The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1875-01-29


down beside an egg, folded his body
round it lengthwise, and took his tail be-
tween his teeth to get firmer hold other
rats approached, seized him by the neck,
and dragged him and the egg of together
in triumph-on what principle the booty
was divided, does not appear. Mr.. Jesse
narrates an incident, in which rat helped
himself to savory Florence oil in an in
genious way the animal gnawed off the
covering of the flask, inserted his tail,
and licked off the unctuous treasure which
adhered to it. A drum of figs being
within sight of a family of rats, papa-rat
got upon the table, upset the drum, and
scattered the figs on the floor, where the
others could easily get ut them. Some
of us are old enough to remember when
an atmospheric or pneumatic railway was
constructed mt Corydon the engineers
had so many difficulties to contend
against, that the enterprise was ultimately
abandoned but one of the most provok-
ing was that rats cunningly came at night
and ate the grease with which the valve
along the top of the tube was made air
tight each new application of grease
served them for supper. Mr. jesse, on
the authority of medical friend, gives n
vivid description of desperate fight be-
tween n rat and ferret, in vault or Gel
lar which was only lighted with window
on one side the rat kept his powerful
enemy at bay for nearly two hours,
by sagaciously securing to himself
what prize-fghters call the advantage
of the sun - that is keeping himself al
most in darkness under the window,
and compelling the ferret to take a posi-
ton where the light would enter his eyes
and embarrass him. One rat was little
too clever on one occasion. A publican,
going into his cellar, saw a large rat put
his foot into the shelly house of an oys-
ter who temptingly opened his mouth /;
the oyster suddenly closed his shell, took
the rat prisoner, and both were carried
alive into the kitchen. Considering what
the Happy Family men manage to
achieve, we do not know that we are JUS
titled in disbelieving story of theatre
cal company of rats, exhibited i'll Bel
GUM few years ago dressed like men
and women, and walking on their hind
legs, they mimicked many ordinary stage
effects concluding their performance
with hanging cat and dancing around
! it
his due, however sable his complexion,
|. we must say word concerning the oc-
casional kindness and domesticity of these
rodent creatures. A Sussex clergyman,
} one summer evening, saw a number of
rats migrating across meadow IL blind
J old rat was guided along by a compan-
ion, the two holding the two ends of a
! stick between their teeth. Mr.. Pinder,
n navy surgeon, was lying awake one
evening in his berth, on board the Lam
caster, and, keeping quiet, was enabled
to observe curious scene. A rat en-
tered the cabin, looked cautiously around,
and retired he came again, Juggling
along blind rat tenderly by the ear f;
and third rat following them, picked
mp bits of biscuit to place before the poor
blind fellow. A London omnibus man
caught rat while removing some hay
Instead of killing it he took it home, and
SO tanned it as to make it familiar COM
panion to his children. In the evening
the rat would stretch itself out ut full
length on rug before the fire and he
would creep into some warm snuggery
on n cold night. In the morning, when
the man would say, "Come along, key"
the rat would jump into his greatcoat
pocket, from whence he was transferred
to the boot of the bus. Ratty guarded
his masters dinner, and rushed somewhat
furiously against any one who tempered
with it. He was proof against all tempta-
tons save one--lt was not safe to set him
to guard over plum pudding. An old
blind rat took refuge by the kitchen fire
in the house of a physician, and became n
favorite, until n strange cat unfortunately
one day made his appearance, and put an
: end to the harmony. NJ. De la Tude, in
his sad narrative of thirty-five years I'M
prisonment in the Bastile, describes how
he gradually formed an acquaintance
with ten rats in his dungeon he gave
them distinct names, which they recogn-
lied, and he got up various kinds of
simple gambols OF sports, in which they
took part
OF what use is the rat to man! Well,
not very much that we know of vet "a
few items may be mentioned. Probably
we must not attach much importance to
the alleged prophetic powers of the rat
that If he gnaws n persons clothes, that
person will speedily die that if he sud
denly quits a house, the house will very
shortly be burned down that if he de-
sertS snip, the snip Is III sinking state.
A mill at PEBBLES was suddenly deserted
by whole colony of rats about twenty
years ago two hours afterward the mill
burned down. But it must be confessed
that the logic is very weak, which proves,
from these facts, the possession of any
prophetic power by Mr.. Rat. James, in
his Military Dictionary, says, Rats are
sometimes used i'll military operations,
particularly in enterprises for the purpose
of setting fire to gunpowder On these
occasions lighted match is tied to the
tail of the animal. Marshal Vauban com
mends, therefore, that the walls of powder
magazines should be made very thick,
and the passages for light and air 50 mar
row M not to admit rats" We do not
know whether cruel sport can be called
useful employment of rats but an ac-
count is given of a strange proceeding at
Rome. A large number of rats were
dipped in spirits of turpentine, set on
fire, and then made to rush down an open
flight of steps near the Vatican /; they
reached the bottom as masses of charred
flesh, amid the shouts of the populace.