"
In Spain it is the custom to store grain in garrets, and there the cats
are treated very kindly. There is a small door in each attic for their
use; food and drink are given to them; and they may walk where they like
over the roofs of the city. Many of them never care to come down to the
ground.
If there were no cats in America, we should be seriously disturbed and
inconvenienced. It is said that the government of the United States
keeps an army of more than three hundred cats for use in the Post-office
department. Their duty is to guard the mail-bags against the attacks of
rats and mice, and this they do very thoroughly and well. Before they
were employed valuable letters and mail matter were often destroyed.
The government cats are fed well, some postmasters being allowed forty
dollars a year for "cat meat." The work that this army does proves that
well-fed cats make the best mousers. As the postal service is known for
its high standards, we may be sure that these workers are industrious
and satisfactory, or they would not be allowed to stay.
KITTY'S CHRISTMAS.
"Mew! mew! mew! Why don't they let me in? I have been here on these cold
steps for three days. I am very hungry and unhappy. Why do they shut me
out in the cold?
"Ethel said she was going to the city for the Christmas vacation.
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