Educated Cats, Rats, and Birds.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 17 February 1891, Page 3

Educated Cats, Rats, and Birds.

♦ — ■ — " I happened," says an artist, " to see Miss Tina's remarkable show at the Crystal Palace a week or two ago, and I took the liberty of asking that lady if I might see the cats, the rats,, the mice and the birds at rehearsal. • Certainly ' replied Miss Tina, and accordingly I was a spectator at a private performance the other day. As I show in my sketches the oats, the rats, the mice and the birds are most amicable. First the cats walk over a row of chairbacks then along a series of champagne bottles, then in and out, and round about the same bottles. Then hoop la ! for the rat 3 and mice, white rats and white mice, which are placed upon the tight rope at intervals, as shown in the sketch. A long procession of pusses then passes gingerly along the narrow path, avoiding the rats and mice as if they wouldn't gobble them up at any price. Miss Tina even placed a rat or two or a mouse or two upon the necks and backs of the cats, and they carried them with pleasure, The cats go through their part of the performance with indifference, as much as to say ' We've got to earn our living, and a very good living it is, so we may as well do it cheerfully.' And cheerful they are. As for the rats and mice, they seem indifferent too. Neither do the little canaries object to the cats stalking over their fragile little bodies, and they ( sweet,' ' sweet,' as if the rope were a perch. Miss Tina has names for all the thirty cats, which are of all colours and all nations, and in response the purr and spit as the spirit moves them. The hoops of fire the cats jump through without any ado, never baulking ; two of the family fight, and two are put aside for the high rope, which is suspended about feet above the audience. The cats when at home live in the room which I show here. It is a garret near the sky, admirably clean, with nice straw tor bedding and bowls of milk, and meat of horse in dishes. One gourmet will only eat liver. ' And how are the cats trained ? ' I asked Miss Tina. ' ' By patience and perseverance. Any cat will do ; and I begin to train them when they are about four months old. "When they are placed with educated cats it is much less difficult If you wish to teach a cat youiself never beat it, or it will sulk for ever. Tap it and try again until you succeed. As for the rats and mice, if they are put on the rope they will not run away, and the cats will not eat them in that position, though they might if they found their cages open.' The birds are more difficult but again it is patience which does the trick."— Pall Mall Budget.