34 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



started in the early 'eighties in the district 

 of Boston, and is called the " Ellen M. Gifford 

 Sheltering Home for Animals." The lady 

 giving her name to this humane institution 

 left a large sum of money to endow the home, 

 and over the office is a tablet bearing the 

 following extract from one of Miss Gifford's 

 letters about the time the home was opened : 



It was as early as 1874 that this institution 

 was founded, and in 1889 it was reorganised 

 and incorporated as the " Morris Refuge for 

 Homeless and Suffering Animals," having for 

 its motto " The Lord is good to all, and His 

 tender mercies are over all His works." 



The efforts of the charitable ladies who so 

 ably assisted in the establishment of these in- 



THE CART OF THE ROYAL LONDON INSTITUTION FOR LOST AND STARVING CATS. 



(Photo: Cassell & Company, Limited.) 



" If only the waifs, the strays, the sick, the 

 abused would be sure to get entrance to the 

 home, and anybody could feel at liberty to bring 

 in a starved or ill-treated animal and have it 

 cared for without pay, my object would be 

 attained. March 27, 1884." 



According to Miss Helen Winslow, the 

 authoress of " Concerning Cats," there is 

 another institution in Philadelphia which does 

 not limit its good work to tending cats and 

 dogs, but cares for all living and suffering 

 animals, bringing relief to the unfortunate 

 creatures by means of a painless death. 



stitutions have been followed by others, and a 

 proposal to found a home for animals in 

 Montreal has, I believe, proved successful. 

 Miss Winslow tells us that there are several 

 cat asylums and refuges in the Far West, and 

 a Sheltering Home at Brighton, Mass. In 

 1901 a Cat Refuge was started in Chicago by 

 a well-known cat-lover, Mrs. Leland Norton, 

 and probably, as time goes on, some further 

 organised attempt will be made to deal with 

 the question of lost and starving cats in 

 American towns. 



The love of the cat still lingers in Egypt, 



