Today we’re going to talk about 1911, which is a year that had a shocking amount of cat stories. Well, two that I noticed, but it’s weird that it happened twice. 

“Truly Wonderful Cat 

A wonderful cat is that owned by Mr. A. J. Gorringe, a tradesman of Ditching, England. Mr. Gorringe has a bantam which lays her eggs in different parts of the yard, but his cat never fails to find them. She takes the egg between her teeth, places it on the step, and rattles the door handle with her paws until her mistress arrives to take in the egg. Not one of the eggs has yet been broken.” 

Now, I have a few questions about this. Number one is why is this in the O’Fallon, Illinois, USA paper? And then why does the cat do this? Did they train it? Does it only collect one egg per day? It seems like a weird hobby to have.  However, there’s a story with a cat with a way different and weirder hobby. 

“Cat’s Tigerish Nature 

A shocking affair in which a domestic cat displayed tigerish qualities occurred at Ayr recently. A woman named Mrs. John Scott had occasion to go on a message and left a child, six weeks old, in the house. On her return she was horrified to discover that the cat had eaten the small finger of the child’s left hand, and had commenced on the next finger.” 

Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here. This cat is definitely not as polite as the English cat. Let’s start at the beginning. It says “a domestic cat”, so did the cat actually belong to the John Scott family or did it just wander in? What does going on a message mean? Was she talking to a neighbor? I’m not sure. Then again with the “a child”. I assume it is Mrs. John Scott’s six week old, but the “a” would suggest perhaps she was baby sitting. Then I wondered how long would it take to eat a baby’s pinky? Wouldn’t that be loud? Was she far away? There is clearly not enough information in this article. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t include some Weird News, so: 

• Miss Elsie Bugg of Ridge Prairie was a guest at the Chas Bugg home Fri until Sat. 

• Henry Friedewald went to Okawville Monday to see his fellow woodman, Walter Seibert, who is in a sanitarium very ill with paralysis. 
• Mrs. Norwood Rhodes of the Valley is reported seriously ill. 
• Mr. And Mrs. Fred Boetcher entertained a large picnic crowd from O’Fallon on their farm Sunday. 
• Miss Annie Howtrow who is the guest of Mr. And Mrs. Ed Willman this summer met with a serious accident Friday afternoon in Belleville. Miss Howtrow was driving on a street when the horse became frightened at an auto, breaking away from her hold while she was reing him to the building post. The lines became tangled around her hands throwing her down and dragging her for some distance causing contusions of the head and other injuries. She was taken in an ambulance to the hospital in an unconscious condition. She is still quite ill. 
• John Walters who was so seriously burnt with a gun powder explosive the third of July is said to be improving. It was feared that if he did recover he would likely lose the sight of both eyes but most certainly one, but the latest reports are that he is fortunate enough to have both eyes spare. His family are spending their time at the home of Henry Hangsleben in Belleville. 

• Myrtle Johnson of St. Louis who has been the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hoyt the past fortnight has returned to her home. 
• Mrs. James H. Hale was shopping in St. Louis Thursday. 
• Miss Edna Strassner of St. Louis is the guest of her aunt Mrs. Chas Bugg and family. 
• Arthur and Selma Appel were visiting Mr. Fred West of New Athens Sun. 
• Mrs. Ed Kaiser was shopping in Belleville Friday. 

Remember to use fireworks carefully and watch out for your cats!