The eagle., September 05, 1894, Page 13, Image 13

About The eagle. (Silver City, N.M.) 1894-1???

Image provided by: University of New Mexico

                
THE KAÍJLE: WKDXKSDAY. SKPTE.MIiEJ! 5, 11194-.
COLD-STORAGE CATS.
Felines That Live Constantly in
a Freezing Temperature.
Through Tbelr Perpetual Exposure to the
Frigid AtmoKphure the Animal
Have Acquired Heavy Coats
of Fur.
In the cold-storage warehouses of
Pittsburgh, says the Pittsburgh Dis-!
patch, when they were established, j
there were no rats or mice. The tem
perature in the eold rooms was too low ;
to admit the existence of these noc
turnal animals. The keepers of these 1 things about them is the development
places soon found, however, that the j 0f their "feelers." These long, stiii
rat was an animal of remarkable adap
tability. The ordinary rat of the
United Ktatescnmc originally from Nor
way In that country, naturalists say,
was a eat of unusually iliiek fur end
she thrived and grew fat in quarters
where the temperature was below
thirty degrees. l!y careful nursing a
brood of seven kittens was developed
in this warehouse into sturdy, tliijls
furred eats that love an led :n'.i.:
clime. They have been di..lri'ut :: 1
among the other cold-storage lr.v.rvs -f
Pittsburgh, and have created :i peculiar
breed of cats, adapted to the conditions
under which they must exist to find
their prey.
These cats are short-tailed, chubby
pussies, with hair as thick and full of
under-fur as the wild cats of the Car.a
dian woods. One of the remarkable
the animal was much better prepared ;
to withstand the climate than it is in
this country were it suddenly trans-,
ported to a eold climate. If any ordi-
nary cellar rat were put in a cage, con-
veyed by ship to Spitsbergen, and re-!
lensed on that icy island, it would
freeze to deatli in a few hours. Yet
there are rats in Spitsbergen. These
rats are fat rascal:;, with hag and very
thick hair, and have adapted them
selves to the temperature of the region. 1
It is just such rats as those of the
hairs that protrude from a cat's nose
and eyebrows are, in the ordinary e.o
mestie feline, about three inches long.
In the cats cultivated in the cold ware
houses the "feelers" grow to a length
of five and six inches. This is probably
because the light is dim in these pities
and all movements must be the result
of the feeling sense. In these two re
spects, the growth of thick hair and
the development of "feelers." the do
mestic cat shows the operation of Dar
win's well-known law of the survival
of the fittest in the development of
their conditions adapted to the environment.
The storage people say that if one of
northern region that have adapted these furry cats is taken into the open
themselves to the cold-storage ware- nir, particularly during this hot spell
houses. After some of these house
had been in operation for a few months
the attendants found that rats were at
work in the rooms where the tempera
ture was constantly kept below the
.freezing point. In the warehouse of
Uie .msnurg, .oruge comnany, uc- - roiTrapher of the Hritlsh navy
fore its burning last fall, two rats ! , , ,i ,i,: '
were killed by the employes. They
were found to be clothed in wonder-
it will die in a few hours. It ea.v.nt
endure a high temperature, and an in
troduction to a stove would send it into
a fit.
Finding New Korku In the Sea.
It appears from the annual report of ;
fully long and thick fur, even
their tapering, snakelike tails being
covered by a thick growth of hair.
Rats of this variety, whose coats have
adapted themselves to the conditions
under which they live, have doinesti-1
eated themselves in all the storage j
warehouses in Pittsburgh. i
The prevalence of rats in these places
led to the introduction of eats. Now j
it is well known that pussy is a lover j
of warmth and comfort. She delights i
to lie close to the lire when the mow ;
is drifting around the house, and to
wash her face with her warm, soft
paws, lats, However, nave a greai
adaptability to conditions. The wild
eat of Africa, now extinct and living
only in the form of its domestic conge
ner, was nursed by the Egyptians as a
timepiece, and so regulated her eye.,
Unit by a glance at them the inhabi
tant of Cairo was able to tell the lime
that two hundred rocks and other dan
gerous objects to na vigation were dis- j
covered during last year twenty -six
by surveying vessels, thirty-five by i
other ships belonging to the navy, (
I twenty-two by lintish and foreign ves-,
I sels, one hundred and five were report- j
j ed by colonial and foreign govern- j
j ments and thirteen were discovered by ;
i vessels striking on them. The resur- j
veys of Spithead, Pembroke and Plyui- j
outh sound have been going on, and
serious obstacles were discovered at j
the Welsh port, while at Plymouth it i
turned out that the depth in the main
j anchorage was vei y much less Hum is
I shown on the chart, so that the largest i
I ships would be certain to touch bottom j
i in some places if the water sunk to its I
lowest level. Dredging has therefore
been undertaken.
Sli l'lrniwd the Queen. 1
It is said that Miss JIajendie, who :.
has just received the much-coveted po- '
sition of maid of honor to queen ic- ,
of day without the advent of Seth W ar- j toria, owes her good luck to a mere ;
er ; freak of 'magnetic attraction. The
When eats were introduced into
storage houses and turned loose in the
eold vooms they pined and died because
queen saw her for the first lime when
she caine to sing at the little Sunday
service arranged by Princess lieatriee
in at tne ma i aoorieoiii, and was par-
thi ; I ticularly struck by her pleasant face
subject, that one cat was finally intro- and sweet voice. It was with the ut
duced into the rooms of the Pennsyl- most surprise that the circle, as well as
vania Storage company which was able ! the young lady herself, learned of the
to withstand the low teinncriiture. She 1 honor designed for her.
of the excessive eold. It appears
the course of investigation into
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