, 1866-12-02
RATS.


Enrb to welcome her future Queen.
RATS.
noi~ and their Tnlue-Scencn In a Nnt
F1t-1stshIccn Rats Killed In Two
m1uuttA-Iknrs and Observation-Disclosures.
a1dc Lie Of fKfnt-carchc5s.
From the New York wor!t. November 23.l
Rats nrc pretty 'I1a1' VII known ao,m,,s
Therefore there Is no need to describe them.
They are an object Of detestation to ali. How
mnny nervous young Indies has the sight of
raj cause.-the scream md hnl not Hamlet
thought he heard a rat behind the arras. as
ne d!scouTsed with Ills mother, po.onius
rats are things nnhcard Of, though domestI-
Gated mice urc quite common. IN fact. they
are hated with universal hate; and when
novelist Tor weekly paper desires to make
hit. ne has hut to locate his hero In sew
eI, have him battling with myriad of those
animals. and then write ITO be continued"
Everyone will buy the ensuing nun
bers- Low many prisoners, too, hare been
lett In dungeons, md iinaily been eaten
np y rails: In fact, every one wishes to cx-
most salcabic and least cthcscious Of dru:s.
Aud yet this very auImal Is useful one. ami
capable of eclng turned to great service, II
is q noted fact that the best ..Par;s kid''
gloves nrc made Of rat-skins. Thousands of
these animals arc skinned ANNUALLY to sun.
ply the material for ladIcs' s'kiJe" imw,rt,el
nero as 1rst-class and genuine artielc,
Where would VIC be but for ralss
RAT CATCHING IN NEW YORK.
from statistical sources VIC learn that
therc are from forty 10 fifty recognized rat
catclcIs in our metropolis. The CITY ia
rarcclicd off into so many districts, aud to
eacla is allotted one, two, or three tncp, ar-
cosdilir to Its im.orlancetin .trat', po!t,t Of
view. This calculation Is possibly arrived at
" rnt-ioclnation IA Eoak). OF the various
dlstficts, lhe one considered of the most iiu.
poEtancc is tlat comprised III the Fourth
and portion Of the Seventh Wards. 1
large number Of stables aud grain stores in
the neighhorllooa allusd the rats conturt-
able quarters, and here they cxercis. the
most extraordinary fccundi'y. This portion
Jack Jennings, brother 10 Harry, who for
nlcrly kent wcllor1rrcd rut-rst iu White
Etrcet. lie Is tho ratcatchcr par erceHenee,
The cham pson If lis profession. The cap
tnrc Of ftolu l00 to 150 VI these aniuiles is
considered by lin fair nights work, AMI
hc hns oftc1, cat,ght and ba-scd as many as
20. It Is not, however, to be supposed that
ali tho followers Of this trade make out 20
well. By no 1ntans. In some neigl5or-
hoods Tass arc much sc2rccr, much more
expert. These all influence the hanl, aud
twenty-five Ier night may be set down as
the average capture.
now 1uE GAME Is RAGGED
Rat hunting differs frou, tic pursuit OF
other game materially. While sportsman
brace Of partridge, or a dozen harcs, or two
dozen rabbits, the rat hunter would lpok
upon his killing one hundred rats as a rcry
buugliay job. Hc must catch them alive,
In this Is constituted the great scerct of tho
profession, and tile great difficulty of it like
at cfn ,S~1.t
aforesaid Jack Jennings. liz comes out fully
accoutrcd and we'll provided with all the
necessary sporting paTuphcrna1ia. I.primis
two largo ean1ss baSr, strong trap Of iron
wire, mud large bottle Of subtle
COMPOUND, a"S 15,rz said TO ,, have a., certain
lie has q crowhar, i jack-knifc, aud q
dark lantern. S,artin. uawu CATHERINE
street We reach The river and proceed along
Front street. After following this street for
some time We strife OIL into All nll-y. aud
Jack tells us to keep quiet and look out for
The ''ccps." meaning, tic Il. rs. Hc reaches
the sta{.lc door, and oblaininr admission,
proceeds cautiously along the wall Thcn
turning the light oi The lantern on surround.
Ing o',jccts, he disvloscs several uf ,hc Oh
jects OF lis search Quietly lcAsttns OF some
choice I,rnvcnlcr. Now comes TIC time Tor
action. Flacing tlie trap on the ground and
In tlic vicinity Of tic game, tc waits for the
result, and presently We hear slight click,
euhWlHI ahut s+iIns ~ ene un5uspectIuE nave
hecn cnsnarcd. Vut lie has not been idle.
Having poured some Of the liquid con-
taincd in the bottle aforementioned
uron his hands, he gets down
LIS fhll length on the ground. and
crnwls towards the rats. SeiZinS one attcr
the other. he drops eAcn quietly into the
bac, otlcrN ise gives them lhe saek.'' Tht
compound on Ills hands, known us the oil ol
Rhodiuul, rrcvthts the ruts from biting them
It Is no unusual thing for the rat tehcr te
plunge hand and armf4nto the rat hole ant
seize thu unfortunate sthtmals, un1nip.lfll ol
their fran1ic ttIu,ts 10 escape. This he con
ttulIcs rntil all have been captured save thost
who huvc shown their discretion by runnin.
away, and Jack, throwing his now PARTIAL,
filled bag over akis shoulder, proceeds Il
some o,llcr field, pr, rather, stable, where t.
ply his p,pfrtsionsa From place to ,lacc b.
goes, will More or less success, returning b,
daybrcak, generally laden with the profit
-of his lnbuts, III the sAapc Of u iiue haul u
rats.
WHAT RATS ARE WORTH.
Rats before the war were considered dcal
ct 1rc cents, but With all oti!cr conl1nudi
tics they lavc risen in price, and cannot nos
l,r purchased under fifteen cents apiece, uni
no reduction In buying hy the dozen. tn
rat market Is tirsl, Of course, with the rat
Tit, and as sporting chaructcss arc notabl
lar from being illihcral, when tho Erlti1ca
tion of their tastes Is considered, the rat
catchcts cncroach, and thus Is the enoFulou
charge of fifteen cents accounted fur. II
supposed that the fall In thc price Of gol
may In some way influence the rat 1aa'
ket, bu! 50 lorE as there Is d n,onorol
such co1,sumsnation, however dcvoutl
10 be wished for, can scarcely be u
pcctel- Indeed, In some cases even htghc
prices arc given, that Is, when game
ecarce, Or the sportsman l'as ~ met with son !.
stance, should Jennings get drunk, and It
| alleged he occasionally docs, the market
) thu Fourth Ward is unrrovided for, and II
nnble sport must bo forc.,onc, a., accprdtr
!. TO the rules Of the fraternity, mo person
I. illuc Arnt for or dispose Of .,anc In Al
{ other district or districts sayc iu that
: those to which lie OF they have been allo
. ted by the association"
. TIE naT-cATcuEns At HOME.
:. It must not be supposed TINT man
G necessarily o.. low or dcp.aved diSposili.
It who follows this busiruss- Far iron
. Aany Of them arc Of quiet disposition 4,
= ahstetnlous habits, mud sollc almost gent
il manly In department. Some whum ,
D. days, aud when We a1vcrtcd to ths
e esids @ to i,ide iicir ene,ion NJ Many of ia .Se.
= too, have families, strnng, healthy chltdrs
D. tonsshing. but when one finds romance mix
ly up With the history Of rat-catcher, II Is,
10 say the least, pcculi1r. Under this he
n. 1. may be placed the story told 80 pathctical1y
ID the offspring OF certain member Of the p
or fession. 4 rat-catchcr's daughter is said
m have LIVED III the neiEhbofhood ol London,
Ln Westminster, or rather. not quite there. b
IS. nt the "t'other side of the vAter.' Her O
r. and lcr fathers calling is thus sualntfy L
i, by the Eiitca lyric writer:
he "Nsr ta.hc- cau:ht ra.., and she sold epsats
Il AL torno and abort that quarter"
1d Ari fhr rnSncrf IN r-1fc1, e1A 1,ofi
lis proven by the isct that
he "Thc gentle folks all took oT their hats
I'd TO 1tc pretty little rat-eatchcr's dauyhter.s y
nf- After describing her atttactiuns, Wh
IN muet have been considerable, NC gather fl
IN the fact that her hand WIS sought both
rs high and low for many mile around I
OF nriclbushood IN which she lived. She spu
u ed Ill her rich sultors, aud fell in love wit
Of poor but honest render Of ''lily.vite SAN
Ter Ii Tae ono If those cases where the love '
lrc mutual, but, Us Is often the case, stthe cou
ID of true love seldom runs smooth n
III had decided to be married on the ensu
Easter Sunday; but alas! she went sho1
or afler 10 buy some sprats, fell into the vi,
he and was drowned. The effect Of the news
en- her intended is thus graphically told:
W, ~tEen lily-sitc >aud he teard the news,
ne Ills eyes ran down with watez;
lth EAid he in lore LII constant prove,
ter And blow mo It I'll live lore arter.'
he So be cut bis throat with pape Of glass,
INT And stabbed hia donecy aItets
he So here cud OF li!yTitc sand,
nd donkey. md the Eat-catchcr'H daughter" I"
nc, RAT-K1LLlSG IN NEW yoRE.
.ly At present there arc several rood
up lotl IN this city and in Brooklyn; bnt
he to be regretted that there is no nit u
Lbe exclusively for rat.ki1ling, most Of tt
~. serving the purpose for cock aud dog fg
sts ns well. The, amusement ia as popular
tre ever here. and many who would not be
-. ae14 ~ etthrr dor f5r{t or A r}s1rr III