Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1889-05-07
sosroh,s PIED PIPER.
A Queer Man who Makes . Buslness OF
Hunting for Dead Rats.

A Queer Man who Makes . Buslness OF
Hunting for Dead Rats.
This town has d sort OF Pied Piper OF
It's own, who makes business OF lur-
ing from dark hiding places the preda-
tory rat 1t is his professional task,
however, to operate. not upon live
rodents, but upon dead ones.
Now. 1t may be admitted that al
though living rat is NOT n pleasant
beast to tackle, the same animal after
its demise, and lacking proper sep
ulture, is far moro disagrceable. Thus
1t must be considered that tho function
OF the post-mortem Pied Piper is one OF
extra difficulty. and It's correct per-
formance therefore exceptionally credit
able.
At all events, you would be apt to
think so II you had dead rat at this
moment peacefully decomposing under
floor or in a partition wall OF your
domicile. There is. nothing in all this
world, as you would soon discover, that
smells so horribly 1t fairly discounts
the Mephitis Americana True, one
rat will only last six weeks before dry
ing up and becoming henceforth in
offensive; but you are likely TO con-
clude that rather than endure 1t for
such a length of time, you would pull
the house down to find it. And there
1t is that the trouble comes in. In most
cases it is nearly impossible to locate
the source OF the stencil. Carpenters
must be hired to tear every thing to
pieces, and not infrequently 1t costs u
large sum TO remove the nuisance.
Think what relief it must be, under
such circumstances, to simply send out
for man who makes this kind OF thing
"a Regular occupation, and have him
find the rat and take it away for small
fee. Five dollars is tho price charged
by Boston's Pied Piper for such SER
vice. 1t is always the same price.
whether 1t takes him a week or five
minutes As rule, however, the job
is accomplished very quickly. 1t is a
matter OF practice, like any thing else
The mans nose. naturally an acute or
gan. has been trained TO a surprising
degree OF sensitiveness. There are
certain rules. too, by which he goes.
Upon entering building whittier he is
called to operate he gives u few expert
enced shifts here and there, in order TO
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
as 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, he bores a
hole with an auger and sni1Ts at it once
more. II it is find it only remains to
make bigger opening and take out
the corpse. The labor is disagreeable,
but it pays. 1t is always S. for each
rat found, and sometimes the man will
get three or four together within few
minutes.
Every town should certainly have a
post-mortem Pied-Piper. 1t would be
the most profitable to owners OF tene-
ments, who are continually suffering
from this cause. II dead rat turns
up in a nat-house tho landlord is at
once sent for and threatened with aban-
donment by his tenants unless he takes
prompt measures to remove the obnoxi-
Gus thing. Sometimes it costs round
sum OF money, and a single rat bill may
eat up two or three months rent Here
is good suggestion for somebody in
your city who has good smelling or
gan and is looking for gainful employ
ment. Let him turn Pied Piper and
make his everlasting fortune. A ter
rier, by the way, can be trained to
great usefulness as an assistant in such
work.-Boston Cor. San Francisco
Post