Mummified Cat Entered as Luggage

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 287, 4 December 1936, Page 3

Mummified Cat Entered as Luggage

CUSTOMS OFFICERS PUZZLED SYDNEY, Nov. 23. Sydney customs officers were puzzled to lind listed among tho possessions of Mr G. H. Stelling, of London, who arrived a few days ago, an item: “One dead cat.” Their amazement was even greater when they saw the cat. It was a perfectly preserved mummy, but its snarling face indicated a death in agony. In a Staffordshire castle 30 years ago the cat was discovered, wedged between a skirting board and the wall. Its tortured face told of a terriblo struggle to escape tho disastrous ending to what doubtless began as a mousing expedition Inquiries showed that tho room had not been entered for 90 years. Water, possibly impregnated with minerals from the wall, had dripped on to the body, apparently assisting to preserve it. The skin had hardened until it was like bone, and the wrinkles in the neck aro still perfectly modelled. Albert Albers, of Sydney, saw

the specimen in Mr Stelling’s study iu London some years ago, and admired it. As Mr Stelling’s wife objected to its macabre appearance, Mr Stelling decided to bring it to Sydney with him and present it to Mr Albers. The facts of the case were explained to tho customs officers, but this was no simple import. Tariff schedules were searched. Was it “a work of art”? Inquiries failed to discover a precedent. The officers decided that the cat could not be admitted until it was certiiied by the stock quarantine authorities to bo free from disease. Eventually, after inspection by the State stock inspector, it was declared a healthy dead cat and allowed to enter.