Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-09-20

New York Mail and Express. /

New 1ork Mall ana Express.
s.Gaess-- said real estate man the
other dav to Nal and Erpress report
or. what il costs TO board a herd of rats
Won don't want. Rats are the kind of
property TO which no amount of search
will improve your title. 50 fellow never
finds out the extent Of his possessions
10 that way, except 30 far as he - able
TO infer II from the length OF bis
plumbers bill. There - where they
count. Take a block OF fats IN Lex
IngtOn avenue As An instance. They
are fine fats. xith rooms for a hundred
tenants or 80. Oar bill for repairs to
the water pipes made necessary by the
gnavinR of rats approached near TO
$500 last year, not TO mention the
harm they did in frightening tIHnid ten
ants with visions Of ghosts In every
little pitapst Of their feet on the cell
ing. IL il nv deliberate opinion that
tue rat was the ghost in every haunted
house that has teen invented. from the
Middle Ages down. and 70 the women
al least every bit ~ terrible as II II had
been the real original Jacobs. Why, We
are uow seriously considering an offer
from a professional ratcascher IN Full
ton street to clear the houses and keep
the rats out OF them nencef0rward for
800 year. IL would certainly pay u
II this thing is To go on.
Passing few days later the rat
catcher's Office. the reporter inquired
and learned that bis offer had bee q
rejected, aHd that the agent OF the
flats had started Ia the business for
himself with tFavs and poison
+" When he gets tired" said the rat
catcher, Il will clear the house for
him. How do | DO II 2 With this
and the little man gave a low. sharp
whistle. Instantly above the edge of a
dee- window recess appeared the CLEAN
ing eyes Of long. slender animal of a
dirty yellow and black celor, the 1.-THE
movements of whore body suggested at
eel. while its general look was one OF
unsuitable fsrociiy. IL chung to the
edge of the window while its owner
made rapid pass or two before It with
b hand and suddenly elHiched II from
behind the neck with a grip that had IN
il the assurance of personal safety IN
any and a II emergencies.
This ferret will drive them out" be
said, holding it up for inspection.
Why isn't An old cat a. goodl Be-
cause he can't get into their holes, but
has 10 wait for them 60 come out. This
one can. la the winter | have hun
bred like il at work all over the city.
Just now they breed aud are allowed 90
rest TO a great extent. Yes, sir Ii costs
a good deal of money 10 keep a herd of
rats often more than II would to pas
ture "a many COWS. The more wonder
that some houses seem fairly built Ia
ha. -,
fact, in which you would suppose
they could never get In. Houses
Of stone, brick and iron, with never a
rat hole in their cemeDted cellar floors
that they could come through, are often
the worst. fairly overrun. No wonder
the rats cant get out, and being com
Portable, they stay and nest in the hol-
low iren columns that are rough inside
and between the arched ceilings and
the floors. Somewhere on the top
floor or below they find lunch room ol
pantry where provisions are handy
How did they get in 7 When the build.
ing was under erection the surrounding
houses stocked it. Ii il a rats busi.
ness TO go everywhere, and he attend.
to it, which is more than some men do
al know of enc of our big Exchange
buildings down town here that Is built
that way, fireproof from cellar to gar
ret, that IL such rat nest. | have of
fered To clear 1t for 5000, hut was told
it WAS too much. However, can wait
They will be glad to pay that by and by
| have seen rats eat through a bale OF
| silk or fancy leather in single night
and spoil $500 worth of property. VIII,
do they do 1t? TO sharpen their teeth.
suppose, or because the thing they gnaw
| contains some grease or something they
like to eat. They give the plumbers
alone, lots and lots of work to do By
gnawinR the water pipes. Why they
do that II is hard to say. Perhaps t.
get at the water. perhaps because they
| like the lead or the plumber. 1t amount,
TO the same thing.
There are scores Of men in this towI
who pay from 500 to 800 to have theil
| honses kept free from rats. The mum
Der of them don't count in the price. Ii
n man has q million dollars and raj
under his bedroom floor, II Is a question
not of the intrinsic value of that rat
but of its h, ats nights rest. and tn,
| rodent rates accordingly. The biz coun
try seats up the Hudson are overruI
| with them and Often give us job. IL
the city it IL chiefly the downtown
stores and warehouses and the new fire
proof rat-nssts. The weak nerves o
the bellies up on Fifth avenue give on
business lift, too, on occasion. There
IL nothing that appeals to them like AL
able bodied rat"