, 1889-06-01
RATS FOR A NICKEL EACH.
A BUSINESS THAT MAY BE PROFIT
ABLE BUT NOT POPULAR.

Ono I'm the Business
Rats seem to be very plentiful when your
house is infested with them, but when you
need them, and are willing to pay 8 cents
each for them, you find that they are scarce
enough" said a dealer in ferrets and other
small animals capable of hunting or being
hunted, who lives with his uncompanionable
stock in a cellar in Harlem. ~ have only
eleven rats on hand at present, and one of
them has n sore throat-a common disease
among the tribe-and how l am to fill an
order for fifty, to be delivered In Jersey City
tho day after tomorrow, is more than I can
tell.
what do / want them for Why, to sell
them to the owners of rafting dogs, of course.
/ generally dispose Of only half a dozen or so
at q time, to some one who merely wants to
test his terriers powers, or to treat him to a
little private exercise, but when a rafting
match Us tho sport Is called, is to come off,
/ often receive an order for q couple of hun
dred or more. Each owner provides the rats
for an opponents dog, and they all want tho
healthiest, strongest and most vicious ami
mails they can get 1t is not easy to supply
them, and l like to got notice about a fort
night in advance, so that / can secure the
services of half a dozen rat catchers.
Gas the sport Of rafting grows more popu-
lar In and around New York, the trade of
rat catching is increasing. At present there
arc about n score of professional catchers In
the atty. They never do any other business,
and they aro not very industrious at the queer
one they have chosen. You sec, 1t Is not an
occupation calculated TO draw out the high
est attributes and strongest forces of q mans
nature, and those engaged In 1t soon fall into
rat like habits of their own / don't know
whether IL Is mere imagination on my part
or not, but 1t certainly seems to me that their
faces gradually assume the contour of the
rats countenance. When they arc not at
work they are drunk; sometimes, too, they arc
drunk when they are working, and they often
are horribly bitten Rats fnngs are said to
be poisonous, but l never knew of any harm
beyond tho pain, and, perhaps, a little In
Illumination, to follow a bite. Perhaps the
alcohol In the system Of the catchers acts as
an antidoto, as IL does In tho case of q wound
inflicted by a snnke.
"The trade might be made fairly remuner-
ative II it wns pursued with more steadiness.
There arc two distinct profits In 1t. Tho
catcher, IL he should be a SOBER respectable
looking man, whom persons would not fear
to leave alone at night In their houses or
stores or stables, could always command a
good fec from those who desired to free their
premises of rats, and you can readily imag-
inc how large that class is in New York.
Then there is no trouble found In selling tho
animals caught. The demand for them Is in
variably greater than tho supply, and good
prices are obtained for them.
Every few rat catchers have traps. Some
use an instrument like a long, slender pair of
tongs, while others wear gloves, and trust
entirely to their hands. Their mode of work
Ing Is the simplest thing in the world. They
sit down OF the floor, which Is strewn with
some food that rats like. They place near
them a saucer of water. Rats seem to DO
tormented with n perpetual thirst, and every
ono of them will n a drink before he 70
turns to his hole. While no Is drinking is tho
catcher's opportunity. You may have mo-
ticed, when you have been watching a wild
rat, that so long as you do not stir the brute
will show no terror. Frequently no win APP
proach close to your feet, for he cannot
recognize life In a motionless body; but tho
Instant you move, DO 1t In ever so slight q de-
gree, he vanishes like a dream. The catcher
is as still as death until his victim is within q
few inches of him, either with his head
turned away, or so occupied in drinking as
to SEQ nothing but the water.
Then the tongs, or tho gloved hand, silently
and stealthily descend, and the rat is lifted
from the floor and dropped into a bag be-
tween tho catcher's knees. If he squeals all
his fellows disappear as though the earth had
swallowed them, as indeed it has. But, how
GNtI IulChlJ II CuDluTb may DS n1QQe, one
or other of the rats In the room Is tolerably
sure to SEQ it and to give tho alarm. Then
the catcher must begin a new vigil Ho never
has long to wait, however. A rat must actu-
ally view or hear danger to detect 1t. He is
utterly unsuspicious, repeated warnings are
thrown away upon him, and nothing that
does not appeal directly to his senses can
affect him In the least. II no noise is made
ho comes out of his hole in q few minutes to
tempt his fate again A catcher could, and
sometimes does, get a hundred or q hundred
and fifty rats and clear the premises of the
pests In n single night.
"In London, where rafting is much moro
in vogue than 1t Is here, some of tho fancy
tried to breed rats. They succeeded to n GER
tain extent, and produced a great number.
But they were 10 good. Being In fact do
nestle animals, they were not much afraid of
tho terriers, and tho dogs, as q c-onseqrence,
killed them in a tardy, half hearted way that
would nave insured their defeat against time
or rivals In a pit. A big rat is not always
the best. He Is apt to be slow and to die
without a struggle. The large fat sewer rat
Is generally overfed and can neither run nor
fight A medium sized animal, thin and
hungry, is probably tho best. When he is
cornered he will often spring at the terrier,
grip him under tho lower jaw, out of reach
of his teeth, and hold on for dear life. II
the dog knows his business he will waste no
time in trying to scrape him of with his
paws Ho will go straight on with his work,
killing the other rats in the pit, until the ono
that is clinging to his chin gets tired and
drops of, when no will not be likely to have
another chance.
"Some people amuse themselves by hunt
ing rats with ferrets. There Is not much
sport In that. A rat will do all he knows to
save himself when a dog is pitted against
him, but when no secs a ferret he feels that
his doom hns found him, and he BOWS to his
destiny. A rat never makes an effort to es-
cape when his mail natural destroyer ap-
proaches Ho covers on the floor and does
not move when the ferret takes him by the
throat and proceeds to suck the blood out of
his body. All, hero's Jack l hope he has
the rest of tho Jersey City order"
A slouchy, frowsy, lame young man en-
tered the cellar. His fnce seemed to support
the dealers theory, for 1t bore the impress of
his trade and some likeness to his captured
victims. Ho was a catcher, and he carried
tho rats required about his person. He drew
several from his pockets, and many moro
from the interior Of his vest, his cap, and oil