Once upon a time, a renowned employee for the Southern Railway lost a battle to a cat that had broken into his home on West 44th Street. This Southern gentlemen was a pro at catching possums, but he was no match for a stray New York City feline.
Archive for the ‘Cat Stories’ Category
1900: The Midtown Cat That Beat a Possum Wrangler of the Southern Railway
Posted: 8th January 2022 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Cats in the MewsTags: Alexander S. Thweatt, Nannie Neill Hays, New York City History, Peterson Thweatt, Southern Railway, Thomas H. Hays
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1904-1932: Bertha, Patches, Minnie, and Other Holiday-Time Hero Cats of Old New York
Posted: 18th December 2021 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Cats in the MewsTags: Cat Heroes, Cats in the Mews, Cats of Old New York, Daniel De Lena, Jacob Braunstein, Joseph Gerlich, New York City History
It’s time to celebrate some holiday-time hero cats who saved the lives of their humans and kittens in emergency situations.
Here are just a few stories of hero cats from Brooklyn and New York newspapers published from 1904 to 1932.
1901: Tom, the Deaf Cat of New York’s Post Office Feline Police Force
Posted: 30th October 2021 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Men, Cat Stories, Cats in the MewsTags: Cats of Old New York, Gustave Fersenheim, New York City History, New York General Post Office, post office cats, Thomas Gallaudet
A librarian recently asked me what makes an old news story worthy of further research and posting on my website. I told her that not only does it need to be a great animal tale, but it must also be a good people story or have ties to interesting historical buildings or events. The following story about a deaf New York Post Office cat and the deaf postal worker who loved him meets all my criteria for a fabulous animal story of Old New York. Sit back and enjoy.
1908: The Brooklyn Cat of Sunset Park Who Sounded the Alarm For Fire
Posted: 22nd October 2021 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Cats in the MewsTags: Aaron Platt, Brooklyn History, Cats of Old New York, John Duffy, Martenus Bergen, Sunset Park
An unnamed, heroic stray cat and a mischievous mouse played a prominent role in a fire that forced a dozen families from the double brick apartment at 561 49th Street (present-day Sunset Park neighborhood) on December 4, 1908.
1921: The Cat That Screamed Bloody Murder in Jamaica Village, Queens
Posted: 1st August 2021 by The Hatching Cat in Cat Stories, Cats in the MewsTags: Cats of Old New York, Charles Herriman, Herriman Avenue, James Herriman, Queens history, Village of Jamaica
Hurry up! There is murder at Herriman Avenue, Jamaica. The telephone receiver is off the hook and I can hear terrible screams and groans. Send the police department down quick.”
That was the breathless message that Lieutenant Louis Keppel of the Jamaica police precinct received shortly after midnight exactly one hundred years ago, on July 31, 1921. The voice was coming from a frantic telephone operator.
