The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1888-03-21
A BATTLE WITH RATS.
A Desperate Fight for Life in sewers"ith
Thousands of Rodents.
(From the Memphis Avalanche.)

(From the Memphis Avalanche.)
It is che custom of the Ninth Street
Cable Company, in Kanses City, and, in
fact, of all the cable companies, to send
men into the conduits after the cable
has been stopped at night, to oil the
wheels or pulleys over which the cable
runs. The grease used for this purpose
is of the consistency of talIow, of which
it is largely composed. Beeswax is
another constituent of the "dope," as
the men call the material. The presence
of this ssdope'' attracts to the conduit
large numbers of rats, which feed upon
it. The rodents are larger than ordins-
ry house rats, and are possessed of
greater strength and courage.
One morning Edward Duffy, one Of
the dope men, entered the conduit at
the opening just west Of Walnut street.
He carried with him 8 bucket of dope
and an ordinary railroad lamp. Duffy
was dressed in suit Of yellow oilcloth
such as butchers wear when at work In
large packing houses. A slight rain was
falling and stream Of muddy water was
running through the bottom of the
conduit. When Duffy entered the open
ing he left q companion, McMahon, on
the outside. Duffy had moved west to
the second wheel, and was applying the
dope, when a sqealing noise in the front
attracted his attention. TIN Tough the
gloom he could see the forms of an army
of rats pressing toward him up to the
inclining conduit. At sight of the light
the foremost ones seemed endeavoring
to stop, but so great was the pressure OF
the swarm behind that the rats in the
rear were piling pell-mel over those in
front.
Duffy had often encountered the rats
while at his work, but they had never
before come so close to him. AS they
he cried at the top of his
voice and gesticulated wildly III an effort
to frighten them, but they seemed i'm
PEELED by greater fear and on they came.
The man saw that he was in danger, and
thrust his hand under his oilskin over
alls in q vain effort to reach his pocket
knife. The cramped position made him
and in his hurry threw him
from his balance. The left hand, on
which he had been leaning, slipped on
the muddy side of the conduit and he
fell upon his face. In an instant, before
he could rise, the vermin were upon him
and bore him down by the very force of
their accumulated weight
Duffy says that in the danger of his
position he seemed to think with
rapidity that he never knew the human
intellect was capable of. Hts whole life
passed in review before him. He soon
found himself arguing the reason of the
strange attack. He thought, as was the
case, that the water had filed up the
conduit in the down grades, and had
driven the rats up the incline. All these
thoughts occurred to him in the moment
of his fall and the rush of the rats. The
next moment the teeth of the rats called
bis energies to the defensive. He could
feel them on nearly every portion OF his
body, but most cruelty upon his neck
and hands. Duffy screamed for Nc
NIahon, and fought with the desperation
Of dying man.
He clutched the rats in grip that
crushed their bones into pulp, but the
few he thus disabled were nothing to the
host he had to meet. Fortunately for
Duffy, inst as he was about to succumb,
the lamp he carried was overturned and
the globe broken. In second the
flames caught tie rope and communicat-
ed TO the greasy coats Of the rats. With
screams that were almost human, the
rats fed in every direction, leaving long
streaks of flame behind them like the
trails of living comets.
McNIahon by this time reached trap
near Duffy, and catching him BY the
heels drew him, more'dead than alive, to
the street. Restoratives were admins
tered, and the sinking man was carried
to drug store, where his wounds were
dressed. An ambulance was then called,
and Duffy was sent to his home. The
affair was kept as quiet as possible, as it
was feared Duffy's experience would
deter others from engaging in the work.