The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-12-17
THE ARMY OF RATS.
MYR!Acs ENCAMPED BENEATH TIE
CITIES or THE SEeBOkfO.

what the Average Citizen Knows Nn""t
Rsss-s;atistics OF q seabostd fo~n--A
Merchant Bcsieged-The Aggressiyeness
OF the Norway Rat.
Norwich. ono Of the most ancient toms On
the seabOa.d las been ovelTuu with iuia 10
year, and there is perennial struggle be
tween the inhabitants above ground ard tae
denizens u sewers and cellars The city
swarms with rats but not all tho citizens are
more than vaguely conscious of their innu'
mprable presence. Occasionally O Norwich
dweiler, when strolAng about the under
ground recesso5 ol his possesllons, may
chance upon a rat, the Bqu.atiye animal
cooked 10 in dusAy corner of bis attic 81
cellar, has long shining tail cuTitd about him.
While the taolean la,i--aud its duration l.
40. more than tea -ccOnls--rat watches maI
Sith alert attention, h.s wicked lead cyes
CLEAN inquirlngly and deiilntly al tic ia-
trader and al the hrst advance of maa, gas
turns easily on his hauncAcj and simply dis
appears No one knows how be does it how
the world opens % 1T him 10, how lie slips &C
shppcrily down the tube OF invisibiity. but
that is ali there IS Of IL, just presto wins.
a twist. q slip. "a giistening loop of tail ia the
air for an instant, and ThcA So0 loos who're
the rat was there is no rat tlale. There Is
only a section Of quiet dusk in The corner. .
hole aud an Interesting interr9gatiye silence
That is all that the average citizen knows
OF rats personally; but Of mo Flv yes Of rats
hi, information Is varied 0ll accurate
NEST oF VL2NgS
There are four kind of tenlnts in every
scabOard towu-mcn. women enl Eugis-
sparrows above ground. and rats under
ground One lives u tle up stan aud tie
other ID the down stairs " ,As r.,l IL B.
the people who DO busines along tie wAarvcs
and in the lower streets Of Norwich who ran
tell Us all about rats They alone reaii4s
what q sQuirmiug nest Of ycrniI life there
is directly under their fees, hoE vast al army
Of long tail Il creatures IS waiting impa-
tientiy each day for them 70 .Oek their door.
at nghttall 50 tuat the field nay b. left free
for rats. Ask u Commogce, or Water
street, or q Franklin square merchant IL ue
knows anything about rats, and then listen
for what be will tell
s curious investigator who has been com
pling rat facts ana raj statistics. diI ap.
proach a veteran merchant Of down town
street day on Two ago, and dld u~s him 81
he knew anything about rats The man
stared at him for a moment. aud then made
this vague response III a curious tone.
Rats
But the investigator pursued The subject.
and the result of bis inquiries b scmo inter
estiug rat data. The first important facl
brought 70 light is that the numerical esti-
mate Of the rat population OF the city, ac-
cording % three expert NorWlsi -tatisuc.aus.
varies from 100000 to go O0O one man
put the number as high a. 400 ODD l0) 900. but
be was laboring under mental excitement 40
the time, because rats had just mawed
through his pork barrel and let the brine out,
he appeared 10 be preiudiced against rats,
md his estimate, therefore. Is not counted
Probably this Is the only town iu the country
in which rats are hunted with rifles
There Is one merchant doing business under
the steep hin in Weter street whose store has
been invested and besiecei by rats for sew.
eral Years. The besiegers do MOI c0ndle their
assaults 70 nocturnal hours, hut all d9y DO
waste places and in m1sky hooks the guaW-
ing goes steadily on, now and then inter.
uptei by a distant squeak or The hurried
patter Of light feet. If the merchant goes 10
the rear of his store or 70 bis dark little back
room or into the adjoining tenement, which
b. uses for a storeroom, bright eyes suddenly
CLEAN at him through tho oJscuriry Ike
shifting stars, the whi-s OF many ta'ls II
heard, and there is q CHATTER OF boxes aud
rubbish as the animals scamqcr away.
This merchant evidently has done some
thing dreadful 70 the rat tribe. which bears
tn Inherited grudge toward him. be is as
awfuly beset as was Bishop Hatro ia las
RheDish Mausetpurm, Tor tue rats are con.
tinually after him.
The AGGRESSIVE NORWAY RAg.
Some dreadful stories are tuld Of the raven.
ousncss aud the bold asgIessi veness Of tie
Norway rat by men who work 40 night iu
old buildings in the lower streets.
In one Warer street shop q few years ago t1s
men had job tia. kept them c3ufnlauy %
the bench all night Tor severa. days, AID as
lunch time their meai5 lsindWiche,l wcr3
fetched 10 them. Tempted BY lho sme.! q
food al the late hours Ci tie Llglt, and made
aulacious BY the protecting gloom Of the
cayqrnous o.d shop, which Afforded mull.-
tudirou lurking places, the rals irooped out
lu sach numbers on the second Night that tue
mon had 10 throw biscuits to the advancing
army 10 keep It at bay
fl some Water street bu.l3in-s The work
men rarely 60 below stairs after nlgAflall
In one Old sned on thai street. ITO walls oi
which arc literally perforated with rat h0los.
let a man sit alone sad slleu, IA ona 81 is
after dark aud be VIII soon
bear the gathering OF an invisible host Tho
walls fairly seem e. be alive. tho floor stirs
With the soft pattcr OF "a myriad u footballs.
and creeping sensation coes over tho lonely
visitor a. be feels tie almost .lall.ble adj
vance Ok vermiA lie nearing Ll.n. a e1ddc2
noisy movement Is sufficient 10 send tho hest
lurrying back % lis retreats, but the selsa-
ton IS less easily removed
The sewer is the true home o. Che wharf
rat, and it IL his last fortress Of safety when
be Is pursued. IL the slime Of the city s3Ncr
be iinds tho oflal and tae garbage tAat he
graves, and Of cast OF human rags b. builds
his nest-liJ home. Some Of tLs sewer are
high enough for the street wor-men O. pass
through from the center Of tie city o. ihs
mouth 1T the river shore They lct down
ladder at tho maahole when repairs are Q. he
made descend into the black >u.Ali -ll
with their duly cleaning lanterns Delors
hem, advance along The Shay l-ul corridor .
ID tho place where tde breach is % be morled
As they pass on the rats fail back, but the
men hear tho scurTying OF tie innumera1ls
ever tenants continually retreating, ana
sounding IN the dismal aud ccLo.Ug yoi3 lizs +
IN elusive ghostly whisper Once. while the
nen we're at work in the Franklin street .
branch sewer, under Bath street, q biz army
# rats, led by curiosity and tempted by thy
nutencs5 Of the motionloss worGeis, a..
preached 10 within few feet, 20 that tLs
OF gloom was starved with d
thousand gltterng and shifting eyebaliS /
lhe men needed no other stimulus than the .
presence Of these uncanny sewer watchers T. I
peed their operations.
IL all the scacoast cities Of Now ENGLAND I
he gray Norway rat IS numerous. bold and .
intrusive. He came % this country among
be first assisted emiCrants ~ ships from .
3rtain, and he quickly drove The big. hand. .
ONE and harmless native black rat away !
rom the coast The black American fellow .
5 rarely met with now, except in towns TO
note from the sea. lie is NOT robust or v0ra- +
ous enough 20 stand his ground AGAINST the
'ellgerens gner.-N0rwics tConu.l Cos.
Kew York Sun.