Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1889-02-16
aosroN,s PIED FIpER.


a 1ueer Man Who Makes nu4An
Hunting for Dead RATS.
This town has sort Of Pied Piper q
ita own, who makes business of lar-
ing from dark hiding places the preda-
tory rat It is his professional task
however. to operate, not upon I'VE
rodents. but upon dead ones.
Now. it may be admitted that al
though Il living rat is not pleasant
beast to tackle, the same animal alter
its demise, and lacking proper sep
ulture. Is far more disagreeable thus
4 must be considered that the function
Of the post-mortem Pied Piper Is one OF
axtra difficulty, and its correct per-
formance therefore exceptionally creait-
able.
At all events, you would be apt %
think SO # yon had dead rat e tnls
moment peacefully decomposing under
floor or ina partition wall Of your
domicile. There is nothing in all this
world. as YOU would soon discover. that
smells SO horribly It fairly discounts
the Mephitis Americana. True, one
rat win only last six weeks before dry
ing up and becoming henceforth IN
offensive: but you are likely to con-
cl,ide that rather than endure 1t for
such a length Of time, you would pull
the house down to find It. And there
it is that the trouble comesin. In most
cases il is nearly impossible to locate
the s6tirca OF the stencil. Carpenters
must be hired to tear every thing 70
pieces, and not infrequently It costs
large sum to remove the nuisance.
Think what relief it must be, under
such circumstances, to simply send out
for a man who makes this kind OF thing
a regular occupation, and have him
find the rat and take it away for asmalt
fee. Five dollars is the price charged
by Boston's Pied Piper for such SER
vice. 1t is always the same price,
whether it takes him week or tive
minutes As rule, however, the job
is accomplished very quickly. 1t is Q
matter of practice, like any thing else.
The mans nose. naturally an acute or
gen, has been trained to surprising
degree Of sensitiveness. There are
certain rules, too, by which he goes.
Upon entering building whittier he is
called to operate he gives few expert
enced shifts here and there, in order 70
find out where the smell is most intense.
He can not always tell this at once, for
such things are deceptive. But he con-
tinues to prospect, keeping an eye open
ss he goes for likely corners, such as
are beneath fireplaces and other warm
spots. which dying rats would be likely
! to seek. Finally, having located the
trouble pretty satisfactorily, ne bores 3
hole wish an auger and shifts at it once
more. If it is Il find it only remains tc
make Il bigger opening and take ou'
the corpse. The labor is disagreeable'
but it pays. 1t is always s. for each
rat found, and sometimes the man vii
get three or four together within a few
minutes
Every town should certainly have
+. post4mortem Pied-Piper. It would bt
the most pfohtable so oWHers VI tono
ments, who are continually suffering
from this cause. II dead rat turn
up in hat-house the landlord is a
: once sent for and threatened with aban
. donment by his tenants unless he take
= = prompt measures to remove the obnoxi
. ous thing Sometimes it costs roun'
= sum of money, and single rat bill ma
IS eat nm two or three months rent. Her
= is a good suggestion for somebody
: your city who has good smelling OF
: ran and is looking for gainful employ
N ment. Let him turn Pied Piper an
y make his everlasting fortune A tel
" rier, by the way, can be trained t
~ great usefulness as an assistant IN sue
N y work. Boston Cor San Franclse
~ Post