“MRS. CAT” of No. 40 FIRST PL. (1925)
Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes.
The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations.
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(Ed.’s note: The following story comes from the Tues., 1 September 1925 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle; it tells the all-to-familiar story of a woman removed from her home for keeping too many cats.)
“The aftermath of the third successive raid by agents of the S. P. C. A. on an old brownstone house at 40 1st pl., occurred today, in the Fifth Avenue Court with the arraignment of George H. Ingraham, nephew of the eccentric Mrs. Gertrude Hale, who for a score of years had made the house a haven for homeless cats, on a charge of assault. A 7-year-old girl, who the police say was injured when Ingraham hurled a milk bottle at a battery of photographers in front of the house, made the complaint against Ingraham.
“In last night’s raid on the house three agents from the society went through the building from top to bottom and nabbed 10 cats of all sizes and descriptions, which they removed in an ambulance to the society’s headquarters. This made a total of 27 cats captures in the home of the eccentric recluse, though the agents estimated that at least an equal number of cats had escaped from the premises. The other 17 cats were captured in raids made Friday and Saturday.
“Mrs. Hale, the widow of the late Dr. William Hale, a brilliant eccentric who was superintendent of municipal baths under Mayor Gaynor and who also had an unusual fondness for the feline animals, is in the Kings County Hospital, where she was committed for observation in Special Sessions Court last Thursday.
“Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Hale lived in the large 14-room house as a recluse, with only the companionship of her cats. The children in the neighborhood knew her as “Mrs. Cat,” because she was often seen picking up cats in the street and taking them home with her. Each day a dozen quarts of milk were delivered to her door, presumably for her pets. Conditions a few weeks ago became unbearable to neighbors and a circulation was sent to the Board of Health complaining of Mrs. Hale’s cat haven.
“After an investigation Mrs. Hale was brought to court, charged with a Sanitary Code violation, and her commitment for observation resulted. Agents of the society reported that the home in which the woman lived had apparently not been cleaned or swept for years, but that the cats appeared to have been well fed.
“Ingraham, who lives at 10462 122nd st., Richmond Hill, was conducting the agents through the home of his aunt. He became infuriated at the group of newspaper photographers snapping the array of cats and heaved a milk container in their midst. His aim was faulty, the bottle striking a picket fence and breaking pieces of glass striking Emma Penn, 7, of 16 3d pl., who was in the crowd of curiosity seekers and cutting her arm.
“Magistrate O’Neill held Ingraham in $500 bail for a hearing on Sept. 10.”
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