Year: 1876

showers covered hentucky 1arn


with flesh and blood, wise men felt
the rights of graziers and butchers
had been unwarrantably infringed


Nevertheless, inasmuch as no one
supposed that the performance would
be- repeated, and as it had been the
means of making a number IF Chi
cagO reporters acquainted with the
taste of meat, no one publicly found
fault with it. In a week or two after
ward a shower of fish occurred in
Illinois. 1t so happened that this
shower took place 1t the beginning
of Lent. and therefore discreet peo-
pie abstained from expressing their
indignation, lest they should be un-
warily drawn into a theological dis
cussion. When, however, it was an
nounced that a heavy rain OF mosqui-
toes had fallen in Canada, there was
a universal feeling that this sort Of
thing had been carried altogether too
| far. There is no demand whatever
| for an increased number mosquitoes
The volume of those pests issued
every summer is always more than
commensurate with the necessities of
business, and any attempt at imitation
in connection with mosquitoes must
oe vigorously withstood. 1t ought to
be mentioned that the myriads Of
mosquitoes which fell in Canada last
| week belonged to a new variety, each
one OF which was three times as
large, and consequently possessed of
three times as much horse power. as
AN ordinary New Jersey mosquitOe
II this shower was the work of a
scientific person, who is experiment
ing upon the capacity OF atmospheric
currents to transport living organisms
and rain them down upon distant To-
calities, the malevolence OF Thomas
sen has been completely surpassed.
| To blow up steamship is a small
matter compared with raining meal
oulablc quantities of gigantic mosqui-
toes upon helpless communities. One
thing is very certain, and that is that
there will be an enormous decrease
Of the usual number OF marriages
next summer. il the new Canandian
mosquitoes are to render the tailors
and furriers of Canada inaccessible
except by those who are incased in
metallic armor.


But the recent mosquito shower.
bad as it was, has been eclipsed by a
still more recent and Objectionable
shower which occurred i'm California.
II was restricted to the narrow area
of single city lot on vanNess street.
SanFrancisco but il was OF unparal-
leled violence and malignitv. Early
one evening the Van Ness street fam
lily was quietly seated around the So
cial center table, the father explain
ing 10 a casual Eastern visitor the
unequaled beauties OF the California
climate, and the mother hushing her
baby by reading in a monotoneous
murmur the report OF the days sale
Of mining stocks. Suddenly n loud
pattering was heard on the roof.
mingled with the last despairing cry
of some strong tom-cat in his agony.
The pattering and the cries increased.
and n shower Of heavy objects fell
from the caves and rattle1 on the
pavement below Tho whole family
rushed to the front piazza. and bv
the increasing light ~ the full moon
heheld scores Of cats pouring from
the roof Cats of all sizes and coIOrs
were sliding over the shingles and
turning wild sumersaults. in the air.
At one moment n gigantic tom-cat
would clutch nj the pitiless gutter
pipe. and failing to break his fall,
would shoot. meteor-like. with out
stretched tail. through the astonished
night. and impale himself on the iron
spikes OF the front fence. At another
moment n staid tortoise shell tahhv.
Of untarnished reputation. would
make the fatal plunge. uttering bias
phemous and blood curdling yells
until she Drained himself on the
brick pavement. The Mortified fam-
lv fled to the cellar, where they passed
the night in denouncing the weather
Bureau, in vainly attempting to con-
vince their Eastern guest that an oc-
casional cat shower in no way de-
tracted from the unequaled excel
lence OF the California climate, and
in searching a pocket New Testament
for the account Of the destruction OF
Sodom and Gomorrah. The shower
did not last more than fifteen min
utes, although it sprinkled eats at in
tervals until moruing. When day
| light came, every fence spike was or
namented with an impaled cat. and
! she yard was so thickly strewn, with
the dead and wounded that an ex-
perienced meteorologist, who subse-
quently investigated the affair, re-
ported that at least eight inches Of
cats must have fallen during the
night. The theory put forth by this
skeptical man OF scence in order TO
account for the shower hardly needs
to be refnted. He invented small
boy, whom he accused OF greasing
the roof with imaginary butter, which
caused some hundreds OF cats, assem-
b!ed on the ridge pole with a view to
singing the praises OF love and mice,
to lose their footing. Inasmuch as
he failed to produce either the boy
or the butter, and also failed to ex-
plain how a boy could keep his foot
ing on a creased roof, where the most
skillful eat, even with the aid of -four
feet and full set Of claws, could not
maintain a position, We can only pity
the weakness and despise the effront.
cry of the scientific skeptic.


1t is sufficiently evident that this
California cat shower is the last Of


the kind which free and proud peo.
pie can permit. We have now hao