January 27, 1897
Today we have another story about a sailor cat-man, but unlike our hero from the telephone pole rescue story, this sailor ended up on the other side of the law. (And sadly, the ending to this tale is not as happy.)
On January 27, 1897, a sailor named John Dolan was fined $3 in the Essex Market Police Court for being drunk in public. During his arraignment, he carried a tiny pet kitten under his coat.
Unable to pay the fine, Dolan was committed to the workhouse on Blackwell’s Island (now Roosevelt Island). As he left for the island, Keeper Eidensheim of the Essex Market Prison took the kitten away from him.
A few days later, Magistrate Herman C. Kudlich received a letter from Mrs. C.L. King of Flat 6, 252 West 22nd Street, who had read about the incident in the newspaper. Here’s what she wrote:
I read in a newspaper a touching account of the sailor, John Dolan, and the little cat he was carrying around with him. Now my father was a sailor, and has gone safe into the port of heaven these many years. I have, therefore, in my heart always a tender spot for these men who go down to the sea in ships, and my purpose in writing you is to ask you if I may keep the little kitten at my home until John Dolan comes back to claim it, as I have no doubt I could give it better care than Mr. Eidensheim, as I have a nice home and no children to annoy it.
If you will kindly answer per enclosed envelope, I will come to the station after the kitten, and guarantee to return it to poor John when he comes back.
When Magistrate Kudlick read the letter, he remarked that when it came to cases of destitution that were reported in the news, no letters of assistance ever arrived when humans were involved. “But if a cat obtained the distinction of a newspaper notice, some tender-hearted woman could always be depended on to come to its defense.” The judge nonetheless agreed to send the letter to the prison so Mrs. King could rescue the kitten.
Sadly, when Keepers Eidensheim and O’Brien went searching for the cat, they could not find it anywhere. Apparently, some time during the night Dolan’s pet had escaped from the jail and walked out into the cold, cruel world. Keeper Eidensheim traced the tiny kitten paws in the snow to the rear fence, which explained how the poor kitty had escaped.
If you would like to read more about the Essex Market Court and Prison, check out this story about Minnie, the prison’s mascot cat in the early 1900s. Hmmm, I wonder if Minnie was the little kitten from this story? We can only hope!
