Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 March 1892 — TWO GYMNASTS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TWO GYMNASTS.

And How the Delinquent Cat Was EffectuaUy Punished by Them. Big newspaper space Is daily taker up with accurate throwing, and catching, and hitting of balls, the aim of the human eye, the speed of the human foot, the accuracy and dexterity

of the human hand, arid the youngr people who play base-ball and tennis enjoy this reading matter. But a short time ago I saw two creatures only a year old outdo in aim and accuracy any human being I ever knew, says a writer in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. They were a pair of barn-swallows. A very gentle little house-cat was in the habit of taking her daily nap in the hay-loft, directly under the nest among the rafters. All went well until the mother bird began to sit on her eggs. Then, presumably, the cat lifted her eyes to contemplate the pretty sight, for about 4 o’clock of the first day the bird staid upon the nest the cat came rushing out of the barn, the two swallows after her. Giving her in turn a vicious peck, they rose in air, swooped down and pecked her squarely on the back, one after the other, though she was running in all directions. Twenty-three times I watched them rise in air so high as to be out of sight, then come sailing down, <?ne behind the other, and each time giving the poor cat a peck apiece on the back, although she was speeding hither and thither, bewildered, seeking to hide under carts, under trees, here and there; they never missed her once, though they never slowed their swift flight to do it, never paused for the peck, but swiftly gave it as they skimmed down over her, rising on the same point of curve, to descend again presently. For about two weeks they were seen to fly out and repeat this punishment whenever the cat appeared on the green near the barn. There are cases which are Jbeyond the reach of the police, and the* Whitechapel murders is a sample. If the force was increased by 10,000 men they would catch the “ripper” no sooner. He will be discovered by accident, if at all, but with ordinary prudence he can continue his murderous course for yean

PUNISHING THE CAT.