Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1875-12-09

sys theTn,y ALL Tines: We,

pencd to NEE, in;;thi>-- city. last even.
Dick TOn"r, the fan ons New York rro
fssional ra'-ca'c''er. formerly pror ietor
Of II rat pit "n Water street, kn"v - the
Rand Box" which wss long, sinc, closed
by Bcrgl.. Mr. Tonor oris.sccompauied is by
John Cassidy, his assistant. Both are
young men. The former has been in tho
business twelve years, and i,.e:ls,ter seven
years They are en"f god physique,
quick. sharp. and up n their tus;ness.s-
Dick ronor " IS torn4rly !. bu.c s.er-boy
and twelve Years ago saw the moi. d Jack
.)enning~.an English ratter, while at work
discovered tllr modus Operandi. aud has
since followed the strange calling tor Z
livelihood Both himself and his assist
ant are courteous and gen,l. l.manly, i'm
parted all Inc infOrinati We sought
, They are to fill engagements in Troy
shortly.
The, are at present at the Delavan
House. Albany, and proceed to work some.
thing in this .n,a,n.r: With noistless
S''"SS wv" ~ACAi ASCt. III dN"'ue Os:NCA
a night. they enter the kitchen or bakery
Toner with 4 long pal, OF pince,s aud
dark liant r. in his hands, and Cassidy
with wire Cage. advancing 10 the cen.
ter Of the r' NJ, noisele>sly The door "
shut and b It'll stand for q moment while
the rats scnmper about. Dick cl,rrups
III in'mi:a,i:'n Of a rat, and the rvd.nts
gather about him. Suddenly he jerks the
slide from in front Of the lanterns bulls.
eye, and i's glare tails in circle upon
the r" m. The RI ) which may be within
the rcfulgen, c.rcumf.renc. stand a ton.
; isLed at the blaze, then with rush run
ab"ut within the light, apparcn,l, fearing
I" cr''s. Int" darkness, ac,ing as If It ". re
II solid wall aga. nst which they dare not
venture Dick then skilIfully begins his
Work. arasl'ing his l'incilers hc makes =
dip. grabs rn' by the back, the head the
tail, lie l:g,-any ywlirre-lltts it an DIR %
it quickly in;" the cage, conveniently
held open oy Ca,sid,. One af er aao her
is s'ezrd until all are di>posed of: @ lick.
~ retiring. the two ,nen then cl.,se the
door and pass into Some other apartment,
! repeaing their " 'rk, and making sec.
"nd '":lnd ii they have tim T.,is is the
mc'hod in hotels, Slaughter houses and
Other p aces where ,a,s are plenty. In
private houses ii is the Custom for Dick
to sprinkle about the ki chen Il ,or a liu-
uid tU attract III rats. Tnen lale at night
he enters and begins the onslaught. The
largest catch ever m ID. in one uirht was
$50. which he capi ured eight ,esrs ago.
in The 4 tor House. New Y,rk. This il
the Iarg' 81 outside Of the countless NUN.
bcr> always picked up in slaughter
AouSes.
When Dick entered the business he
caug the an, mails with his hand, and
was quite often bitten, once g., severely
that he feared H. woaid loss hi, arm AT.
terward t"c p'nchers suggested them.
selves, and he has since used them with.
out danger HI says the rats living in
yrncrles are 1T nsoaous, but tnrso
that feed ON refuse ilflict painful and &C.
ri"us wi,unls.
Dick rha'ges IS each per night for
himself and assistant, Will, their board, ut
hotels, W SIS per hu,.dred rats in private
residences or ".hrr places. The rodents
when B.rgI''s agents can be avoided, sell
FIR $40 her hundred for rat balts-,hat is, j.,
for usr IN pits, w!!'re dogs are matched to
xii! Il certain number within a certain
lime
There are but seve:, professional rat
ca;chers in III. ctu:1r, in Ctica: O.,
tw" i'll Philad.l l'hil, one in San Francis
ca, one IN B ,llm re, one in DE- roit, and
Dick himsrlf in New York. The busi.
ness is safe Il, d profitable. and humorous
], remarked hat, but tor Bergh.s inter.
ference with the sale OF the rodents, he
would rather be a rat-ca'cl1er than the
proprietor "f he D..lavan or National
parks. He travels from place to place,
sln"s his concentrations, and readily
"s' aims employment on these alone, with
out o'llcr advertising, except What ii stray
reporter in search of information may
pick up-som' thing a> We have done
and t. w;'ic, D.ck and his a assistant are
entirely Ntlc. me.