House Cat is Nearly Baked

1914

The Family Pet Slept in Oven of Cook Stove and Is Nearly Burned to Death

Waynesboro, Pa. — M. B. Ayers, Hamilton avenue, Waynesboro, almost cooked a new dish at his home.

When he retired at night he left the oven door of the kitchen stove open. To get away from the cold the family cat crawled into the oven and there curled itself up for a sleep that lasted all through the night.

When Mr. Ayers went downstairs in the morning to stir up the fire he closed the oven door. The cat slept on and made no protest. Then Mr. Ayers turned on the drafts and thrust the poker into the bed of coals, and in a short time he had a good fire going.

He heard the mewing of a cat, but he couldn't see a cat, and he fancied the animal might be on the outside. But the cat grew more persistent in its mewing and added a tone of anguish to it, and then Mr. Ayers bethought him of the oven. He opened the door and the cat sprang on to him, almost knocking him off his feet.

The animal was burned terribly. Its feet were badly charred and its body was almost baked. It is still living and is on the road to recovery.