The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1874-08-26
WHAT RATS ARE GOOD FOR.
4 NASTE PRODUCT UTILIZED.

Z work recently published in
England, on "Waste Products" and
their utilization contains some curl
o;'s aHd amusing matters. The state
mcntS concerning rats, living and
dead: are especially remarkable
The bones Of defunct animals are
largely in demand everywhere for
buttons, knife handles, and various
other purposes. But, to make these
bones marketable, they must be
cleaned. To boil them or apply
decomposing substances to take
of the adhering flesh Injuries the
bone. To clean them by hand
would add too much to their cost.
There is a pound" in Paris, about
ten acres in extent, surrounded by
a stone wall.
To this receptacle all the carcases
Of dead animals from the city are
brought, and here the problem Of
bone-cleaning is solved. The city
authorities colonized the place with
rats from the catacombs. They do
the work of bone-cleaning artistical-
ly, polishing the bones gratuitious-
y as no human cleaner could do,
without great trouble and expense.
With the rodents it is work of
love, impaired by voracity; and a
carcase, dumped in the inclosure
one day, is found on the morrow "a
neat and polished skeleton" The
bones are all ready to be sawed up
into the frames of ladies' fans. and
to touch beautiful noses, all uncon-
scious Of the odors which the ele-
gantly carved toy exhaled but a
few weeks or days before. ~
But the four-legged operators
grow by what they feed on" sleek
individually but collectively too
numerous to mention" There is
such an increase Of laborers over
the demand, that the rats employed
to keep down waste become "waste'
themselves. They in their turn are
'utilized,' and human ingenuity is
too much for animal sagacity. All
round the inside base Of the wall
Of the enclosure are perforated
cylindrical holes, in diameter the
size of rats body, and in depth
equal to his length. At break Of
day once month "calathumpian
band" armed with drums, tin ket-
ties and whatever else will make a
horrible noise, rushes in among the
rats. ..- If.
Thus "charivaried" into mortal
terror. the poor rats poke their
heads into the first holes they find.
Rat-catchers, each equipped with a
bag over the left shoulder, rush
around and seize the rats by their
protruding tails and whip them into
the bags with wonderful and dexter
Gus celerity. The privilege Of catch
ing the rats is paid for, and the
catchers make good thing out of
the sale Of the fur, the skin and the
flesh. The fur is used, among
other purposes, for hats. The
skins furnish thumbs for kid
gloves. Fur and skin are some
times used together. But-the
flesh? After such a revelation
the customers at a cheap Paris res
taurant might say: In that sa7ory
dish what rats may come, "rnust
give us pause"
Rats, it will be seen, have thus
reached the dignity of articles of
commerce in Europe. In China,
where rat soup is delicacy, this
small game has perhaps for centu-
ries been quoted at 81 a dozen. In
the East Indian province of Scinde~
the commissioners, to abate the rat
nuisance: issued proclamation
giving three pence dozen for rats
tails. The catchers were permitted
to keep the carcase, no small addi-
ton to their prof.s. The emigra-
ton of rats and their multiplication
are among the curiosities of natur-
al history.
In France they are computed to
amount in number, with other ro-
dents, to over two thousand millions,
and their depredations, if estimated
at only one fifth of an American
cent a year to each rat, would
amount to nearly four millions of
dollars annually. The proprietor
Of a slaughter-house near Paris has
trapped and killed over six thous-
and rats in one month. In one
night he destroyed nearly three
thousand. These rat figures are
something appalling. They Ger
tainly far exceed any American expe-
rience, and it is to be earnestly
hoped they always may:
4 Preacher took up collection
on day and found, when his hat