ar

The cat who loved to fish
and didn’t mind who knew it

by CHARLIE BETSWORTH

Mr. Betsworth is a75-year-old ex-
high rigger, camp foreman and
Jack of ail trades who worked ina
variety of coastal, logging
operations from 1922 until his
retirement in 1957, He makes his
home in Vancouver where he
writes ‘short stories about his
experiences in the bush,

In most of the coastal float
camps, you will always run into a
cat of some kind or another.
Sometimes they’re owned by just
one person in the camp and
sometimes by the whole camp.
But this one was different. He had
@ great sense of awareness and
seemed to know that no one
owned him, He was the kind of

cat Sy seemed to know just
where he belonged all the time
even though he looked like he was
half raccoon. He was orange in
color with big tabby rings around
his tail.

One night I awoke out of adeep
sleep to hear something thrashing
around in the living room of our
float house. I lay wondering what
on earth it was. There was a dead
quiet followed by another
thrashing sound. I grabbed a
flashlight at the side of the bed
and went ta see what was making
all the noise. There was that ring-
tail cat prancing around an eight-
inch fish proud as hell of what
he'd found.

I quickly grabbed cat and fish
and threw them both out into the
night. My wife called out and

asked what was the matter andI ”

told hera darn cat had brought in

e fish. 1 didn’t know how it ~

so I climbed back into bed.
Well, it wasn’t more than 15
minutes later when we heard the
same noises coming from the
living room again. I jumped out
of bed and there was another one
of those live fish flopping around
on the floor, This time, after
getting rid of the cat and fish I

checked to see where he. was.

getting in and found the window

open.

As these were sliding windows, *
it was not too difficult to get in
even though the sill was about five
feet from the deck of the float.
Not wanting to shut out the fresh
air, I left the window open about
four inches and got back into bed.

About an hour later all hell
broke loose. It made my hair
stand on end. There was banging
and scratching on the walls

-outside which sounded like

cougars sharpening their claws. I
again jumped out of bed and
would you believe it, there was
that fool cat with its head stuck
through the narrow window
opening clutching an even bigger
fish than before in its jaws.

He had managed to get the fish
in and his feet were clawing the
outside wall trying to get a toe
hold to bring the rest of his body

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ie

in, He couldn’t make it either in
or out because he refused to let go
of the fish which was jamed
sideways in the window opening.
He was in one hell of a
predicament and kept looking at
me as if to say, ‘Don’t just stand
there, do something man’. I slid
the, window open and cat and fish
dropped out of my sight. That
was that, then it was back to bed.
This cat was really foxy. We
used to have. a small row boat
resting upside down on the deck
of the float and when my wife Kay
-would throw scraps of food out to
him, he would dash ‘and hide
under the boat thinking that a
crow would try to retrieve then.
He played a waiting game and his
patience was usually rewarded. In
a flash he would have Mr. Crow
in his jaws and- would strut
around, taunting the other crows
to take action. Crows would come
fromm far and near screeching and
scolding the ‘Tom cat to release his
prey. After he had tired of all this
noise and chatter he would deliver
the kill with complete disdain.
When winter arrived, I had time

- on my hands and decided to build

a boat. Every day; and right on
time, Mister Tom would arrive to
inspect the work. looking
everything over to see that it was
all according to Hoyle. These
daily visits continued until the day
of the launching and when it hit
the water, the: first one aboard
was that ring-tailed Tom cat. He
gave it a complete going over as if
he was looking for it to spring a
leak so he could jump ashore and
say, “I told you it- wouldn't
float’’.

Now, a crow wake is really
something to see. A thousand
crows will gather in no time,
landing on the roof: tops,
screeching and ‘cawing and just
making one hell of a noise as if to
remind everyone that an evil act
has just occurred.

Jt was one of those balmy
evenings in mid summer when I
noticed that minnows were
leaping out, of the water by the
thousands. I got a small hand net
and started to catch some as they
jumped out of the water. The
Tom watched my — every
manouevre so I tossed him one,
thinking that he might appreciate
my generosity. But not him. He
just went to the edge of the float
and, peering dowa into the water,
made a quick scoop with his paw
and bingo! He had one of the

choice’ morsels and gobbled it up *

with much enthusiasm. That cat
was just too independent.

Mr. Tom had one trespasser to
his camp domain and that was a
black ringeyed raccoon who was
always caging tidbits from the
cook.’ Mr. Tom didn’t like that
and if he had anything to say
about the matter, Mister Coon
would have a real battle of wits on
his hands to reach the cook house.
Mister Coon would patiently wait
until Tom was out of the way and
then make a dash for the cook
house where he'd get a tidbit
from the cook and then make a
mad dash to get back to safety
under the float.

One day we woke up and
couldn't find Mr. Tom anywhere.
He never did turn up. I think he
found life just’ too ‘dull on the

* float camp and headed off into

the woods for some adventure. He
may have been killed by another
creature bigger and sttonger than
him. Bigger and stronger maybe,
but not smarter. That Tom was a

. Teally slick cat

An Ariens
— the best.

The Ariens Company of Brillion,
Wisconsin, remains, in-an age of
multi-national conglomerates, an
independent, family company doing
the things they do best and never
sacrificing quality for the sake of a
fast buck.

Starting inauspiciously in'1933 in
the midst of the Great Depression
in a garage at the back of his home,
Henry, Ariens and his sons had
ideas about how to. provide
equipment to meet the foe
interest in rotary tillage. Th
realized that if the rotary tillage
principle could be combined with a

lightweight, high power gasoline -

engine, the resulting machine could
be of major service to the farmer
and gardener.

‘The Company's first product was
a 30” tiller. powered by a front-
mounted 4 cylinder, V-type engine
that developed 14 HP, By present
standards, this forerunner of
today’s Ariens tillers was a mon-
ster; but it was well-balanced: and
handled easily. And it was a real
workhorse. :

In 1936, 14” and 20” tillers were
added to the Ariens line, and, by
1940, Ariens Tractor-Tillers were
hard at work in vegetable
. greenhouses and commercial
gardens throughout the north
central states and as far away as

California. Tractor powered tillers -

were also used to prepare runway
beds for airport construction in the
early 40's.

promising start was in-
terrupted by the second World
War, when the Ariens Company,
along with many others, turned its
production’ facilities over to the
manufacture of- tools and
tnaterials for the war effort. In
1945, the Company was presented
“with the coveted Army Ordnance
Award for the speed and ef-
ficiency of its proaacton work,

the war,

Ariens
Company helped. mest “the sub-

family tradition

for ‘e

stantial demand for farm equipment
with the Tillivator, a large tractor-
mounted unit that had been
developed in the early '40's, A
succession of smaller, front-
mounted walk-behi ers was
developed. throughout the ‘40's and
early '50'

In 1058" a new stage was reached
with the introduction of the first
riding mower,

ard ’n yard’

It’s no secret that every year more and more serious gar-
deners are choosing rear-tine tillers for greater efficiency and
ease of operation. For years Ariens has been. widely
acknowledged as a leader in the field of rear-tine innovation,
design, and rugged dependability.

This year Ariens in-
troduces an -all-new, 8 hp,
rear-tine tiller, the RT8028.
With advanced engineering
features, more tines, and a
bigger motor, it will prove a
popular addition to the
Ariens line.

Ariens rear-tine__ tillers
feature swing handlebars
that allow you to walk along-
side and easily contro! the
tiller with..one hand —
without walking behind in
freshly tilled soil! An op-
tional Swing Handle Kit is
available providing the same
swing handle capabilities for
the 5 hp model.

All three models have

. power ‘driven wheels to
prevent the tines from

pushing the machine for-

ward. The engine is located -

In 1973 the Ariens product line
took on its present form with the
company's installation * of
production facilities for a complete
line of Lawn and Garden Tracto:

Modern facilities for quality production

THE ARIENS COMPANY office (top) and
manufacturing facilities are among the most modern
and up-to-date in the power equipment industry.
Fabrication of basic materials, finishing, and assembly
are all handled in plant. Ample space is available for
parts and materials inventory and storage, receiving
‘and shipping. Independent assembly linea ore in
operation for tillers, riding mowers, tractors, and Sno-
Thros, allowing Ariens to continue production of all of

growing market. Separate facilities exist for
engineering, development and product testing.

‘The construction of a 67,000 8q.- -ft. metal fabricating
plant. in 1977 marked the beginning of another era.
Located on a §3-acre site west of Ariens’ main plant on
West Ryan Street in Brillion,-this factory houses
two 760-ton hydraulic presses, other presses, shears,
ete., enabling Ariens to produce mower decks, tractor
frames and other product components efficiently and to

up front with the tines inthe
rear to assure balance,
smooth performance, and
easy, precise control.

Easy Access to Control !

Most ‘controls are located
at the handlebars. A
separate tiller clutch and
main clutch conveniently
allow you to deliver power to
the wheels without turning
the tines. The tines are made

_of high-strength steel in a

Turbo design driven through
a factory sealed gear case.

An Ariens rear-tine tiller
can be your key to that vital
first step of soil preparation
for all your spring tilling and
planting. Garden main-
tenance and cultivation will
be a breeze during those hot
summer months. with an
Ariens rear-tine tiller.
Retain Organic Matter

In the autumn, let your
garden become an excellent
compost area. Use your
Ariens _rear- tiller to
power-till bean or pea plants,
tomato plants, leaves, and
other harvested crops back
into the garden. You'll retain

many of the trace elements _

-and minerals, -from ‘the
existing organic matter, that
are valuable nutrients
essential to healthy ‘ soil
production. And, when
winter - brings snow your
way, power it away with the
quick addition of Ariens 40”
front blade attachment.

With an Ariens rear-tine
tiller, you're in control of
tough gardening chores all
year long!

(For information on
Ariens fine quality front-tine
tillers see inside pages.)

(HOFFARS

supplement is publishes

wh hottare Sales Ltd. to bring

+ YoU news of the fine products of
the. ‘Ariens Company '"snd -

awl “be; fo
serene sions wth 8 ‘ist or ‘the.
@ ‘Ariens dealers.

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