Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-03-24

kAtsi The town Is full OF them Of All
ages, sizes, sexes, colors and conditions
Never was there a plscc worse rodent.
ridden than this same good city Of Fort
Worth. II Is within the bounds OF truth
70 say that more rats
GIT on AND orr
the streets OF the North Texas metropolis
than IN any five cities IN the state com.
bined. They have become so tmboldened
by any immunity from any sort OF mol,s-
tation that after the shades OF night have
fallen, they prance aud gallop along III,
principal streets under the fun glare OF
the gas liIhts with don'tcare- n cuss
abandon that shows how utterly reckless
a rat can become when be feels THAI he
Is sort OF privileged citizen
tina. nobody cares to bother. Tho an
Gent Egyptians reverenced cats. and to
Kill one was deadly sin. While the
people OF Fort Worth do not exactly
worship these foes OF the fellncs they
seem to let them have pretty much their
own way and give them the freedom OF
the city In way not common in other
towns.
me reporter now approaches one branch
Of his theme with feeling Of some aux
iety, since It may lead TO result that all
newspap r mrn do most ahhur--a public
d0uhtu rrporturlal veracuy. But facts
are stubborn things, snd SIS any account
OF tue rats of Fort Worth would be la
complete without allusion to their colos-
sal size the facts must be given, let
the consequences be what they will
IL is common 10 hear rats com
pared TO squirrels Now this
comparison refers TO the common
little gray squirrel that abouuds all over
the Southern states the cunning little
chap
"9hat steals ole mqssa's new ground corn
An huls him on the riin
These are the sort they speak of Ia
Austin, san Antonio aud other places A.
wnoppers, but your Fort Worth rat would
disdain any such comparison, unless ID
applied, only 10 the Juveniles Of the tribe
The average full.grown, long-tailed habl.
tat OF the Fort could only be compared
/ to the tawny-haired ox-squirral, tina,
suus himself In the topmost branches OF
lofty pines aud is twice the size OF his
little gray cousin Of the swamps. TIR
| GAZETTE man has been assured that there
are q few old giants, thar, at rare inter.
walls, come out on the platform that leads
past Lakes hardware store aud Huffman's
implement house that are
As BIG AS JACK RABBirs,
! but as he never saw one himself, quite
! that large, the statement Is only giyeT
1 for what IL is wor II.
During the late rainy spell, rat tha
| had been mciag along the muddy streets
accumulated such load Of mud az On,
extremity of his tail that he could witt
/ difficulty plod along. The further h,
/ went The heavier grew his load by nddl
tional accumuatious until the anil
NAL could 10 no farther
He was seen 20 pause for several sec
onds, a II celebrating what TO do, an(
! then gathering himself for mighty Of
fort, sung his tail around his head, az
teamster cracks his whip, and chuncl
of mud as big as u mans Asst flew of ant
knocked on the hat OF littl,
newsboy that was passing by
! Tic then ran TO his hole
This happened In front Of the Plckwicl
and can be easily verified
| Rats are always found IN greatest nun
bers about printing offices. The printers
make pets OF them aud always share ihei
| midnight lunches with thrm There Il
/ hpNuh Nht hlAliN VI liiN iSAlLt bAEhl r.
dminutive terrier that differs with thi
typos in this respect. She rejoices IL
tue name Of Susie aud msn!
are the desperate duets that she has hu'
with the rodents Some time ago she had
a dispute in the cOmposing-room with
rat as TO which should have certain
piece OF chicken thata printerhad throw
in one corner OF the room. The comba
was desperate one from the outset, anC
every man left his case TO watch the san
culinary battle twas brief nut blOOdy,ant
resulted in dead rat and n badly hur
dog, some five or six gaping wounds hay
Inv been stitched up 10 prevent her frou
bleeding TO deah. The rat aud the do
were both weighed and the former WA
found 10 be only six ounces lighter tina
7 his canine foe. IL was an average size
Fort Worth rat.
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