Sunday, August 28, 2005
Monitor cannon--no sign of cat
Apparently the old tale of a black cat having been stuffed inside one of the Monitor's cannons as she was sinking is untrue. Archaeologists who are restoring the cannons have found absolutely no trace whatsoever of feline remains. Which is kind of a bummer, actually, as that's something that has fascinated schoolkids for years.
By SUE LINDSEY, Associated Press Writer Sat Aug 27, 7:42 AM ET
NEWPORT NEWS, Va.
"Schoolchildren are always asking 'What happened to the cat?'" said Justin Lyons, a spokesman for the museum.
Crewman Francis Butts wrote in an 1885 magazine article that — as he passed buckets through the turret to bail water from the Monitor — the cat sat on the breech of one of the guns "howling one of those hoarse and solemn tunes which no one can appreciate who is not filled with the superstitions which I had been taught by the sailors, who are always afraid to kill a cat."
"I would almost as soon have touched a ghost, but I caught her, and placing her in (a) gun, replaced the wad and tampion," he said. No Sign of Legendary Cat in Monitor Cannon - Yahoo! News
By SUE LINDSEY, Associated Press Writer Sat Aug 27, 7:42 AM ET
NEWPORT NEWS, Va.
"Schoolchildren are always asking 'What happened to the cat?'" said Justin Lyons, a spokesman for the museum.
Crewman Francis Butts wrote in an 1885 magazine article that — as he passed buckets through the turret to bail water from the Monitor — the cat sat on the breech of one of the guns "howling one of those hoarse and solemn tunes which no one can appreciate who is not filled with the superstitions which I had been taught by the sailors, who are always afraid to kill a cat."
"I would almost as soon have touched a ghost, but I caught her, and placing her in (a) gun, replaced the wad and tampion," he said. No Sign of Legendary Cat in Monitor Cannon - Yahoo! News
