SERVAL CAT BITE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIV, Issue 928, 29 January 1924, Page 9

SERVAL CAT BITE.

FUN IN CAFE ROYAL. “LOOKED LIKE A LEOPARD.” The adventures of an African served oat in the Cafe Royal. Regent Street, were described at Westminster County Court, London, recently. Mr Benjamin Jenkins, racehorse trainer, of Adam Street, Portland P ace, W., claimed £BS damages for personal injuries against the owner of tl e cat, Mr E. St. Bsube Baker (Junior Naval and Military Club, t ccadilly) and the proprietors of the Cafe Royal.

Mr Jenkins, it was said, sat down in the Cafe Royal on a seat also occi pied by Baker and the cat. The animal bit Mr Jenkins first in the ln.nd and later in the calf. Mr Rees (for Mr Jenkins) said the cat was more like a leopard in appearance, and if the judge had any tic übts as to whether it was a wild or dc mesticated animal lie could soon put it to the test by having it placed near him.

The Judge (Sir A. Tobin) : Certainly not.

Mr J. Robert Jones (who appeared for Baker) said that two keepers from the Zoo would give evidence. The Judge: Oh, keepers at the Zoo m ike lions domesticated.

KING TUT’S PET.

! Mr Kimber told the judge that in some parts of the world servals were used as domestic animals. It was sa d that a stuffed one had been brought from Tutankhamen’s tomb in Egypt. The serval cat was spotted like a leopard. Mr Rees said the cat had now been pi iced in the Zoo. The Judge: Has it a smell like a ci"et cat? Mr Rees: I believe that both have an equally bad smell. The Judge: Is that why you wished it to be placed near me ? Mr Jones said the cat had been living quietly in a house where there wire no children. The Judge: There are people in society who keep pet lions who know th :ir owner. Mr Jonest I am referring to strange ch ldren whom the animal had never seen before and whom he did not molest. The hearing was adjourned.