The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1868-04-24

hearth; they mar the serenity of the
household, and ruiile the current of the
daily life of Mrs. O'Lanus.
Rats may have their uses, in China
for instance, where they serve them
up for game and devour them with
relish
Remembering this, | have been
tempted to invite the solitary China
man who sells pineapple rock candy on
Fulton street, to come up to my house
and board free of charge as long as
there was rat in the pantry.
l would be willing TO supply him
with salt and crackers to complete the
banquet.
The case is getting rather desperate;
these rats are doing an amount of dam
| age, heartrending to contemplate. They
eat any thing that comes handy; if or
dinary articles of diet are not within
reach they have no objection to soap,
towels, boot tops or flatirons.
They have eat upa set of napkins,
and ruined all Of Mrs. O'Lanus' table
cloths.
Perhaps you want to know why |
don't try to get rid Of them?
! That's precisely what am doing.
got dog and cat, both warranted
TO be rat-catcher-. The cat has basely
deserted; the dog has stood by me
faithfully.
He carried on Il vigorous campaign
| against the rats in the cellar and in the
| yard, and routed them with loss. The
survivors took refuge in the house, ef-
tccted lodgment under the floor or in
the walls, and from these secure re-
treats they smile sardonic defiance at
their bafiled canine foe.
| tried "pizcn," the regular rat cxtcr-
minator. They appeared to like it and
it seems to improve their appetites.
Mrs. O'Lanus read in the papers a way
to kill rats which was then tried.
1t was to fry pieces of sponges in fat
and lay them round loose. The rat eats
the sponge, takes drink, sponge alb.
serbs and swells; rat swells, as long as
there is any stretch in him, final result
explosion of rat.
1t is sure thing, but it is too
dangerous. We tried il.
/ Mrs. O'LanuS laid out IA dish OF fried
sponge every evening. One old rat
took quite fancy to it. He grew visi-
bly, day by day. All the holes had TO be
enlarged to let him through. lie was
as elastic rs ind4arubber, and sweled
like an alderman. lie was the iattest
rat you ever saw. We kept him on
sponge diet for three weeks and had be-
gun to think ii was failure, when one
evening, after the children had gone to
bed and Mrs. O'Lnnus was sitting quiet
ly by the stove putting new seat in
Thcmistocles' pantalOons-and | was
reading an interesting work on the
moral condition and spiritual benighted
ness of the population of Terra del
Fucgo-we were startled by Il terrific
report. The house was shaken, accom-
panied by Il grand crash Of crockery and
the sound Of falling plaster.
In the suddencss OF the emcrgen-
cy Mrs. O'Lanus couldn't make up her
mind whether to faint away or rush
out into tho street and call for the po-
lice.
As soon as she had sufficiently rccov-
cred from the shock we went into the
kitchen to prospect and take stock OF
the damage.
The closet wall had been blown in
and II shelf demolished, wi tn fearful de-
suuction Of crockery.
That rat he'd gone of. The sponge
had wiped him out, and he would
sponge on Us no longer.
But when came 10 calculate on the
cost, | found that sponging out rats
would't pay.
Beside the damage, there was danger
Estimating by its effects the explosive
power of one rat charged with sponge,
six rats going off all at once would blow
Il small house up.
So | threw up the sponge.
Then l bought n trap; one OF thost
, terrible machines that shut up with q
spring and take rats head Off, if he
don't get out Of the way.
The only thing caught was two ol
Ihemistocles' fingers. He wanted tC
see how it caught the rat. After that
he left the trap alone without being
told.
/, That boy has quite rctentive memo
ry.
But the rats--thcy didn't care a snaI
for the trap.
They saw throsgh it at once. They
stole the bait from the very jaws of de
struction.
-, Then tied the bait fast, and wha
did they do but carry Off trap and all.
i am worse off than Noah. | haven >
!, been able to light on ary-rat.
i speaking of Noah, wonder that h
u took II couple of rats into the Ark. IL,
Q might, | think, have exercised som,
discretion in the selection of geological
specimens for his menagerie, and omit
ted rats.
l don't think that the qualification q
Chinaman and black and tan terriers /
sufficient justification for the preserva
tion of rats.
When l saw Mrs. O'Lanus last even
ing with tears in her eyes, contemplat
b., ing the wreck of Il damask table-clotl
-, | was moved.
|