St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1884-04-05
Dogs. Rats and Ferrcts.

Harry Jennings knows more about
dogs than probably any other man in
the country. He is also posted on the
breeding of ferrets, rabbits and cats.
For twenty years Mr.. Jennings has
Carried on crusade against rats. Dur
ing this time he has exterminated no
less than million of this species of
vermin. A Star reporter found Mr..
Jennings in avery communicative mood
| yesterday. The conversation opened
about dogs.
Pm a givin' up this dog business
nowadays said he.
s.Whvo" asked the reporter.
''Cause it don't pay me to keep it
| up. Hevery time there's a dog-fght
| Mr. Bergh and his men pounce upon
me and lock me up, thinkin' that I'm
| the fountain 'ead. Six months ago l
| got sailed for fight never see, an l
says to myself. AIRY. 'ere's ago. Get
'hout ov the dizziness altogether"
but notice some different species
| of the dog around here now"
1.-The most of these are bein' treated.
| for different diseases"
..What is the most popular class OF
dog just now?" the reporter asked.
1.-The 'untin' dog" was the reply;
..they re Railways in fashion. For two
or three years there's been a big run on
| pugS, but hits dyin' out, han in six
months time. sab, those ere pugs that
as brought fifteen and twenty dollars
will be drug hon the market hat n
| dollar han hart"
..What will be the fashionable dog of
the future?" inquired the reporter.
eli should say, sab. the imported
terrier those has is known to be rat
tiers: in fact, anything of the rat-terrier
species Hat present there's quite
| run on skye terriers They make hex
cellent 'ouse and pet dogs for the ladies.
That's combination one very rarely
gets hin a dog. The pug makes a fine
showin' hon the street, but that's ALL"
How about the black-and-tan?
swell. | can't say much habout 'em
There's nothink like the demand there
| was for EN- ten years ago: besides, the
hold timers who used to take a delight
hin breeding 'em is dying bo1, you
| know
is there any other class of dog that
| you are aware of becoming POPULAR"
The honly dog that HIS aware of,
sir. sides the terrier. is these monstrous
bloodhounds. There's quite demand
for them lately among the Germans.
Hif were keepin' dogs on hand, sir,
Hi wouldn't keep bloodhound in
stock; he'd heat S 'ead ho.f before 4
man would ave ha chance to sell i'm
The conversation changed from the
dog to the rat, which is Mr.. Jennings
strong point. Twenty years ago he
kept a dog pit in Madison street, and
twice week he would have what is
known in sporting vernacular as a rat
bait, the placing of a number of rats in
| pit where it would be an absolute i'm
possibility for them to get away, and
then set the dogs upon them. The dog
that killed the most rats would be the
victor. Large amounts of money were
wagered on the result of these rat bats.
While the rat pits We're popular Mr..
Jennings would give two entertainments
each week usually on Tuesday and
Saturday nights, and would use some
thing like J00 rats week. In de-
scribing how he would supply this de-
mand. Mr.. Jennings said:
Hin those days Hi used to 90 hup
to the hold knickerbocker Stable hand
catch 'em myself. Hi hoften catched
sixty han over right halong; some
times for ten ours hon stretch"
Did you catch them with your
hands?''
"Why; certainly-generally by the
tail. They'll always feed in the man.
ger. hand by means hoff the dark Ian
tern you can catch 'em very easy. Let
me show youwhat l can do with them"
With this the speaker lifted the cover
of a huge iron cage that was filled with
rats as wild as the inhabitants of the
sewer Without looking into the der
Mr.. Jennings seized powerful big
fellow by the neck and placed him in
side of his shirt. next to the skin, and
left him there while he continued the
conversation:
.'They never bite me, you know.
cause Hi knows 'ow to 'andle 'em. Hi
can Railways tell when rats goin' to
bite, Hi knows 'em so well. Sometimes
Hi ave as many has twenty rats about
me when Hive been a-catching EN-"
Il understand you contract to keep
hotels free from rats" suggested the
reporter.
.Lord bless me. yes; hive got a list
long rs yer HARM
whats the modus operandi?" asked
the reporter.
Now we've come to point where |
must refuse to Uniform you. Hif was
to let YOU hinto the secret has 'ow l
drive the rats from the 'otels hothers
would 90 hinto the business. Now h i've
got monopoly. But l don't mind
tellin Yer that hi use ferrets to do the
greater part of the work.
A look was then taken ut the ferrets,
which are kept in 4 separate apart
ment. Some of them have their nightly
duties to perform, while others were in
training or for sale. They are long
slim animal, larger than a rat, and APP
pearcd to be quite tame.
They hare not has quick as the
rat" exclaimed Mr.. Jennings, land l
ham of the impression that rat can
get away from a ferret unless 'es
cornered-then 'es a goner.
Most of the fecrets used in the bust
ness are brought over from England,
the reporter learned during the eonver-
'sation. Still, there are some in use for
this purpose which were bred in this
country. Itrequires considerable effort
to get them SO trained that they Will
return at the call. 1t is their nature to
follow a rat into hole, kill it, and then
stay by it. Those that Mr.. Jennings
possesses are so trained that they will
obey whistle. Mr.. Jennings also uses
the weasel in the following of his call
ing as rat exterminator. Weasels
will follow and catch 4 rat, but it takes
weasel longer to kill rat than it
does a ferret In England the rat ex.