BOARD AND MAINTENANCE OF A CAT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1690, 26 January 1888, Page 4

BOARD AND MAINTENANCE OF A CAT.

On November 10th, at Brompton County Court, an amusing case was heard by His Honor Judge Stonor, in which the plaintiff, Mrs Siiverton, a laundress, sued Madame Corner, a lady residing in Montpelier Square, for £ls 18s 4d, being balance of amount alleged to be due for the board and maintenance of a cat. Mr Robinson appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Rickards for defemdant- In opening the case Mr - Robinson informed His Honor that the cat, which was a favorite, and was also a very valuable one, came into the possession of the plaintiff in June, 1883, when an agreement was entered into by which the plaintiff agreed to keep the animal, and supply it with half-a-pound of liver every day and a pint of milk, for which she was to receive 2s per week, payable by sums of £1 in advance Defendant paid various amounts up to August, 1884, and several letters passed enclosing the instalments, one of which ran as follows Dear Annie,—Enclosed is £1 off James’ (the cat’s) account, and a tin of sardines for his dinner—(laughter)— which I hope he will enjoy. (Renewed laughter). I enclose also a loin of porkji which I trust will be equally as acceptable to yourself.” (Much laughter). In August last year the defendant became desirous of having “ poor Jim ” (the cat) poisoned, and sent a messenger with a letter begging that the cat should be handed over to the messenger for that purpose. The plaintiff, sworn, said that in 1883 Mrs Corner, a wealthy lady, lived in Sussex street, Pimlico, and plaintiff was her charwoman. On changing her residence she asked witness to take care of her cat. She was to feed it as above stated. Mr Rickards; Have you a receipt for what you fed that cat on ? Witness : No, but my solicitor has. (Laughter). Very often my husband has fed that eat when we have been hungry ourselves. We did it out of respect to Madame Corner. She sent us many presents, such as a loin of pork. Mr Robinson: It was a very valuable cat, was it not ? Witness: Yes. Mr Rickards: I should think so. He ate almost enough to keep a man. (Laughter). Witness: I wouldn’t like to keep you on it long. (Laughter), Mr Rickards: Hot on loins of pork? (Loud laughter). Witness: We ate the pork, “ Jim ” ate the sardines. (More laughter). Ultimately His Honor gave judgment for the amount claimed.