The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-03-26
An Extraordinary Rat Story.

The Council Bluffs Uowa) Globe says /:
a Globe reporter visited the city building
to-day in search of police and religious
news, and while in conversation with his
honor. Recorder Burke. and the chaplain
of the City Council, he was startled by a
loud sounding report, followed bya shak-
ing and trembling of the building, resem-
bling the shock of a miniature earthquake.
Rushing ont of the building to see what
was the cause of this terrible reminder OF
death and the grave, his attention was at
once called to the condition of the south
east corner of the building. from which
he had just emerged. Upon inspection it
was found that the rats and mice had been
to work e~xcavating a hole underneath that
corner of the building. 1t seems that they
had commenced their operations at or
near the east end Of the e~ngine-house,
about fifty feet in the rear of the city
building. The greatest mystery of this
whole affair is the absence of any signs of
the dirt which they took from their tunnel.
And ii was no inconsiderable amount. as
the excavation which they made is large
enough for a man and a wheel-barrow TO
pass through ; that is by the man stoop-
ing a little. While this remains a mys-
terry, il is plain TO be- seen that they have
accomplished the ruin and destruction of
the only remaining monument ofthe city's
pride. The excavation at the corner OF
the building Is about six feet wide, and ex-
tends along unCer the east wall about
fifteen fcet,sthe width diminishing as il
continues northward. The building re-
manned firm and the foundation Sc
cure, until the dirt was removed
from under the lower ill which
supports the heavy partition wall
hat separates the prison cell from the
main office. When this was removed
there was nothing TO support the immense
weight Of that corner OF the building, and
il naturally enough broke loose from the
main part and wa precipitated into the
terrible abyss below prepared by the rats
and mice. Ii was, however. "a severe joke
on the poor rats, as they were largely in
the a~scendancy. Some fifty or a hundred
were seen 10 escape. and how many re-
main buried beneath the ruins of their
own folly. no one has knowledge or in
formation sufficient TO form a belief. But
one thing is evident. it would be impossi-
BILE for them all TO escape unframed, as
the building dropped almost instantly
when IL fell. This occurred about four
O'Clock, and at this writing the Marshal
and police force are nj work removing the
books and city furniture ron the build
ing. Aside from the damage done the
building the loss TO the city is compare
lively nothing. Onc or two tables and
several chairs in the council chamber
above were carried down with the ruins,
and are now more valuable for lighting
Tires than for resting the weary bones of
belabored Councilmen on. The building
originally cost the city $4,000. Whether
the City Council will have the building
repaired or make arrangements for the
building of a new and more substantial
one is not known, but the popular senti-
ment is that the city build new one.
Policeman McFadden just informs us
that the men at work removing the debris
have taken out $50 rats and about 200
mice.