Foreign News: Cat's Meat

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"Beep! Beep!" is to U. S. citizens the nearest phonetic approach to the sound of a certain type of motor horn. To Londoners, ''Beep! Beep!'' is the familiar cry of the cat's meat men, picturesque peddlers who sell to thrifty housewives not the meat of cats but little skewers stuck with carefully diced meat for cats. Last week Britons were startled to learn that at least one cat's meat man is not only picturesque but opulent.

In a London magistrate's court a Mrs. Albert Cratchitt, estranged from her husband, was being sued for nonpayment of bills. Trouble reconciled the Cratchitts. In the dock Albert Cratchitt, beaming, prosperous, appeared beside his wife.

"It's all right, Your Worship," said he. "Mrs. Cratchitt and I, we've forgotten our little differences. I've arranged to pay all her debts. As a matter of fact, I've done pretty well. For 30 years I've had a cat's meat round in the City, and if I do say so I'm a man of independent means."

"What," cried the magistrate, starting beneath his wig, "you made a fortune out of cat's meat?"

"Yes," said Meatman Cratchitt. "Funny, isn't it?"