Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1881-01-13

fs One Trap.
USctE AARON lhyed uear Hartford
and WAS magteg of fact nian. His
barn aad out-hfases fairly searmeslI
with rats, and UnlS v AARON wax telllngl
q friend frem rfe ,psg ta,yn who was
sfi.si4ifi5 ~ ms pp,ru. H0w nc was trouD-
led by rats and bow he bad seen a
hundred al loast At time. The friend
lAughingly told him q hundred was a
good many rats, aud begged him to
take OF few.
Uncle Aaron replied to the effect that
hc was fixing trap, and II his friend
would wait few DAYS he would con
vince him he was not lying.
IAN right answered his friend; 'ff
you viii catch anywhere near d hun
dred, just let me know"
Uncle Aaron, too, said: "All .iah.., .
adding; I'll let you know"
When his friend started for home the
last thing he said was Be sure and
lot me know how many rats you catch.
A hundred is good many"
The trap Uncle Aaron was at work
on was sort of platform almost as
large as big barn door, and the plan
was 20 weight it with heavy rocks, raise
one end about three feet from the floor,
and have it so rugged that the pull Of q
string would spring il and LET Il fail TO
the floor, making it decidedly uinconI-
Portable for any living thing that might
happen to be under it. After arrang-
ing It 70 his mind he began to bait il.
He threw nieal oil around and under
the trap, and went TO place convent
emily near and watched things He did
not have TO wait long before he counted
at least twenty rats busily Investigating
that meal But they did not go under
the platform. This was kept up for
several days, and after 3 while the
pat ent watcher, who spent an hour or
two every day In seeing them ma
neuver, had tho satisfaction Of seeing
several Of the rats venture under
the trap. Then be knew his plan
would be sneees He could
pun the string ssmost any time,
of day, and catch dozen or twenty.
but he was "laying low' for bigger
haul The upraised platform was no
longer terror to the animals. They
took the bait from under II as readily
ms could be desired, Finally Uncle
Aaron thought the time was ripe to pull
the string. lie had not baited il the
night before, SO the rodents would have
a keen appetite when he sprinkled the
cheese crumbs and meal that morning.
After doing this he took up his position
and waited First one rata sort of
pioneer came gliding out and began
to partake of the feast. Next a pair
ft4tf fhus, Vhns, n
dozen. They came from al directions,
Uncle Aaron was actually trembling
with excitement. lie could hardly
keep his hand from pulling the string.
Buthe waited until the space under the
platform seemed fairly alive with the
creatures; and then-he pulled. Down
went the heavy platform with crash.
A number of the rats were seen scam
pering off; but Uncle Aaron felt conf
dent he had nailed some of EN-. AS
he came up he saw heads and tails pro-
truding, and he thought he would give
them all good square chance TO die
before he raised the trap, He waited
till night, and then he lifted it. He
counted one hundred and TWENTY-FIVE
dead rats. He put them in box aud
expressed them TO his friend, accom-
panied by note which read as follows;
take this method of letting you
know how that barn-door trap worked.
Count 'em and SEQ for yourself I'm
going TO bait the trap again tomorrow.
Would you like to have me let you know
how many catch next timer A hun
dred is good Iaaay, but hundred
and twenty-five rather beats it. "-Hdrt-
ford (Conn.) Times.