The Corvallis times., March 05, 1907, Image 1

Vol. XX-No.2
CORVAtLIS, OREGON. TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 6.1907.
B.F. IBVIXB Mi'OC
ndProprleto . .i
an-
Our Store will offer a whole
lot of articles
DURING FEBRUARY
At a price that will make
them move.
A MURDEROUS CAT
THE FELINE SUCKED A BA
BY'S BREATH AW AY
WHILE SLEEPING. ' -
'Keep Cats Away from Your Sleep
ing Infant," Is a Warning to
Mothers, from Dr. Thomas
H. Laidley Other
" '. News. ,J
A big lot of odds and ends remnants at bargain prices
Overcoats , or men and boys at cost
Ladies jackets at one;balf price.
We are receiving by every freight some new goods
and will be prepared for the early buyers this month.
Don't forget that we handle Sewing Machines, Carpets,
Rugs, Lineolums, Etc.
Call and See
l.M. HARRIS.
Corvallis,
X
i. : ..
Oregon
We Solicit Comparison.
Just received a full line of Spring and Summer Novelties.
The Famous Packard Shoe, Sold by
A. K. RUSS
Dealer in men's Furnishings.
they
, in our store because
know that here they are
always sure to get goods
of undeniable fine
and lowest prices.
OUR STOCK includes all the requisites of every game and
sport. We can fit you out with all the latest things whether you
want to row, play base ball, tennis, fish, hunt or go bicycling.
3 We also sell Olds Gas Engines, Oliver Typewriters, Victor
Talking Machines and Sewing Machines.
M. M. LONG'S
Ind. Phone 126. Corvallis, Oregon.
OOM
I N
once:
And you will sure come again .after seeing pur Fine New
' Vt-v ' ' " Line of Base Ball Goods Just in
Base Ball . ' .
Bats
Mask :''
Mitts
Gloves y; ',-.iJr,
Etc.
.ir.1.!T."1 - V '
TV
Tennis Sets
Balls
Boxing Gloves
Striking Gloves
Indian Clubs
.t.
V t
MO tij
San Francisco Examiner, of
Feb. 28.: In this skeptical, scien-
I title age we are accustomed to scoff
at everything we cannot explain.
We deny that witchcraft ever exist
ed except in the superstitious minds
of those who persecuted unrortun
ates whom they believed to be thus
"nosseesed." We smile at the efforts
of certaia pBeudo-soientific enthusi
! sets to prove phenomena which our
senses cannot detect such aa the
presence about us of the spirits of
the dead. We insist on keeping in
the category of old superstitions the
etatemeat that the lives of infants
are sacrificed to a horrible, instinc
tive passion in cats to inhale their
breath, thus suffocating them
. The last-mentioned belief, which
was quite general tip to a century
ago, probably is the most difficult
of all for rs to credit in this age
For this reason the documents
printed are of really extraordinary
interest on the subject. Both the
mother, who witnessed the awful
spectacle of a great black cat draw
ing the last breath from the, lungs
of her baby that . was living and
well a few minutes bsfore, and ' the
coroner, whose jury in its verdict
corroborated her statement, make
declarations which cannot be ignor
ed, coupled with warnings to all
other mothers of infants to keep
cats out of the hpitse.
The two statements printed in
this article contain all the rea
knowledge thatexists on this weird
subject. As explained by the de
puiy coroaer or Alleghany county
Pa., where the tragedy occurred
medical men are unable to account
for the phenomenon.
Deputy Coroner Laidley's theory
that cats gain a eort of pleasurable
intoxication through inhaling the
vitiated and slightly poisonous air
from the lungs of , infants . differs
from the ancient theory, wherein
the odor of milk was what fascinat
ed the animal. Reptiles have been
said to be a menace to lntants in
the same way from the came cause
Plainly it is only the sleeping in
fant that can be in any such dang
er, for, being awake, its cries would
frighten the animal away and alarm
the household. It is, perhapB, con
ceivable that, asleep, the child thus
attacked might succumb to suffoca
tion without ever awakening or ap
preciating its peril.
At any ra'e, the two statements
which follow are from tources which
entitle thfeoi to respect, and tbey
contain circumstantial accounts of
the ODly instance of this cature that
has had official recognition in mod
ern times.
"It must b9 true that my baby -my
only child was killed- by thj
cat sucking the breath from its lit
tle body. The coroDer believes it,
and that was the verdict of the cor
oner's jury.
- "Besides I eaw the cat crouching
00 the breast of my baby with its
nose pressed tight against my little
one's nostrils.
"Only a little while before the
cbild had been iu perfect health;
now it was dead.
"I had heard : of such horrible
things, but I did not believe them.
I thought them merely ancient su
perstitions. Even when my neigh
bor. Mrs. Neunberg, spoke of it and
warned me to keep the . cat out of
the room where the baby slept, I
laughed at her; I had no idea such
a thing was possible, any more than
witcncraii is.
Little Bermanllta Maria was my
only child. She was six months
and one day old. Never bad she
been ill. She was bright all day and
every day.
'lt was on Tuesday, January 29,
that I. saw her aliva last. After I
had nursed her she 'went to sleep
and 1 put ner.in a rear room in
cradle while I washed -up the ; sup
per aisnes.
Fifteen minutes later I- went into
tbe sleeping, room-. to rget another
dry towel to' complete my work
with the dishes; and noticed jthe cat
this except a enarl from the cat
as I passed tbe cradle. When I
heard that angry growl I raised the
light and saw the position of tbe
cat. It was crouching on mv ba
by's breaet with its nose pressed
against her nostrils. '
"Then occurred to me the stories
had heard abpnt a cat suckles tbe
breath from a child. I became
alarmed and threw the cat out of
the room.
'As soon as I saw the beast out
of the house entirely, I sought my
little one and could not arouse her.
Calling for assistance, I fell in a
faint and Mrs. Augusta Meunberg
came to my assistance.
'I revived almost immediately
and told ber the etory. Both of us
took up the baby and found it was
not breathing. It was dead the
only child I bad. All signs of life
were gone, and I swooned away.
"The cat has disappeared and no
one has seen it since, although we
had it for more than a year. It
was a large black cat. The hair
stood up all over the body straight,
and the tail was bushy like that of
a squirrel. -
"This seems to me the most hor
rible thing that can happen to any
one. It is like a terrible nightmare
that never leaves me the Bight of
that cat crouching on my baby's
breath, sucking from it the breath
of life.
"It eeems strange now that I
never before believed in such things.
Now, if I were blessed with another
baby, no cat should enter my house
nor any other animal. Never
again shall I laugh at the wisdom
of our great-grandparents, who
could believe things without trying
to explain them. '
Dr. Thomas H. Laidley Bays fe
line pete are a menace to the health
of young children, and in this case
fatal results followed from a pet cat
being allowed unrestricted freedom
of the sleeping quarters of an in
fant. For toe second time within
three years this office has been call
ed upon to investigate the death of
an Infant from a cat' suckme the
breath away; Jrom the tiny body,
and the publio should take warning
from this latest case. Under 60
consideration should a cat be al
lowed to approach the cradle of a
baby.
Three years ago I was called to
investigate the death of an infant in
a fashionable apartment. The
child had died ia a mysterious man
ner and I was about to order an in
vestigation after viewing tbe body
when I decided to take another look
at the corpse. As I entered tbe
death chamber I saw a cat upon
the breast of tbe baby with its nos
trils close to those of the infant. As
approached the cat made a wild
spriog and attacked me. Twice
was bitten in the leg by the enraged
aoimal and I killed it with tbe
stick I carried. -
This stirred memories of strange
cases I had read of and I ordered a
post mortem of tbe body. The
longs showed that the child had
been suffocated and it was the in
ference that the cat had sucked all
the breath out of the body. There
was no strong , evidence, only a
strong string oi circumstances that
led me to bring in a verdict to tha
effect. But in thiB latest case there
does not appear to be any shadow
of doubt. The cat was caught in
the act. There is no doubt about
the matter, as the post mortem
showed conditions exactly like the
parallel case referred to.
It does seem strange that a cat
should seek the life of a child when
tbe oxygen in a room is more than
sufficient to sustain it. Somehow or
other I am inclined to the theory
that the poisonous gasee from the
body most beve the earns effect up
on a cat aa liquor has upon a man,
that they produce a sort of intoxi
cation or stupor that is appreciated
by the animal much as a user of
liquors or drugs appreciates their
effects upon himself.
There is no explanation of the
subject that I can think of except
this, since holding the inquest,
the attaches of the office of the cor
oner have discussed the matter with
a number of medical men, but the
latter cannot explain the phenome
na. All have heard of such cases
in print, but not a single medical
man that I have talked with can
cite a caEe which has come under
his pereonal observation.
There is only one thing for par
ents to do banish the cat from the
house while a child is maturing.
ADAMS RETRACTS
MINER DENIES UTTERLY HIT
CONFESSION TO Mc-PARLAND.
San Francisco, March 1. Tbe
long and spirited contest to secure
cheaper water rates for San ; Frac
cisoo culminated in drastic . aotion
last, night, when the board of su
pervisors, after three hours of warm
debate, adopted a resolution de
claring the franchise and works of
tbe Spring Valley Water Company
variously estimated to be worth
from $27,000,000 to $53,000,000
forfeited and escheated to the
citjrand couaty of San Francisco
for the public use and benefit.
Before the seized franchis s and
property, however, could actually
be taken from the company, due
process of law would have to issue
from the courts; so the adoption
of the resolution takes the effect of
a declaration on the part of the
board of supervisors of an intention
to institute legal action to deprive
the Spring Val'ey Water Company
of its property.
FRUIT TREE epray anv quanity at
Smith & Dawson's next to J. R.
Smith & Company.
MONEY to loan on approved security
Apply to a. L. Kline agent.
Done to Save Himself Detectives
Told Him if He Helped to Con
vict W. F. M. OfficerB He
Wouldn't BeTaken to
Colorado.
Wallace, Idaho, Feb. 28. That
a deliberate conspiracy was formed
among the officers of the penitentia
ry and the detectives to implicate
the leaders of the Western Federa
tion of Miners in the assassination
of ex-Governor Steunenberg, and
that this conspiracy was to be back
ed by false evidence, obtained by
threats and bribes, is in effect tha
charge made by Steve Adams before
the court this moroing. Adams'
Btory was in substanoe as follows:
"On tbe sixth day after I was
taken to Boise and put in the cell
with Harry Orchard I was taken to
the office of the penitentiary and in
troduced to Detective McParland.
He told me about 'Kelley, the Bum,
and ctber men who bad turned
state's evidence and had been Eet
free. He told me some Bible sto
ries, too, but I cannot remember
what they were, as I am not famil
iar with tbe Bible. He kept ma
there until 4 or 5 o'clock in the
morning trying to get me to con
fees. "McParland told me that he
wanted to convict Moyer, Haywood
and Pettybone, St. John and Simp
kins, whom he called cutthroats. If
I would not help to convict them,
he said I would be taken back to
Coloralo and either hung or mob
bed. If I did help, I would only
be taken to Colorado as a ' witness.
About 2 o'clock in the morning they
served us with a nice luncheon, and
when we parted, about 4 o'clock,
McParland told me he was my
friend, and told me to think of my
family. They put me back in the
cell with Harry Orchard, who talk
ed to me about the need of backing
up his story. I was somewhat
frightened.
"Tbe next day McParland called
again and as he was leaving me I
called him back and said I would
do what he wanted me to do He
told me to think well what I waa
doing, to think of my family and
save myself. He said be would
se that my family was cared for.
He told me if I was still obstinate
I would be taken back to Colorado.
"When the confession was made,
McParland led me on step by step
Continued on page 4
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TO GUARD 'SHIPS against the unseen dangers at sea,
the United States Government maintains lighthouses.
To guard .your" home against the un
seerf dangers of food producteTtheGovernr
ment has enacted alpureFoc law. The
lw compelstheman
powder to print. Ihe ihgredTenb'n the
label of each can. : '
. The Government has jmade the label your protection
so that you can avoid alunv-read it carefully, if it does noti
say pure cream. of .tartar., hand it. back and
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aayplamlu
BAJUJG
POWDER
ROYAL is a pure, cream 'of tartar baking powder-a pure
product of grapes aids the digestion adds to the health-,
fulness of food.:: Iri -c-i?v: - ...:,.: . v; "
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