Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1855-07-19
Horses and Rats in Paris.

Horses and Rats in Paris.
A correspondent of the N. Y. Spirit of the
Times gives interesting account Of the man
ner in which the bodies of Partisan horses and
rats are usually disposed Of He says:
Four hundred horses die or are killed in
Paris in one week There is a common
pound, surrounded by stone WALL covering
some ten acres. According to some municipal
regulations There is an ordonnance for
every thing in France) all dead carcasses, ex-
cept human bones, must be brought 10 this
general receptacle. The carcass of horse is
valuable for the bone, the hide, and the hair,
TO say nothing Of the flesh, much priced, when
fresh in certain sausage manufactures But
should yen wait until the horse has actually
shuffied off his hairy coil, you might miss a
bargain-another of the trade precedes and
purchases. Hence it is important 10 buy the
horse, as dead horse, before he is dead. 1t
is regular business in Paris. You can tell
these agents for the purchase of dead horses
at glance the dress is that of an English
groom, save the vignette on the visor of the
cap, representing a dead horses head and
cross-bones memorandum book, a pencil,
stamp, and piece ofcaustic complete his ac=
coutrements. With scrutinizing eye he travels
the thoroughfares OF Paris; should horse go
lame, break leg or neck, should he show
symptoms of distress-in a word, anywhere
or in any way evince signs of the many ills 10
which horsefesh is heir, Immediately is an
offer made for the animal, deliverable when
really dead. The bargain concluded, the
'signalement Of the horse and owner is care
fully recorded, and private mark stamped on
the inside of the fore leg with the caustic:
the horse goes, perhaps rejoicing, on his way
for weeks, perhaps months, only 10 be met
with and identified after death, at the public
graveyard for horses. Now, in cases of fresh
specimens, as mentioned above, the first oper-
alton on dead horse is to take off the skin
then the fesh to get at the bones. The skin
ming portion is easy, and performed with
dexterity and rapidty truly astonishing. NM
| have seen in the enclosure spoken of, at
one time, over one hundred horses skinned, or
being put through that process. The next
point is TO divest The bones OF adhesive and
often putrid flesh. Bones are valued in pro-
portion as they are clear, neat, and free from
other matter. To take off the flesh by hand is
tedious and difficult operation. An ingen-
ious Frenchman solved the difficulty. He no
ticed that rats were very fond of horse flesh
he advised the authorities 10 colonize the dead
horse pound with these animals; the cata-
combs of Paris furnished them by thousands.
1t was done, and nowadays dead horse's
carcass, put in over night, is literally nothing
| but neat and beautiful skeleton in the morn
ing. The pecuniary saving to bone dealers
from the yoracity and gnawing propensities Of
the rat family, is, was told, very considera-
bic.
| 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 necessf-
| 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 cyi-
in6rica holes are bored all around, in and at
the foot Of the enclosing walls-the depth and
diameter being respectively the length and
thickness Of the rats body. Upon the morn
ing of the battue, men armed with kettles.
tin pans. drums, Vc., rush ifi at tho peep of
day and 'charivari the poor rats, frightened.
to death, poke their heads into the 6rst open
ing. OF course, all those in the wall holes
have tails sticking out. The rat collector,
with bag over his left shoulder, now makes
tour of the premises, and the scientific and
rapid manner with which they are seized BY
the tail and safely Ito both rats and operaterl
transferred to the bag, challenges admiration.
1t even surpasses the Coiffonnier's' rag
picking. Perhaps you wish to know what
becomes Of the rats. These, also, are sold
before they are caught or killed. The privi-
lege Of gathering rats on the battue days is
farmed out by the authorities, and profitable
business it is. These rats, sleek and fat as
they necessarily are, fetch highly remuner-
alive price--the fur, the skin, and the hesh'
meet with ready sales.