Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-03-08
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Tahiti has been waiting for more than 60 years for
Complete with gently waving palms
and white sandy beaches ii is Innhahted by human
beings The spot absolutely dyic in all but respect
II has too many cats.
They the meancst, most onery fghtineest fclines
earth They lick their weight in dogs pig iron
They dive like seals swim like ducks and gang up
any human being and give him the works They can
that neither the French nearby
Tahiti the British in the adjacent Society Islands
interested in claiming the spot These neghbors still
remember the experience Of Andre Oan who brought the
original cat settlers 10 the island than "a
they've heard all about it.
AS far known, the Island of Fishing Cats
inhabited by happy and conened natives who fshed the
waters and titled the soil to supplement their diet of
tropical which nature bountifuly provided They
had been living and thriving in this paradise for many
generations day 1862 calamity descended upon
them in the form of two old trading schooners that were
wrecked o reef of the island The swan
safely So did hundreds Of half starved rats that
promptly bolted for the interior-and food
Two weeks a vessel from Tahiti took the
aboard natives after wishing them godspeed,
back to living their own lives completely forgetting
rodents didn't forget them. They nibbled
a crops decided they liked the taste and began
TO stage dayong banques with their friends and relatives
From then on the natives began to fight losing
battle The multiplied and multiplied again. Soon
they became so aggressive that they the
village attacked the children while the natives
trying TO protect their crops in the field
Hundreds OF rats hunted down and killed but
despite this their numbers continued TO They liter
ally of house and home for in 1871 the
human beings gave the fight and abandoned the island
the rats
Many Of the natives thus dsposscssed came Tahiti
TO live and there Andre Olan, young and adventurous
French copa trader heard their odd story lie dldn
anything about then but played with the idea of
a ming tie himself and thus becoming
dhe king "A South Sea empire"
In 1877 Olan sailed a schooner to take pos
session In the hold strange cargo even
for Pacific where odd and frealish cargoes
novelty II consisted of than 500 cats of
every and description which he had begged borrowed
bought from far away as Raroonga They all had
thing common Olan kept them in state of near
starvation he let them loose on the island
TIe watched chem charge feruciously upon the sur
prised rats every within reach and send
the frenzed retreat Then he lesurey weighed
anchor and nearby islands recruit laborers
copra station be planned 70 establish on his newly
when he returned with his men some weeks later
tho cats had situation well hand. There wasn't
rat 20 be seen clearing although there plenty
of evidence the cats hunting them IN the bush
SATISFIED his scheme had proved success. Andre
Olau built himself house and copra shed and settled
down his kingdom
For little while everything ideal Then the cats,
finding the increasingly hard 10 get began TO loot
the islands stores OF meat and fish with IMMUNITY
AT Oan grateful TO them for having rid the
a,l II rats that instead OF shooting hca sight
assigned two OF his catch fish Tor them That
where he made his The felucs found tlctl~
selves heaven with nothing to do but bas in the
sun get their share Of fish soon they began TO multi
ply and the daily catch OF fish wasn't enough to feed
them so they resumed their WaI3UdIG
By this time Olan tired Of their dcprcdations
that he decided TO rid his kingdom q all cats. But he
had waited long The animals had become far too
numerous for him and ms men o. cope with lie cat
Their supply 81 fish but they learned 'o FISH Tor
themselves and developed into Swimmers and Divers
Continuing breed rapidly they acquired contempt
for the human i. ar thu island Who ,ii,n,lI avoided
them holll to ~ pieces Finally they became
SD dangerous MAT Ardrt Dian aud ts abandpr,d the
island IN 1881 and r.'unei To- Tahiti
Since that Uue little Kingdom has been ruled
,reIy by cats Sow rs feline inhabitants arc visible TO
traders sailing between Tahiti a'd ~. (-o.,ty Islands
During the 90 years sr'c Dan joy. \ stand 'ho cats
have rrteasci enormously .aa 'l's .h.t "A t1r' '.s.c
obstacle anyone who a ts othcr,l-, bfodI