There hasn’t been much news these days, but over the years, local police, firefighters, and others have often been asked to retrieve cats from tall branches and other suspicious circumstances.

In May 1902, WH Ripley on Brooklyn Street in North Adams found a cat clinging to the top of a 70-foot-high pine tree and was afraid to get down. Stayed there for six days. A neighbor suggested that the police should be sent to shoot it, but the frightened Ripley eventually climbed the tree by himself and saved the hungry kitten.

In March 1912, Pittsfield Police Officer John Hines dutifully took the homeless to the police station. "He bought milk for the cat, and after the cat warmed itself, he gave it a soft and comfortable place to sleep on the police officer's desk in Gaston," the Berkshire Evening Eagle reported. "The latter came in and was surprised to find that there was a cat on his table, because he thought it was not the cat’s place, so he moved it to the homeless room where all the other abandoned people went there. The cat didn’t seem to mind. Because it fell asleep happily like a lark."

In March 1929, removing a moggy from a branch on North Adams Street in North Adams required a little creativity. Firefighters William Murphy and WE Dalmaso used ladders and ropes to reach the trapped animal and placed it in a 40-foot-tall makeshift net by two other firefighters.

The domestic cat of Great Barrington resident Ernest Smith is not only curious about climbing trees. In 1935, when he climbed the ladder to retrieve it, Smith discovered that she had given birth to a kitten.

In December 1941, the Dalton Volunteer Fire Brigade answered the first call with a new hook-and-ladder truck to rescue an uncomfortable cat perched on a tree.

In May 1952, a cat had to be dragged off the top of a telephone pole at the corner of Fairgrounds Avenue and Walden Street in North Adams.

In October 1958, a staff member of the Adams Highway Department answered a call from residents of Jordan Street and rescued a cat trapped in a leaking basin 4 inches deep.

1961 was a quiet New Year, North Adams emergency responders dealt with small chimney fires, false alarms, and a cat trapped in a tree on Windom Terrace.

Not all rescue efforts are successful. In June 1958, members of the Adams Alert Hose Company tried to catch a cat from the Hoosac River near Spring Street. But every time someone approaches, the cat will retreat into the pipe.

In January 1962, two firefighters rescued a cat from a tree on Franklin Street in North Adams. The trucks responding to emergency rescue did not have long enough ladders, so they had to take the aerial ladder truck. The transcript said.

The May 1964 episode had a happy ending, when North Adams firefighters caught the wind of an Angora in a tree on Massachusetts Avenue after putting out a roof fire and several other small fires. When the rescuer stretched out his hand, the report card said: "The cat was lovingly wrapped around his outstretched palm, purring contentedly, and then sat staggeringly on his shoulders, slowly carrying it. To the street."

Artists sometimes assist in finding cats. In October 1912, stage actress Phyllis Gilmore (Phyllis Gilmore), who often performed with imperial actors at the North Adams Empire Theatre, was distressed because he could not find one of the boarding house's regulars, a cat. She alerted the management of New America House.

"It turns out that Joseph Barnard is the luckiest of all searchers," said Eagle, "because after two or three hours of searching nearby, the loud'meow' of a kitten took him to the bridge. On the roof of the uniform. Barnard looked down from a brick chimney hole and saw two fiery eyes looking up at him. A rope was used, and Barnard had to work hard to He descended halfway into the chimney and dragged the cat out."

Movie actress Doris Day visited North Adams with her husband, agent (also a native of North Adams) Matthew Melcher (also a native of North Adams), and their son Terry, Lives with his sister and her husband, Harry Melcher on Marion Avenue. Dai’s latest movie "Pajama Game" has just been screened at Radio City Music Hall. Many people recognized her when she ventured to shop downtown and visited Sterling & Francine Clark College of Art in Williamstown.

"Last night was close to midnight," North Adams transcribed the report on September 17, 1957, "She [Day] expressed her desire to breathe fresh air and exercise, and walk along West Street. During the walk, she heard a The cat was meowing on the tree, so she coaxed the cat with the Melchers. She immediately picked it up and took it to Mecher’s house, where the cat was eaten with a large bowl of milk. The cat returned this morning over there."

This is Dai's second stay in North Adams. In April 1953, she had been in this city, immersed in the release of "Disaster Jane".

Regardless, despite the old saying, curiosity does not always kill a cat.

Bernard A. Drew is a frequent visitor to Eagle.

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