Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 186, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 August 1912 — Cat Shatters Governor’s Resolution [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Cat Shatters Governor’s Resolution

INDIANAPOLIS. IND.—Gov. Thomas R. Marshall’s resolution to spend July 4 behind the locked doors of his offices In the statehouße "were shattered early in the morning on account of the governor’s admiration for “Tom” a big. black cat, the capital mascot. Tom was not responsible directly for the governor's throwing open the doors of his executive offices. A friend of the Democratic nominee for tije vice-presidency, knowing that the cat waa admired by the governor, imitated the sound of a cat scratching against the door of the private office until Marshall was greeted by a crowd of late arrivals from the Baltimore convention. They gained access to the room ‘to congratulate the governor by imitating the scratching of a cat when loud knocking had failed. The governor was engaged In dictating his decisions on the numerous petitions for pardons, when a crowd

began -to congregate at the doors of the executive offices. Frequent poundings and shouted requests for entrance were unheeded. The crowd was. asked to remain quiet. The governor, seated at his desk, with large pile of congratulatory telegrams and letters before him, became aware of the silence in the corridors and believed the crowd had dispersed. Then came the gentle scraping as if of claws against wood, and the governor, desiring the presence of Tom in the room, threw open the doors, only to be greeted by the tfhouta and laughter of more than a score of his Booster admirers.