The Richmond Indiana palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1854-1855, 1855-11-01
Rats and the Dead IIerses--of Paris

Rats and the Dead IIorses-of Paris -
Four hundred horses die or are killed in
Paris in one week There is common
Pound, surrounded by a stone wall, covering
some ten acres. According TO some munici-
pal regulations, There is an ordinance for evs
ery thing in France, all dead earcasses, ex.
cept human ones, must be brought 10 this
general receptacle. The carcass of a horse is
valuable for the bone, the hide and the hair.
to say nothing Of the flesh, much priced whea
fresh, in certain sausage manufactures. Bss
should YOU wait until the no sc has. actually
shuff1ed off his hairy coat, you might miss q
bargain-another OF tie trade precedes and
purchases. Hence It is important to buy tia
horse, before he is dead Ii is regular bu-
sincss in Paris. lou can tell these agents for
the purchase Of dead horses as a glance; tie
dress is that of an English groom. safe tie
vgnette on the visor of the cap, representing
a dead horse and cross bones; memorandum
book, pencil. stamp. and piece Of eaus-
tic complete his accoutrements. With scruti-
niznr eve he travels the thorough fares-of
Paris; should horse go lame. break leg or
neck, should he show symptoms of distress
in word, anywhere or IN any way eyince
signs of the many ills to which horse flesh is
heir. Immediately is an offer made for the An
mal, deliverable when really dead. The bar
gain concluded, the 'signaement' of the horse
aud owner is carefully recorded, and = pri-
vate mark stamped on the inside Of the fore
leg with the caustc; the horse goes rejoicing
on his way for weeks, perhaps for months
only to be met with and Identified after deafh
at the grave yard for horses. Now, except
in cases Of fresh specimens, as mentioned
above, the first operation on dead horse Is
to take off his skin; then the flesh to ges at
the bones. The skinning portion is easy.
and performed with dexterity and rapidly
truly astonishing. | have seen IN the encio-
sure spoken of, at one time, over one hundred
horses skinned OF being put through that
process. The next point is to divest the bones
of adhesive and putrid tiesh-bones are valued
in proportion AS they are clean. neat, and free
from other matter. To take off the flesh by
hand is tedious and difficult operation. An
ngen' Gus Frenchrian solved the difficulty.
He noticed that rats are very fond of horse
flesh he advised the authorities to colpnize
the horse pound with these animals; the cata-
combs of Paris furnished them by thousands.
1t was done. and now a davs dead hcrse's
carcass put in over night. is literally ngalng
but beautiful skeleton ~ the morning. ha.
pecuniary saving To the bene dealers from
the voracity and gnawing propensities of the
rat family, is, am told, very considerable.
Our Yankee Frenchman did not, however,
stop there. 1t was natural to suppose that
rats so well fed and provided for. would rap
idly increase and multiply; hence the necessi
ty of regulating the matter. Every three
months a grand ''battue' is made upon the
aforesaid colony of rats, and all caught above
ground die the death Of rats. The manner
Of doing this amused me- Horizontal and
cylindrical holes bored all around, in and
at tie foot of Tie enclosing wails-the depth
and diameter being respectively the length
and thickness of the rats body. Upon the
morning of the 'bat;ue, men armed with pans,
kettles. drums, &c. rush in at the peep Of
dav and .cha,ivari' the poor rats, who fright
ened almost to death, poke their heads into
the first opening. OF course. all those in the
wall holes have tails sticking out. The rat
collector, with bag over his shoulder, now
makes tour of the premises and the scien.
tific and rapid manner with which the rats are
seized by the tail and safely Ito both rat and
operator) transferred 10 the bag. challenges
admiration. It even surpasses the Chiffon
iers' rag picking. Perhaps you wish to know
wha. becomes of the rats. These, also are
sold before they are caught or killed. The
privilege Of gathering rats on 'battue' days is
farmed out by the authorizes and a profitable
business it is-The rats, sleek and fat as thew
necessarily are, fetch a highly remunerative
price--the skins with the fur on are dressed
and used in the manufacture of various arii-
ces; the skins dressed with the fur off. are
made up chiefly into ladies gloves OF the best
quality, and the flesh is excellent food for
cats and dogs. and IS highly esteemed By the
poorer classes of the people, when roasted OF
made into pie Country Gentlemen.
The Fig Trade of Smyrua