Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-12-10
Rat Catchers.


There was g nervousness about his move
meuts which indicated that on occasions
he could be AS quick as lightning, but
which restrained HIM from ever being
absolutely al rest. 10 his hands be held
a SINGULAR shaped PAIR Of tongs, the ends
Of which were torked Ike tridents. A
small dark lantern stood near. The msn
was professional rat catcher, snd he
dIscoursed with a reDoter about his 1--we
iihOod
Are there MANY Of us2' lie began:
'Nell. | just guess 50. Not that there
are quite As many as there were ten
wears age. because since that time people
nave begun 10 choose pois0ns for getting
nd nf the veTnua. but there are sufficient
in the business 20 turn Us IN 8 n'ce
little amount 20 our benefit association
every yesr-
..BusIness IS good because there are
always rats, and sensible people prefer
us % ala their houses Of rats than 10
XII them themselves and run the Iisk Of
diving IN d couple of months with typhus
Ieye. We are employed principally by
hOtas and slaughter houses. Sometimes
= ship captain, who gong 10 sail with
a cargo OF grain, asks US for AID, but its
n use tackHng 6 ship. | have Killed
! 600 ra's in half day on board OF u
ue,c chairman and then had to give the
iCb uo through sncer WEAKNESS. The
silg vessels employ us twlce a year, once
In the Spring and once N the Autumn
The psy i good, as We charge cents a
mead for every rat We catch Slaughter
houses keep Us al work nearly all the
time. as their sJ0re-rooms are nearly al
WAYS infested with the vermin, and
sometimes great loss IL uCcasloned by
allowing them a single days truce.
Wbv. one day last week, rats got among
8 Ioi Of beef hearts, 10 a slaughter house
Oh First Avenue, near ForIeth Street,
and destroyed nearly $500 worth o.
them before the watcbmsn knew il,
vii rats eat meat Well, guess rats u
at ANYTHING they can SET their teeth IN.
The BIZ stables have had lime Of II
with rats. for not alone will they eat
the horses' food, but lney Will eudeavoE
10 eat the horses themselves, that -
they gnaw the n0Tscs hoois suG ma
us1v cases cripple them so uadly 'hst
shev become useless. TEcy even attack
bsb,ss and nip them. Perhaps a rat
bits lsut poisonous but I know that J
hsd one Of my arms swell up aimos' as
big rs my body one time from a Ta'
bite. Whether they are poisonous or MOI
gereais altogether on wha- hey hSv'
J,on eating.
The Way we catch rsls IS 10 be quicker
o. HHHlH.
business. They may catch a rat now and
then. but III back a rs- against cat auy
time. We iifst 20 through mouse and
sound the walls and fo1rs IN hIs wa
we tell pretty eygCIIslve.y where he a
are the thick,s-. TIcu We daken as
room. ssr our hz.'. and wail for he rats
They always come out al night 10 get rood
and waller Daru- ae day they amUsC
themselves 1y cnaw'nE holes IN fho floors.
As soon as -heF scent flc usI they come
out of their roles Iu single h.e AID msTCh,
with s. bIg gray rat -, theT head, toward
'he bait ! let them &c, He'd DIVA 10
Their dinner. whCn | draw 'ue side - my
dark lantern and fash the Ign FIJI ~
Their ewes. The glare seems TO parsiyz'
them. Then ] % TO work and scoop theH
ND and throw them into ny bag. II
corner any Of them. especially any Of jht
blg fellows. J use Eay longs, eItneI Isck
ing them Up 0r -p0aring them, d. / md D
necessary. hsyC 10 move quIcA No
I'm not afraid Of getting bitten. Many
nights have been surrounded by raJs
had them run all over me. up my Cost
sleeves. over my bacs, on M head--lI
ct. been covered by them Maybe you
Ike 10 know VIVA, Do with the 1--we rats
.SNel. after have counted them snl
got nv cents apiece toi them, / cOllCc
Inc rats that show the most fight anl
CROWN the rest. The lively fellows | SCI
FOR rat bats. Oh. YES, | know that II d
thought that Mr Bergh made il too no
far rat bsiters in this city, bat he didn
There are several here now, but they havi
10 work mighty sv. \ good lighting Ia
IS worth 10 cents a rat bait. The batter
taDeud on Us for their rats, and ! knOV
me house over IN Hoboken that vii take
al the rats l can catch for 10 cents
head. don't think That rats are good 10
much else. They did Try to make glove
from their skins, and believe mat th
scheme dad succeed for awhile, but | don
fhruk much-of u is dong now. Some
tIrnes fur trimming for ladies' dresses i
made from the rat fur cut from III
launches and dried. What an awful iOol
the pretty darllngs would put On # the,
only knew that they were handling IA
skins. II could only get into the sewer
II this cl.vI could make my fortune
They are n ed with rats. / could kli
600 uiE4t. Tluee thousand rats Al
cents apicce would make $50 II | cout
keep that up any length ol time 1 Couiu
retire from business.
"Thele i one peculiarly sbOui a IA
nat it isn't generally credited with
Everybrdy thinks them the most filthy 0
all rod nts. But they amt. a rat ]
nlvsys can Ia speCk Of dirt gets d
MIN 10 any way he stops whatever he !
doing 10 clean himself He can't bes
gny stsIn en- his fur. Another funul
thing about them is their ABILITY 10 te
olive oil. They have iondness 70
sweet OF! that is not cgualled by any cthe
kfnd of food. But they know the goo
article and Will take none other. nav
tested them IN this, setting two bottles
one containing sweet oil made fIor
cotton seed, snd the other with olive o
IN il. \ rat would come along and tr
every means TO get al the oil thTOug
the long neck of the bottle containing th
olive OIL. but would shun the cotton s,e
oil as be would fire. | have even see
the ANIMALS get SO crazy over the oil that
after trying every other means in the
power, they would climb up on the bOttI
and then lower Their tails through n
neck 10 the s-.,Eace Of The oil. Then tn
knowing lite ibessts would drhw the
tails carefully \ out and SIT on the
iau ches, hcbl IL of the oil with ever
indication of/ most intense satisfaction
They enaw.cil Is in floors through shet
N schIef Lc,' Z after they have tunnele
every aoor in house they keep up the
destrJIciiveness and actually honeycom
the floor. Thdt live sometimes 10 be
years old and 4It more cunning as The
grow older. ! y lose all their facutl'
al last ana are apparently led around b
the younger oua- To show how soon
house Hnsy beo01.e infested with rats 1t
simply necessary TO say that they bJoC
every weeks, A3e mother bearing fIo
sixteen % twenty young rats ID lltte
The use Of dogs is confined principally I
rat-baitiDg, and GOOD terrier, which h
been trained for bsiting, Is often worth
couple OF hundred dollars. Weasels
catching rats are sure every time, bul q
sr-. (. - .,,lv~ l.