CATS ON SHIPBOARD.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 10237, 3 July 1883, Page 3

CATS ON SHIPBOARD.

Although pnssy is the unrelenting enemy of rats, and they stand in wholesome awe of her presence, she is not always victorious in her encounters with them. . I have seen a cat rolled over and over' by a patriarch on whom she had pounced, and retire from the fray discomfited, with a severe bite through the lip. In connection with oats and rats, I will mention two epsibdes that 1 oould scarcely have believed possible had they not come under toy immediate notice. On board the Elbe we had a grand, great ye'low cat in the after part of the ship — for oats have their own well-defined homes afloat as ashore and resent intrusion within' their boundaries from feline ..rivals quite as. conservatively as their brethren who enjoy the blessings of the land. Sandy, then, reigned over the saloon and quarterdeck, and was the most accomplished and gentlemanly cat I was ever acquainted with. Ono morning, while we were lying in the Scheldt, abreast of Antwerp, Sandy was seated on the rail watching the disembarking of the cargo and the various . operations of the small craft which surrounded the steamer, with that responsible air of general superintendence which distinguished him, when he suddently caught sight of a rat in one of the lighters alongside. Without a secoud'e hesitation he sprang down from the rail sheer into the lighter's sargo-space, a decent of full thirty feet, perhaps more ! As may be expected, he was nearly killed by the fall, and lay for days almost insensible ; but we nursed him through with beef tea and brandy. The other incident was horrible. I" had brought an old cat with me, on joining a certain rat-ridden ship, knowing him to be a good-sporting animal ; it was not mine, but one I had. borrowed for the voyage on hearing, the vessel's reputation, for natural history. She was fairly overrun with vermin from stem to stern, but it appeared that there was an extraordiuray concentration of the ratty element in the storerooms' underneath the forepeak. Nothing served to restrain their depredations, or to diminish their numbers and audacity ; it was scarcely safe to venture down there, and the storekeeper was at hiß wits' end to know how to protect the articles under his charge. At length he a6ked me to allow him to put Tim down there at night, not so much in the hope of destroying the rats as of scaring- them away. Tim was accordingly conducted thither before the gratings were' put on, ' and left there with his saucer of bread and milk, his mat, and no lack of company. In the morning nothing remained of him but knawed bones 'aud some scraps of grey furl A Stbange Stout. — There has just died at Chavcnton, in France, a man who has had a very curious history. Thirty years ago the deceased, whose name, was .Roussot, was condemned to death at the Seine assizes for the murder o£ an old gentleman, M. Demoury. The caso had oxoited considerable interest, and the Court was crowded with spectators. Among the persons standing immediately behind Boussot, who was Hanked by a pair of gendarmes, waa one l'lanchat, an employe of the Presse newspaper, -who had Bomehow contrived to wriggle himself into that position without attracting notice. Scarcely had the sentence been pronounced when Planchat — moved, as he afterwards explained; by an uncontrollable impulse— passed the side of bis band over the prisoner's neck, in imitation of the keen blade of the guillotine, at the same time emitting a whirring sound. Koussot instantly fell forward with a shriek of terror, and the bystanders, indignant at this heartless and shocking act, rushed upon I'knchat and roundly abused him. Planchat was subsequently condemned to two years' imprisonment. As for his victim, he never recovered the shock, but. remained insane until the day of his death. He was pardoned by the Emperor, and confined, first at Bicetre and afterwards at Charenton, where he has just expired. The unfortunate man was under the impression thsifc he hod been actually beheaded in the I'alais de Justice, and when reluting the story was in the habit of imitating the strange sound that haunted him for thirty years. Presentation. — At Feilding, after mass ou Sunday last, tho Eev. Father Moreau (who leaves tile ifanawatu for a mission to the Maoris in the interior of the Island) was presented with a purse of sovereigna and an address. Don't Die in the Hohsb. — " Bough on Eats " clears out rats, mice, beetles, roaches, bed-bugs, ilies, ants, insects, moles, jackrabbits, gophers. 7id. Moses, Moss & Co., Sydney, General Agents. — Advt. *" J .' Wells' "Rouoh on Cobns."— Ask foi Wells' "Bough on Corns." 7id. Quick relief, complete, permanent cure. Corns, warts, bunions. Moses, Moss & Co., Sydney, General Agents. — Aj>vt . Knowing its alcoholic purity, its powerfully invigorative and corrective action, and its value as an anti-dyspeptic and dieuretie it is no wonder that physicians so frequently prescribe WotFE'd Schnapps. — Advt. MalAbiAij Feveb. — Malarial fevers, con stipation, torpidity of the liver and kidneys general debility, nervousness, and neuralgii ailments yield readily to this great diseasi conqueror, Hop Bitters. It repairs tin ravages of disease by converting the fooi into rich blood, and ifc gives new life am vigour to the aged and infirm. See.- — AftVl

Mother Stvah's Wobm Syeto. — Infallible, tastleless, harmless, cathartic ; for feverishness, restlessness, worms, constipation. Is. Moses, Moss & Co., Sydney General Agents. — AI>TT. Goeged LrvfiES, Bilious conditions, constipation, piles, dyspepsia, headache, cured by "Wells' May Apple Pills." 5d and Is 1 boxes afc druggists. Moses, Mobs & Co., Sydney, General Agents for Australasia. — Advt. i bbmembbb this. If you are sick Hop Bitters trill surely aid Nature in making you well when all else fails. If you are costive or dyspeptic, or are suffering from any other of the numerous diseases of the stomach or bowels, it is your own fault if you remain ill, for Hop Bitters is a sovereign remedy in all such compHints. Tf you are wasting away with any form of kidney disease, stop tempting death this moment, and turn for a cure to Hop Bitters. If you are sick with that terrible sickness' nervousness, you will find a " Balm in Gilead" in the ÜBe o£ Hop Bitters. If you are a frequenter or a resident of a | miaßmatic distill, barricade your system against the scourge of all countries — malarial, epidemic, bilious, and intermittent fevers — by the usi- 'if Hop Bitters. If you have tou^li, pimply, or sallow skin, bad breath, pains a.-cl aches, and feel miserable generally, H<>]> Bitters will give you fair skin, rich bloud, and sweetest breath, health', and comfort. ' In short they cure all diseases of the stomach, bowels, blood, liver, nerves, kidneys Bright's disease. £500 will be paid for a case they will not cure or help. Druggists and chemists keep. That poor, bedridden, invalid wife, sister, mother, or daughter may be made the picture of health, by a few bottles of Hop Bitters, costing but a trifle. Will you let them suffer. Lovely Ommbs. — There are lovely climes and places in which the evening zephyrs are loaded with malaria and tne poison of fever and epidemics. To dwell there in health is impossible without a supply of Hop'Bittors at hand.' These -Bitters impart an equalising strength to the system, and prevent the accumulation of deadly spores of contagion. Be sure and see, — Advt.