Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 January 1914 — Old Roughneck Cat Claws His Deep Sea Owner [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Old Roughneck Cat Claws His Deep Sea Owner

C'HICAGO. —Frank McCauley, sometime a deep-sea sailor, thrust across the operating table at the Chicago avenue station the other day two hands that looked as if they had gone half way through a sausage grinder. And

while Ambulance Surgeon Helwig was sewing and bandaging, McCauley explained:- ---- - - “Mo an* old Roughneck—that’s my cat —was sittin’ peaceful on the quarterdeck of my apartment at 228 West Superior street, snoozin’ in the .sunshine, enjoyin’ the Sabbath cairn.. “AH of a sudden a pirate-lookin’ rat —mcanestappearin’ rat you ever saw—scoots out o’ the cook’s cabin and jumps clear out in the middle o’ the back yard. “ ‘The rata is leavin’ the ship,’ I yells, which in deepwater language amounts to the same thing as Bayin’, ‘Man the lifeboats.’ But It seems to have a different meaning for Roughneck. “Roughneck was lyin’ asleep In my lap—but the way he sleeps is like the slespln’ of a'battery with the switch turned off. Just that simple word

Tats,' it appears, was the switch to the battery for that cat "Anyway, up jumps Roughneck and digs his hind claws Into my stomach ' he starts to take up the pursuit o’ that rat. 1 " ‘No, you don’t’ says I, being willing to let the rat move to the apartment across the alley if he wants to, an’ I grabs Roughneck by the reason for his nomenclature. Now look at me.” The surgeon pasted down the final bandage and inquired: * 1 "What are you going to do to punish Roughneck?*! '‘WelV* said the sailor, “Roughneck did do a lot to me, but, on the other hand, I kept Roughneck awfty from that rat. I guess me and Roughneck is about even." •'