The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1877-05-31
Ass Extraordinary Bat Haunt.

The Sacramento (Cal.) Union says:
The large double building on the north |
side of III Street, between Third and
Fourth, owned by E. Torrey, and occu-
pied as boarding house, has of late ap-
peared to be the headquarters of vast |
number of bats, which managed to get
in between the ceiling and roof through |
small apertures along side the water
spout. The vampires became a great |
nuisance, and Mr.. Torrey concluded to
make an effort to get rid of them. With |
this end in view he procured fve-gal-
Ion coal-oil can and arranged it some
thing like rat-trap, so that the bats
might enter it readily, but could not get
out. A number of small holes were also
punched in the can to admit light. The
trap was placed in such position as to
completely cover the opening through
which the animals passed in and out of
the building. The result was that
short time after dark it was filled with
the little pests, who made great scratch
ing and squealing. The remainder of the
bats, finding their usual place of exit
stopped up, locked about for another,
and discovered small hole in the
plastering of the ceiling. Through this
they made their way in great numbers,
and found themselves prisoners in the
sleeping apartment of two young wo-
men. The latter, aroused from their
slumbers by mysterious noise, and feel
ing their faces famed by invisible wings,
became alarmed and sprang from the
bed, but their feet came down upon
mass of squirming. scratching and biting
something's, while other something's
struck them in the face and on the head
and body, chattering viciously, and hay-
ing disagreeably cold and damp feeling.
1t was not Il pleasant situation by any
means, and the girls opened the door and
hastened into the hall, calling for as
sistance, and closely followed by their
tormentors. Other occupants of the
house, alarmed at the noise, opened their
doors to see what the trouble was, but
were glad to close them again to keep out
tc go down stairs, but every step was a
bat-roost, and they had to get out upon
the balconies. After much hard work,
which lasted nearly until daylight, the
animals were driven or swept from
the upper story down into the basement,
where they gathered into heap, so far
as possible, and were killed by the eappli-
cation of boiling water. Those thus killed
numbered, by actual count, seven hun
dred and sixty, and the girls subse-
quently killed four more III ..neir ROOM
The trap was placed in washtub filed
with water. and its occupants drowned.
There being considerable curiosity to
ascertain the number of bats fve-gal-
Ion measure could hold, they were
counted, and amounted to two hundred
and twenty-eight. The slain, all told,
filled four buckets. The opening in the
ceiling in the girls apartment was plas-
tered up, and the trap was again set
On that evening it was well filled,
judging from the noise, and it was esti-
mated that there was right smart
chance of bats about the house still.
Mt0ratioss not Confined to Birds.
Birds are not the only animals which
migrate. The journeys of the salmon
are as regular and remarkable as those OF
birds. The salmon lays its eggs in small,
shallow streams Of fresh water, often a
thousand miles from the ocean. These
eggs are left to hatch by themselves
yet, when the little fish reach the proper
age, they abandon the small streams
where they were born, and begin theil
long trips to the ocean.
When they reach the salt water they
find abundance of food, and grow very
rapidly. They remain in the ocean un
til the time comes for them to lay thei
eggs. Then in some wonderful way, they
find the mouth of the river by which
they reached the ocean, and travel up it
through lakes and over rapids, falls an,
mill-dams, sometimes leaping owe
distractions which are more than tel
feet high.
Having reached the shallow stream
where they We're born, they lay thei
eggs, and then return to the sea, but g
thin and haggard that the fishermen a
the mouths of the salmon rivers ca
them by different name, and it is har
to believe that they are of the sam
species with those which are caugh
while ascending the rivers. Once in th
ocean, again, they quickly recover thei
lost strength.
The great migrations of insects are S
well known that we need say little abor
1 them. We all remember the army
> locusts told about in the Bible. With
r a few years we have learned that OF
9 country is not free from danger of tt
{ same kind, for in the Western Stat
swarms of grasshoppers may come befol
o the wind, and sweep over the countr
changing green fields into brown deser
II and leaving no green thing behind ther
These insect migrations, like those of tt
I, wild pigeons, do not occur at any parti
ular season, and are caused by lack
l. food.
II 1t is not generally known that O,
II gray squirrels sometimes assemble
y great troops and migrate to a bett
country. This does not occur very ofte
but occasionally, when the squirrels a
s. very abundant in a region where foe
n is scarce, they band together and mo-
3 straightforward, through forest al
D. fields, until they find place where fo,
D. is abundant. These, and the jou- me
A. of many other animals, show that t
n tendency to migrate is not confined
q birds.
,t A GAY young wide ~ of Baltimore t
,e other day gave OFT that her sister "
a dead and' accordingly, the house "
It darkened a Id no one presumed to intru