Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1857-04-08
ent. Indeel h0 is So cumming, and works oo.

received as mere fables. Incredible as the sto
ry may appear of their removing hens eggs BY
one fellow lying on his back ard grasping tight
ly his ovid burden with his fore paws, whilst hi
comrades draw him away by the TAIL the wr
ter has no reason to disbelieve it, knowing as ht
does that they will carry eggs from the bottom
to the top of house, lifting them from stair tt
STAIR the first rat pushing them up on its hine
and the second lifting it with its fore legs
| They will extract the cotton from a flask OF
Florence oil, dipping in their long tails, and re-
peating the maneuvre until they have consun-
ed every drop" We have, says the writer,
found Jumps of sugar in deep drawers, at dis
! tance of thirty feet. from the place where the
petty larceny was committed; and friend saw
a rat mount table on which adrnm of tigs was
/ placed and straightway Tip it over, scattering
! the contents on the floor beneath; where score
OF his expectant brethren SAT watching for The
windfall His instinct is 10 less shown in the
selection of suitable food. He attacks the por-
tion of the elephants tuskS that abouDds WITH
animal oil, in prefererence 10 that which con
tains phosphate of lime, and the rat gnawn ivo-
ry is selected by the turner as lifted Tor bIl-
| lard balls and other articles where the Quall-
ties of elasticity and transparency are required.
Thus the tooth print OF this little aullnal serves
as q distinguishing mark of excellence III Il pre-
! cious material devoted to the decorative arts.
The rat does not con6ne himself to inert sub
stances when he is hard pressed for food he
will attack anything weaker than himself
Frogs, Goldsmith says, had been introduced IN
to Ireland some considerable time before the
brown rat, and had multiplied abundantly, but
they were pursued in their marshes by this In
detatgable hunter and eaten clean OFT the En-
erald Isle. He does not scruple to assault DO,
mestic poultry though rat which attempted
to capture the chicken OF game fowl, was Kill
ed by the mother with beak and spur IN the
course of twelve minutes. The hen seized him
by the neck, shook it violently, put out an eye
and plainly showed that the fowl in conflict
would be the more powerful of the two, II he
was only equally daring. The number OF young
ducks which the rats destroyed in the Loologlcai
Gardens, rendered it necessary to surround the
pools with wire rat-fencing, which hallway up
has q pipe of wire-work, the circle OF which is
not complete by severainches in the under part,
and the rat, unable to crawl along the concave
roof which stops his onward path, IS coinPehed
to return discomitted.
The rat can be savage when self-protection
REQUIRES it but he has also softer moments, III
in which he shows confidence almost as strong
as that exhibited by q dog or cat. On TINS
pont the writer in the Quarterly mentions the
case of an old blind rat, on whose head the
SHOWS of many winters had gathered, and who
was in the habit of sitting beside a gentlemen's
kitchen fire. with all the comfortable look of his
enemy. the cat, and such favorite had he be-
come with the servants that he was not allowed
to be disturbed. He unfortunately fell victim
TO the sudden spring of strange cat lie ADDS
that close observation of these animals en-
tirely conquers the antipathy which is enter
tained towards them. Their sharp and hand
some heads, their bright eyes, their Intelligent
look, their sleek skins, are the very reverse OF
repulsive, and there is positive attraction IN the
beautiful manner in which they sit licking their
paws and washing their faces, an occupation IN
which they pass considerable portion OF their
| time.
The writer adds that an article on rats, in an
English Magazine, relates an anecdote OF q tame
rat, which shows that he is capable OF serving
his master as well as Of passing passive exist
ence under his protection. The animal belong
ed to the driver of q London omnibus VINO
caught him as he was removing some nay. ne
was spared because he had the good luck to be
pie.bald. became remarkably tame, and grew
attached TO the children. At night he exhibit.
ed sense Of the enjoyment OF security ana
warmth, by stretching himself out at full
length before the fire. and on cold nights, after
the fire was extinguished, lie would creep into
his masters bed. In the daytime, however, his
owner utilized him. AT the word OF com
mand Some along key" lie would jump in the
am,nIa sreat coat Rocket, from which he was
transfeTred 10 the boot ofthe omnibus. Here
his busioess was TO guard the drivers dinner,
and if any person would attempt to make free
with it. tue rat would fly at them from out OF
the straw. There was one dish alone OF which
ba was an inefficient protector. BE could never
resist plum pudding, and though be kept or all
intruders. he ate his fill OF it himself.
These are by 10 means extraordinary nstan-
COS of the amiable side Of rat nature when kind
Ilv treated by man, and We could I'll! pages
With similar relations But it seems in addition
70 his other merits, that he possesses dramatic
renius. We have heard of military tie;s, we
i bove seen Jacko perform his miserable imitation
ofhumanity on the top of barrel-organ but who
ever heard of rats turn for tragedy Never
theless q Belgian newspaper not long since pub
Used an account OF theatrical performance by
a troop of rats, which gives us higher idea OF
their intellectual nature than anything else
which is recorded of them. This novel conPa.
nv of PLAYERS were dressed in the garb OF men
and women. walked on their hind legs and MINI
licked with ludicrous exactness many OF tfe or
dipary stage effects. On one point only were
they intractable Like the young lady IN the
fable. who turned to cat the moment mouse
appeared, they forgot their parts, their audience
and their manager at the sight OF the Vlands n,
which were introduced in the course OF the
piece, and dropping on all tours, fell to with al
the native vcracity of their race. The perform
ance was concluded by their hanging, in trl,
umph, their enemy, the cat, and dancing round
her body.
To MAKE A PRETTY SPEoTAoLE.-Hand tc
some pretty girl, who has an expressive counte
nance and who knows enough to appreciate
good Joke, newspaper or book containing one
In order to make the effect as perfect as possible
the witty paragraph should be of moderate
length, requiring couple of minutes or such
matter for its perusal, aud should excite no sus'
picions of its risible character till it explodes N
fun at the close. Direct the attention OF your
female subject to the mirthful article and stea
glances at her as she reads it. The transition
from the quiet gravity of her face, as she goes
over the more prosy part of the composition, te
the sudden flash of mirth as she reaches the
point makes one of the prettest spectacles in ma
ture-much prettier than the fat woman, the
I :,nol,a +ba two beodad Golf tho LIVING skele