Dog jumps for cat, meets death

Yes, it happened. Here. In December 1920. Reportedly. We at the Cop Shop have in recent weeks combed Telegraph archives for long-ago oddities that made the news. This particular item, about “a tabby cat near a peevish dog” in a Poplar Street saloon, caught our eye. It made the front page back then. (Along with more than a dozen other reports of more serious regional interest. Front pages in those days were chock-full not just of major world happenings, but also with odds and ends.) In 73 words, the apparently true-life tale of cat vs. dog presented a picture of a fairly remarkable occurrence. In the parlance of some newsrooms, such delights were knows as “talkers,” the kinds of gee-whiz news bits that get folks chatting. “The nosing of a tabby cat too near a peevish dog, in a pool room, caused the death of the dog yesterday,” the dispatch began. “The canine made a dash for the venturesome tabby, who ran under a pool table.” There appears to have been a momentary standoff. And then: “The dog made a spring, but landed with his head against one of the corners of the table, the blow killing him instantly.”

This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 1:00 AM with the headline "Dog jumps for cat, meets death."