
| sets her apart. She is as she Is; that Is
| her great charm For thousands Of her
| friends she Is literally what the imagt
native French call her, THE tiger in
the house"
Her friends see Tabby as simply a
little tiger which no doubt would eat
them If she were just bit larger.
Why not?
Tabby never fawned for a morsel of
food in her life. She comes Us q
friend of man. too. In her way; and
Is willing to live with him in his house
by the Side Of the road, but she refuses
to learn tricks" or to do what the
dog does. place her zone life wholly
at your feet"
As long as men admire independence,
liberty, freedom, call 1t what you will,
they must and will admit even though
grudgingly, that the house cat places
her life at the feet of no one except
the inscrutable God who made her.
She is o pure automaton of instincts,
steadfastly minding her own business,
and hoping that other creatures will
mind theirs. II her ways and means
do not in all cases meet the approval
OF humanity. she is willing to pay the
penalty, as she so often does, but she
will never lick any ones boots TO gain
approval.
Tabby stalks down the alleys of today
as calmly as she once did through the
majestic columns Of the Egyptian tenn
Piles, and you can take her or leave
her lust as she is
Crafty? OF course!
Sneaking? Certainly!
But no more crafty than hundreds Of
thousands Of human beings, and no
more sneaking than millions of men:
and only crafty and Sneaking In order
to get its dinner.
The graceful, interesting cat II a
symbol, sure sign Of mankind's char
ity, for the cat neither fiatters him nor
serves him, except In the matter Of
mice.
Yet no dog ever had kinder words
said Of him than these. taken from
the April number Of Our Dumb Friends,
the tribute of family to O cat.
HE was both intelligent and kind;
he had all the unselfishness of dog,
and noble and generous manners. In
the six years that we had him-we
found him crying in q snowstorn, evil
IDENTIFY having been dropped out Of 4
motor-he made us very happy, and
his going was deep grief. He couldn't
talk-but 1t isn't for what they said
that one misses ones friends. And no
human being could have been kinder
nor more courteous than this small,
cheerful and comforting member Of our
family"