The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1882-11-25
How Rats are D!s sposed OF.

l
"Rats, sir! ratsl, exclaimed we'll
known rat killer on Fulton street, why
/ can tell you more about the pesky lit
tie critters than your paper will pub
| lish.' And then, with a leer on his
sharp-featured and cunning face, the
great anti-rodent spun his yarn.a There
are more rats in the city than mice; and
more mice than people. There is not a
house in the metropolis that is not built
upon foundation of rats; and every
year the foundations become more solid
in point of quantity and of its compo-
| nent parts. No matter how clean you
keep house, mice will come, and after
their raid upon the goodies, in the closets
the rats will reinforce them. / have
been in England. In fact, I am an
Englishman. TIs Esglish rat is only
about half the size Of q healthy and Vi
| vacious American rat, and their mis-
chief is about equal in proportion to the
difference in their size. Tho way in
which rats are killed nowadays is by poi
son. It's cruel, know, but a person
is compelled to obtain satisfaction in
some way upon the wretch that gnaws
up his wifes shoes, and the poison is the
quickest. It is in the form of paste,
and Is made up of about equal parts of
PHOSPHORUS, oil of rhodium and oil of
anise seed. The oils by their odor at
tracts the rats and the phosphorus kills
them"
"In what portion of the city do you
find most rats?'
Harlem, sir. have destroyed more
rats IN Harlem than in any other portion
of the country. The low ground is the
breeding place best suited to them, and
when they once make their way into the
cellar of house that has been built on
made ground it is next to impossible to
get rid of them. Paris green is also used
to destroy rats and mice, but other than
| sometimes destroying the life of some
prominent citizen who may mistake it
for sap-sago cheese it is of very little
use"
''How are the rats caught?"
"Rat- catching in England and in the
| farming regions of this country is pur.
| sued on far different system than in
| this city. There are professional rat
catchers who do nothing else than use
their sweet, seductive ways in the ami
hilation of rats. They make their
rounds in the spring and fall, and in
favorable seasons make sufficient money
| to support them the remainder of the
year. The most infallible weapon of de-
struction they carry with them is wea-
sci. They keep him in chamois bag,
we'll perforated to allow the entrance OF
the air. When they are about to com
mitt the decd of destruction th y care
to be infested by the rats aud unbag the
| a1c, foIy y1x,n h
! their presence felt in colony of vermin
and kill about half the number of rats.
| The remainder, frightened by the near
| approach of their arch enemy, run out
into the room and are dispatched by the
| rat.catcber. & The price received by the
catcher for rats killed in this way is
about two cents each. He keeps the
bodies uf his victims, skins them, and
| sells the skins for mink and ermine fur
| I knew man in New Jersey who had q
| very peculiar way in which he captured
his living. He was in the habit of carry.
1 ing flute with him whenever he went
| on his business. He would go into the
room where the rats were and set his
weazel to work Then he would play
on his flute. The rats that escaped from
the teeth of the weazel would run to.
ward the man, and, apparently charmed
by the sound of the music, would nestle
beside him. Then the cold-hearted fel
low, taking advantage of their innocence
would set upon them and kill them one
by one. / saw this done myself. I know
another man who sang to the rats in the
same manner, and with the same result
OF all the animals affected by music or
rather by rhythmic sound, rats are the
most susceptible I have known rat
catchers to earn $500 in single season
by using their weazel alone, and the mar
I mentioned to you who used the flute
is now retired from business and owns q
house in Chico Co. New York Mail.