Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1859-05-28
Fi0m The North American.
RAT CATCHING IN PHILADELPHIA.

That zone halt OF the world doesn't know how
the other half lives" is an old saying, of whose
truth we were never more convinced than on yes
terday. While exploring among the improvements
of West Philadelphia we encountered an odd look
ing genius, with a cage upon his back, containing
a dozen or two of ~plethoric and full-growu rats
They were the fruits of a nigh;'s labor at the sta
bles of the West Philadelphia Railroad Company.
The rat catcher informed us that he is the propri-
etor of a pit, in which regular exhibitions Of rat
fighting are given three times a week. The aver
age consumption of rats in this pit is one hundred
and fifty perweek. The catcher knows all the spots
in the city-where rats are most abundant, and there
are his traps regularly set on every night in the
year. His best results are obtained at the breweries,
the livery stables, and around the old and d~ilapidat-
ed quarters of the city. lie boards every foreign
ship Immediately on her arrival and duringth the first
night generally captures every rat that finds a har-
Dor among its timbers. Sometimes as many as a
hundred are caught on O single night from one ves-
sci. The visit of the rat catcher on board a new
ly arrived ship is generally met with q
hearty welcome the sailors, If they remain
on board, entering into the sport with all
the gusto Of SO many school boys on a chipmunk
hunt.
The mode of catching the rats is by means of a
patent trap of large size and most ingenious con,
s~truction. 1t was invented by q convict In the
Ohio Penitentiary. 1t is m oblong box open at
both ends and baited with roasted cheese, srrin-
kled with oil of ~carroway. Mr.. Rat smells the de-
licious bait and walks in. AS he does so, he treads
upon a sliding trap, this let's him down into a graf
ed apartment and then resumes its former position
to accommodate the next customer. A trap OF
this kind is made at each end of the box. One rat
having entered, the box is soon filed, and when
the exulting rat catcher visits his trap, he is al
most certain Of having a satisfactory spoil. When
the stock on hand becomes large, our rat catcher
deposits the suplus in a receptacle, ready for use
when wanted. Some times be had on hand a
thousand OF a time. They are fed meanwhile upon
dead pigs, or Whatever ofal of the sort may be
procurable and the speed with which they viii
convert such a carcass into a polished skeleton
, should be seen to fully be understood. Frequently
q an order is received from New York for a supply
, of "good lively rats" regardless of price, and il
A such case the rat catcher often finds it more profit
able to forego the engagements of his own pit, ant
forward his game elsewhere. Our informant as
;, sures us that he received $50 a week or two az,
for an equal number of rats, and that the purchas
er never expended money with less reluctance thai
, in perfecting the bargain. What renders the mat
ter more noteworthy is that the entire fifty rats re
fcrred to we're taken on a single night, in a culver
in the vicinity of Walnut street wharf.
Our rat catching genius informed US that he haC
=, secured four assistants and was about to devot
4 his whole attention for come days to the marke
Iboyols no eoop q @ thau ara rappnyad liz hoe
number of Scotch terriers trained to capture rat
without breaking their bones, and with the aid o
these and his traps his anticipation is that he vii
secure a large lot of his peculiar game when tn
pavement of the hovel is torn up. The ra: catch
:, er's apparatus is now ut a tavern in the vicinit
Of the new Western Market house. By readin
the papers the rat catcher has learned that tn
= shanties in that vicinity will be removed on Friday
. or whereabouts, and is ready TO annihilate th
muscine species who have burrewed there from
time immemorial. Mr.. Catcher says that, in thi
vicinity, unless he bags two thousand rats he shall
be greatly disappointed. 1t is altogether likel,
i that bis expectations are not at oil extravagent, a
a the ground beneath novels is fairly riddled will
rat holes, and the family has enjoyed entire immu
0 nifty from capture ever since the shanties we're frs
' erected.
' In Paris, if we read correctly, rat skins are cen
verted into "kid" gloves. If this be the case VIII.
could not the business of rat catching be rendered
profitable for other purposes than that Of maxim,
matches for dogs to kiln Our rat catching genius
whom we yesterday encountered. informs US tina
he is the owner of two good brick houses, a build
ing that he rents out for a feed store at $3.50, an,
has besides about "a, 600 invested in stocks. nc,
: all accumulated by the business of catching rats
=, This business has been followed from childhood
having been taught its mysteries by his fathe
who was a Scotch rat catcher. We took the pain
to verify his statement, believing it at first to [
apocryphal, but found it strictly true. u
After this, we shall never again doubt that on,
half the world lives in blissful ignorance as 70 Ii
mode Of existence pursued by the other half.