St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-09-08
Rats.
Az Spring approache-, burs and rotcl.' s.
From their holes come out
And hungry rata, in spitc OF cti7,

ANU IlulFlN litF, III Hit' " '''"'
VIII gaily skip about"
And continue skipping all summer; ; an.
as "A skippist, the rat is our beau ideal.
Everybody, nearly, has seen 1ats,
more especially those who have strug-
glcd with the dclirum trcmcns, and con,
scqucntly know they have Just Il many
Ices rs the years James buchanan was
President of the United States They
locomote cndwisc, head first, with much
swiitncss. They always travel on foot
for short distances, but when they set
out for Il journey, they 90 by cars or
boat. The family Originated in Norway,
AMI they will knaw-way through any
thing except cask of nails. They are
rs much an evidence Of civilization rs
New England rum and there are no
parts of our great country where the
national debt anl Iats are unknown.
Like Ergc fortunes, rats start from
small BEGINNINGS. \ bran new rat re-
Semblcs n peanut shell, covered with
blue mold, and there are generally about
four of him, cpuntn" his brothers and
sisters. When they arrive at years of
discretion, they have a @nawing feeling
come over them to start on their own
hook, and their stock in trade consists
OF Il GOOD appetite and an excellent set
of teeth. They follow the calling of
poacherS, and will steal worse than an
Indian or an otlice-hoIdrr. They dD not
possess much book learning, but for COM
mon sense they beat the most OF Us.
They arc hunted in various ways,
with traps, guns, dos, cats, cmctics and
cathartic-, poison, and friction matches :;
but the majority of them die Of old agr
There are u class OF men who follow the
business of catching rats, and Il brisk,
lively business it i. The father of the
''pretly little -catchcr'~ daughter, "
was one of these fellows. y man that
can dodGr a streak of lightning or bull
let had better turn his attention to this
branch ot trade. Rats are caught for
their skins IN! tails, and it l. said that
thc best hid gloves are made ol rats
rvlts, and the idea looks rational Ii
they were not made To he worked UP in
To kid gloves, 1t would puzzle an old
conundrum maker 10 guc-s what thry
were made for. The tail of the rat l.
also OF importance, both to himself and
the rest OF mankind. When lie untor-
tumatcly finds IL hole which he cannot en-
lar1" with one rnd--Say the neck OF Il
mola>scS Iug-hc rcvcr~cs his cu9inc. and
dips his narrative down into the molasscs.
and then eats the sweetness oft, 10y which
unique and ingenious way he provides
himself with food, and makes both ends
meet. When lie is captured 10y man hi>
taIl i cut oil, (Which l. the end of him)
and Is then tempered 10 a certain dr.ree
of hardness, and becomes what j. 80 well
known ;Is the rat tail file.
As food rats cannot be S:tid Ia be a
successful invention, thnunh the French
have recently eaten them when they rot
together 10 Commune, but the French
viii eat most anythin" now -a-day~, even
Ia their own words.
There are rs many Varieties Of rat
traps rs there are ways Of manufacturing
hash, but the most lucky one that ever
came to our notice was used exclusively
10y lamk"r down East lie was both
cred hy Il great deal of rat. He sue
cecded in failing with all his traps till lac
struck this one. The rats came from
the barn int" a room through Il hole.
Procuring Il couple of razOr> hc placed
them on either side of the hole 81 that u
rat could .lu-t squeeze hetwcen them into
the room. He scattered some food on
the floor, and then scattered himself At
night the rats hr@an coming into the
room, and when hr thought they were
about all in. hc rushed in, and they be
gan Ia retreat through the hole, every one
leavin" Il couple of slabs behind rs he
passed between the razurS The man
said hc didn't know how many rats
went through that hole, but he dill know
hc gathered over 4 buslIrl of slabs lie
-aId that the rats did not trunhlc him
any after that And this iS ahou, the
hclt of what we know about rats