QUOTE(remoteplanet @ May 9 2007, 12:28 PM) [snapback]1667060[/snapback]
LOL Onyx! Try again, the link should be up. I note the server's a bit flakey this morning. Hitting refresh usually does the trick. Keep me posted!
cheers,
Chris
Nope, still doesn't work but I found this (I copied and pasted the entire article cuz it is on Geocities and only a few people would be able to view it before the bandwidth would be over reached for the day):
Whitey Talks
Florida's Talking Cat
WHITEY TALKS (The Talking Cat)
by Bennett Wm Palmer
Originally published in Search Magazine, Nov. 1967
It was June 7th, 1963 when Mrs. Deem and her husband rescued a bedraggled, crying, wet kitten from the tall grass in a field, where apparently it had been abandoned. The kitten was very ill. Mrs. Deem sat up with it for two nights, and then she and her husband decided to take it to a veterinarian who saved its life.
The Deems now have nineteen cats, but at the time they found the kitten, they had only one other cat, a black one called "Blackie". The kitten was pure white, so was named "Whitey".
According to Mrs. Deem, Whitey began talking at about the age of six months. One of the earliest words it said was "trailer", apparently with reference to its former home. (It was thought that the kitten's former owners had lived in a trailer and had moved away.)
The first time the cat talked was when it jumped up on the bed where Mrs. Deem was lying and said, "I'm hungry". Mrs. Deem could not believe what she heard. She did not tell her husband about the incident, until he too, heard it talk. The cat jumped up on Mr. Deem's lap. Mr. Deem said to the kitten, "You are a bad cat." The cat replied, "I am not a bad cat. I want out." Mr. Deem shouted to his wife, "Did you hear that?" Mrs. Deem was much reassured now that her husband had also heard the cat talk.
In the early days of the cat's talking it seemed that almost any one might have heard the cat talk if they were willing and able to spend a little time at the home of the owners. Also, at that time the cat could be inducted to talk by withholding its food until it "said something". However, after a long seige of accidents, illness and an operation, the cat's talking diminished. The last report as to the frequency with which the cat says human words was on the average of not less than once a week.
As Whitey and Blackie are both tomcats, they are not friends, but quite the reverse. Mr. and Mrs. Deem try to arrange it so that one would always be out of the house while the other was in. Also for quite a time, it seems that all that was necessary to get Whitey to "say something" was to bring Blackie into his presence. He would often respond, "He's bad", referring to Blackie, or "He's mean."
As a very young cat, Whitey was said to have watched for the Deems to return from the shopping center with cat food. It is said that Whitey would nose the cans of cat food and say, "Open." Also Whitey liked chocolate candy, and the Deems learned to know that he was asking for chocolate candy whenever he would say, "What have you got for me!"
Mr. Deem found that he could get a response from Whitey by teasing him. Sometimes with this in mind and especially if he wanted some other person to hear him talk he would say "Whitey, you are a bad cat." Whitey would frequently respond with an indignant, "I am not!"
Whitey likes television and the owners of Florida's talking cat often leave the television on for the cat's benefit and pleasure.
Once on television there was the picture of a dog which seemed to have excited Whitey. To reassure himself, or for some other reason Whitey remarked, "He is not real." Another time there was a show on in which a man was shot. Whitey said to Mrs. Deem, "Was he hurt?" Mrs. Deem replied, "No." The cat automatically responded with, "Don't tell a lie, mama."
One of the most common incidents of talking is the request to be let out. However, it is not often that a neighbor happens to be present when Whitey makes this request. Mrs. Sharon, a neighbor, was in the room with Mrs. Deem when the cat said quite plainly, "Mama, I want out."
Shortly after the newspaper articles had started, a reporter from the Lakeland (Florida) Ledger went to the Deem home to get a story about the cat, and hoped to hear the cat talk. At that time it was frequently possible to induce the cat to talk by coaxing him. The efforts of the Deems were in vain, and the reporter left. However, before he left he took a flashbulb picture of the cat. The reporter had been gone only a short time when the cat said one word, apparently referring to the flashbulb picture. The cat said, "Light."
Mrs. Deem told that on one occasion the cat had been to a veterinarian, as he had been many times before and after. When he returned home he said, rightly or wrongly of a helper, "The helper was mean."
A tomcat sometimes finds life and people frustrating. In his early days of talking Whitey sometimes said, "I'm mad." Also, on occasions he has complained, "Nobody loves me!" He must know in his heart, however, that this is not the case. Often he says, "I love mama," meaning Mrs. Deem, and it is obvious also, that he loves Mr. Deem.
The owners of Florida's talking cat are Mr. and Mrs. James Deem, Lake Hamilton, Florida. Mr. Deem is a retired miner, and also a lay preacher in the Free Methodist Church, and Mrs. Deem is a member of the Free Methodist Church. They came to Florida from West Virginia. When Mr. and Mrs. Deem first acquired the cat, then a kitten, they were living outside the city limits in a sub-division known as Hillside Acres. They now live inside the city limits of Lake Hamilton.
In the days of early publicity about the talking cat, a minister visited the Deems to inquire about the story. The minister, Mr. and Mrs. Deem and the cat were all gathered in the front room when the cat stated, "Why don't you go home?" Mrs. Deem said to Whitey, "Aren't you ashamed of yourself?" Whitey replied, "I am not!" Whitey added another insult in stating, "He's a stinker!"
About this time, or probably a little earlier the cat had been left with a veterinarian. The veterinarian and his helper told the following story to Mr. and Mrs. Deem.
The veterinarian's helper was near the cat's cage, when to his amazement he heard the cat say, "I want to go home." He rushed to the veterinarian and told him what he had heard. The veterinarian accused his helper of trying to "fool somebody." Nevertheless, he went to the cage. He heard nothing, but when he turned to leave, he heard the words, "I want to go home." He looked accusingly at his helper, who stated, "I didn't say that. The cat did!"
At one time after the cat had apparently been stolen, and had returned after many days in a deplorable condition, it was thought he had lost the ability to talk. Mr. Deem often walked the cat. He started as usual for a walk, but for some reason was delayed. He was delighted to hear Whitey say, "Come on."
When the Deems travelled and only had Whitey and Blackie, they often took the cats with them in their car. It was difficult to get motel accommodations with cats, so settled [sic] for sleeping in their car. In a small town in North Carolina the Deems were parked alongside a curb, sleeping with Whitey in the car. A passing policeman heard a voice coming from the parked car. He heard the words, "Help! Help!" He rushed up to the Deem car and flashed his light to investigate. He saw the Deems awakening and a beautiful white cat. He heard the cat say, "I want out." "No one loves me. " The policeman had what must have been his most unique experience.
All of these incidents occurred while the Deems were residents of Hillside Acres, a housing development near Lake Hamilton, Florida. A year or two ago, they moved from Hillside Acres to another house in Lake Hamilton about four miles from their previous home.
After moving they had trouble with Whitey's going back to his old home, or to that area and staying for days at a time, returning sick and bedraggled.
Mr. and Mrs. Joe Rhodes, friends and previous neighbors of the Deems, were skeptical about the stories of the talking cat.
One time Whitey had been gone an unusually long time, and was thought to be dead. While the cat was absent from its home, Mr. Rhodes caught a glimpse of him in a nearby vacant lot. He recognized Whitey and knew how the Deems were probably anxious for his return. He decided to try to catch the cat. It was about 4:30 p.m., and a clear day. As he approached the cat, Whitey ran from him. Mr. Rhodes was shocked when he distinctly heard the cat say, "You can't catch me."
Another time Mrs. Deem and Whitey were both out in the yard, when she noticed the cat looking intently under the house. She heard Whitey say, "Come! Come!" When she got near him, he said "He is a big one." Mrs. Deem started to look under the house when a big black snake began to move from its hiding place. Mrs. Deem screamed. Whitey said, "Mama is a coward."
Whitey
Because of a death, Mr. and Mrs. Deem were called to West Virginia. They left their two cats, Whitey and Blackie in the charge of a nearby neighbor. He made daily trips to the Deem home to care for the cats. The neighbor, Mr. Marshall Furgesen had heard reports of the cat's remarkable talent, but was politely skeptical. As he approached the home on one of his trips he saw Whitey being pursued by Blackie. He was very much astonished to hear Whitey say, "Where's mama?" This was the first time he had actually heard the cat talk.
In approximately a week or so the Deems returned from the trip. They were in their home with Mr. Furgesen when Whitey approached Mrs. Deem in the bedroom. "He hit me!" he stated. "Who hit you?" "Him," the cat replied. Mr. Furgesen's voice could be heard coming from the kitchen. Mrs. Deem questioned the cat further. "What did he hit you with?" The cat said, "Newspaper." Mrs. Deem immediately confronted Mr. Furgesen and asked him if he had hit the cat. He was amazed, and described an incident in which he had hit the cat with a newspaper.
Mr. and Mrs. Neville Mainguy, Orange City, Florida read the newspaper and magazine articles about Florida's talking cat and arranged through a writer to visit the Deems. They hoped to hear the famous cat talk.
Their visit was pleasant, but they were disappointed when Whitey remained silent. They have had many cats and were cat lovers, so naturally the main topic of their conversation was cats. The next day Mrs. Deem phoned the writer and asked him if he knew whether or not the Mainguys had a cat named "Pal". She said that shortly after they left Whitey said, "Pal." Mrs. Deem contacted the Mainguys and asked them if the name "Pal" had any meaning to them. Mrs. Mainguy said that it certainly did. It was the name of a cat which had disappeared mysteriously. She said that its name had been mentioned in the conversations between them and their hosts. Mrs. Deem had not noted the name or had forgotten it, but apparently it made an impression on Whitey. Simple as this story is, it is one of the most impressive of the stories because it suggests that Whitey must have understood the conversation about the lost cat, and seemed to have picked out the name of the cat.
The cat apparently understands more of the human drama going on around it, than its responses would suggest. Sometimes a word he uses will be a word which it could not have heard recently, but when he speaks it, he uses the word appropriately.
Also, Mrs. Deem says that sometimes she will say to Whitey, "Come and flirt with me," and will wink at the cat and the cat will wink back.
On one occasion Whitey threatened to leave, but apparently recognized that his threat was an ungrateful thing and condemned himself for it.
Another instance occured when Whitey was quite young. He jumped up on the bed where Mrs. Deem was lying and said, "Hungry. Leave you. Mad, I want to go home. I bad."
I think it was March 10, 1966 that I saw Mrs. Deem in a shopping center. It had been many months since I had seen either Mr. or Mrs. Deem, and since that meeting she had been seriously ill and in the hospital. The following is in substance the story told me by Mr. and Mrs. Deem.
Mrs. Deem was away from home in the hospital for a considerable time. All of the cats seemed to have missed her, but Whitey especially. When she returned, Whitey hugged her with his front feet, or speaking more humanly, with his "arms", and would not let her go. When she would start to leave he would say, not the words, "No! No!", but the human equivalent which might be spelled "Eugh! Eugh!" Also, when he first saw her, he not only hugged her but said "Mama home! Mama home!"
Questions have been asked as to the kind of voice in which the cat speaks. This writer has heard Mrs. Deem relate a story in which she said the cat talked so loudly that she was afraid its talking would awaken her sleeping husband.
However, Mrs. Deem said that it was usually a "quiet voice". Mrs. Deem in describing the cat's talking has frequently mentioned that the cat speaks "distinctly" and "clearly".
We have now presented the reader with the most complete story about Florida's talking cat, which has not yet been published. Fortunately, the story is not yet ended, and it is impossible to say what may be added to it.
We believe this story to be the most remarkable of cat stories, and to be as reliable as human testimony can make it. We also believe that it will still be so regarded a hundred years from now.
The address of this page is
http://www.geocities.com/casadetodd/whitey.html
