The Dawson journal., 1883-11-15


He states that among all the people
st. Jacobs Oil is the most popular
medicine ever introduced.
MIR. ISAACSEN' MONGOOSES.
New York Sun
Il have just received the only mon
gooses that ever came to America,
and would't sell them for a thou
sand dollars apiece" said Mr.. Isaac
sen, yesterday, as he led the way to
pen about four feet square in
which two little animals were moving
about bliskly Mr.. Isaacsen is a de
stroyer of vermin by profession, and
an enthusiast by nature.
Look at them," he exclaimed, as
he tossed a bit Of meat into the pen.
They are the inveterate enemy Of
the rat. fhey kill foxes and beasts
of all sorts, and eat snakes. They
attack all ANIMALS in the same way.
They spring upon their prey and eat
into the back of the neck, and then
mp the head, and go on until the an
imal is nearly consumed. Nothing
can shake them off They eat rats
entirely up in marvellously short
order. Everything IS eaten bones,
flesh, hair and all. A rat will fly
from a mongoose with the widest
terror, but it is useless. The mou-
goose always catches it,
The piece of meat that Mr.. Isaac
sen had thrown into the pen was
seized by one of the mongooses. The
animal was a tride larger than a rat,
and was covered with brown hair
about half inch long. Six or seven
strips of white hair rap around its
body, and its face was black. It's
little eyes twingled brightly. The
mongoose when it seized the meat
was extraordinary. 1t has four claws
on each foot that looks like curved
shingle nails. 1t sank its claws into
the meat, and, with IL vicious tug,
rent the close fbres apart. Asit did
SO it dived in between its paws with
its sharp nose and, with a rapid mo-
ton of the jaws, ate hole into the
meat until half its head was embed
ded. Then it abruptly withdrew its
head, thrust its claws into the hole
it had made, and tore the beef again.
Again it began to eat, and in mo-
ment more it had torn the meat
i'll two pieces. The female mongoose
came forward and began to eat one.
"Are you sure these are the only
specimens of mongooses, in Ameri
ca?"
"Mongooses, my dear sir. Yes, l
am positive. [ sent for them myself
to Calcutta nearly ayear ago. They
arrived in the ship Marietta few
days ago The Captain didn't feed
them a crumb on board. They lived
during the whole trip on the rats
they caught. The mongooes were
very successful when they were in
troduced into the island Of Jamaca.
The island was so overrun with rats
that people gave up cultivating the
soil. Extensive farms were neglect
ed. Every attempt to conquer them
failed. They were running the fnan-
cial prospects of the island. The
first attempt to introduce animals
destructive to rats faileo. The raf-
fle ant killed rats, but it also killed
birds, chickens and calves. The
aqua toads were quite as great an evil
as the rats, as they killed birds and
chickens and destroyed eggs. Fer
rets were destroyed by the native
ehigooes. Fox terriers were cut by
the sharpedges of the leaves of the
sugar cane. Then mongooses were
introduced, and in a short time the
rats were exterminated. The mongoos
breeds rapidly,and they soon spread
over the island"
"What will you do with this pair
of mongooses 2"
l shall breed and use them in nv
business. One mongoose will eat all
the rats in the biggest house in
town.
Heart affections, kidney and liver