The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1883-07-31
A RAT OHARMER.
The Way an Expert Entioes the Rodents to
Their Death,

Said Mr. Thomas Fullerton, retired
rat-catcher, as he picked up large gray
rat with pair of tongs and held it,
squealing, in the air;
"Rats Is all alike. People talk of the
sewer rat, the house rat, the Norway
rat, but they're all the same thing.
There's no difference between them.
They all come from the sewers In the
first place, and If a house is tight at the
bottom and no holes from the sewers
the rats won't get in"
"How do you catch ratsP" asked the
reporter.
ats all done on scientific principles.
This is the only way of Holding a rat, ;"
Fullerton was still holding the old rat
in his tongs. He whisked the rat up I'M
der his arm-pit and closed his arm up
on it. The position did not seem to suit
him. He repeated the maneuvre until
the belly of the rat laid evenly against
his side. Then he released the tongs
and held the rat in position by the pres
sure of his arm. Sliding his hand over
the rats back, he seizedit firmly by the
shoulders and pulled it out. The rat
was poweress TO bite him, although it
squrmed and squealed vigorously. Pull
ling down its lower jaw, he showed the
two long, narrow fangs set closely to-
gether. =,
Those are bad things to be bit with, J"
he said. "'rhe first bite don't amount
to much, and it is only when the teeth
close with a second pressure that there
is trouble. That drives the fangs in so
deep that the poison at the roots comes
off in the wounds. have had my arm
swollen clear up to the shoulder by q
small bite on the hand. But a rat won
bite unless you brighten him.
"How do you clear house of rats"
IF the house has u soft cellar floor |
can get the rats out, but | cant keep
them out. If it has a hard foundation,
| hunt out all the holes leading from the
sewers and stop them up with sand and
cement. That prevents any more from
getting in and those in the house from
escaping Having made the cellar
tight, | find the runways by which the rats
90 from one floor to another. These are
generally along lead pipes in the walls.
a rat will run up lead pipe as easy as
walk along the floor. nail a small
square piece of tin over a part of the
runway, and | grease the outside, Now,
a rat cant run up this, and he slips
down when he comes to it.
IF can't get at the runways | find
the hole and fix this wire door on it.
You see, it is made of four pieces Of
short wire laid parallel, held together
by crossbars and sharpened at the ends.
This is suspended by the top over ra,
hole. Coming from the hole rat can
easily lift it up and get through, but he
can get back, as the gate falls and the
sharp points prevent him from lifting it.
Now | make arat trap of the whole house
| so fix the gates and tin slides that the
rats will all be led into one room in the
basement There they are securely
caught as they cannot possibly get out
90 among them with dark Lantern
and pick them up with my tongs, cal
catch them as quickly as a cat can
mouse. If they ret in places where
can't reach them ! shoot them with thi
long target pistol. luse these little tar
get cartridges and it kills them ever
time.
"Whcn the rats get in ceilings
smother them out with cayenne pepper
have fumigator here which work
like an air-pump. burn red pepper i
it and pump it into the ceiling. Tn
rats cant stard that and they 60 out q
fast as they can. That is better than
ferret. Us the ferretS are expensive an
the rats often kill them. Ferrets ar
scary things to handle. If they bite 20
have to pry their jaws open. When
want to catch rats for dogs set traps
First remove everything out of the
way so that they will get very hungry
Then set the trap. Then have al
other way of catching them. | wea
rubber shoes into n slaughterhouse 8
night and cary dark lantern. l NOV
safely about and catch the rats vii
tongs before they have a chance to g
away. In this way | have caught II
rats in two hours and half If yo
ever get bitten by a rat put the woun
in hot water and make it bleed. The
battle it with arnica or spirits of turpel
tine. -NeW York SIN.