West Springfield, Massachusetts.
Dear Postmistress,—Will you admit an old lady into your pleasant circle? I wish to say a word or two about the poor cat Augusta C. dislikes so much. Probably one reason why most people like dogs better than cats is that dogs like people best, and cats like places best. A dog will follow his owner to new places, but usually a cat will stay at the old place, even if she is the only thing left, unless she is blinded and carried away by force, and then she will be frightened and confused for several days, though all her old friends may be with her. But a dog only wants his old friends with him, and he will stay almost anywhere. Cats are very interesting, though they are not quite so loving. I have a cat which a few years ago swallowed something which "stuck in her throat," and the poor creature was badly troubled by it for a long time. She could not lap either milk or water, and I was afraid she would die. I tried to feed her with a spoon, as I have often fed lambs, but did not succeed very well; her teeth were too sharp. As I sat watching poor Katherine's efforts one day to drink a saucer of warm milk which I had given her, I thought of trying to feed her with a bottle. I put the milk into one which would hold a small tea-cupful, and took her in my lap to feed her. Well, she and I "made a mess" of it the first time. But after one or two trials more, I succeeded in teaching her to drink from the bottle without spilling the milk. Every time I thought she ought to be fed—which was morning and night—I would get the bottle ready, and say, "Katherine, do you want your milk?" If she was in a sound sleep, she would spring up and mew in reply, and stand up on her hind-legs like a rabbit. Then I would stoop down to her and hold out my left hand, and she would lean her "elbows" on it, and put her paws on the "shoulders" of the bottle, I holding it in my right hand, and tipping it as she drank the milk, until she had taken the whole. She would frequently mew for more, and follow me around until I would give her another drink, when she would lick her chops, wash her face, and lie down for a nap.
When drinking she would sit on her haunches, straight up, and put her little paws around the bottle in the most comical way imaginable. One could not keep from laughing to see her. If I attempted to take it away before she was done, she would run her nails out and hold on with quite a grip. I fed her in this way for more than six weeks; and it was such a funny sight that the neighbors would come in and ask me to feed her, and friends from quite a distance would ask after my cat, and beg to see her eat. I fed her longer than was necessary on this account, for she recovered from the trouble after a while, and is as well now as ever she was, only she is getting old. I sometimes tempt her with the bottle now, just to see if she remembers her old accomplishment. But Katherine is a very wise cat. She would use the bottle when it was "prescribed" for her. When it was no longer necessary, she seemed to prefer the natural way of drinking.
Aunt Mary.
We place before the C. Y. P. R. U. this week a variety of instructive and entertaining articles. The sketch of Charlotte Corday, from the pen of one of our most able American historians, will recall the lesson taught by the terrible French Revolution; a "Dangerous Plaything" will show the boys and girls what strong measures are taken in our large cities to check the ravages made by fire; and "Lawn Tennis" will give them an idea of another new device in the way of an out-door game for developing weak muscles and cultivating health and strength. As for the article on our second page, entitled "Luck," we trust that it is going to do a great deal toward inducing our young readers to cast that stupid word out of their vocabulary.
PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.
No. 1.
TWO HOUR-GLASS PUZZLES.
1.—1. A dictionary. 2. Part of a shilling. 3. A girl's name. 4. A letter. 5. An animal. 6. An atom. 7. Transit. Centrals read downward spell the name of a partly civilized people.