Wichita eagle., 1889-08-16

One in 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 cents
each for them, you find that they are scarce
| enough said dealer in ferrets and other
small animals capable of hunting or being
| hunted. who lives with his uncompanionable
stock in cellar in Harlem. 81 have only
eleven rats on hand at present, and one of
| them has a sore throat-a common disease
| among the tribe--and how l am to fill an
order for fifty, to be delivered in Jersey City
| the day after tomorrow, Is more than 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
| az a 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, as the sport is called, is to come of,
I often receive an order for couple of hun
| dred or more Each owner provides the rats
for an opponents dog, and they all want the
! healuhiest, strongest and most vicious ami
mails they can get. 1t is not easy to supply
them, and | Ike 10 get notice about fort
night in advance, so that | can 1ecure the
services Of half dozen rat catchers.
"As the sport of rafting grows more popll-
! lar in and around New York, the trade Of
rat catching is increasing. At present there
are about score of professional catchers IN
| the city. They never do any other business,
and they are not very industrious at the queer
one they have chosen. You see, it is not an
| occupation calculated to draw out the high
est attributes and strongest forces of mans
nature and those engaged in it soon fall into
rat ike habits of their own. | don't know
| whether it is mere imagination on my part
or not, but it certainly seems to me that their
faces gradually assume the contour Of the
rats countenance. When they ere not at
| work they are drunk; sometimes too, they are
drunk when they are working, and they often
are horribly bitten. Rats fangs are said to
be poisonous, but / never knew Of any harm
beyond the pain, and, perhaps, little In
Illumination, to follow a bite. Perhaps the
alcohol in the system Of the catchers acts as
an antidote IS it does In the case of O wound
inflicted by a snake.
The trade might be made fairly remuner-
alive if it was pursued with more steadiness
There are two distinct profits in it. The
catcher, if he should be a sober, respectable
looking man, whom persons would not fear
to leave alone at night in their houses or
stores OF stables, could always command
good fee from those who desired to free their
premises of rats, and you can readily mag
inc how large that class is in New York.
Then there is no trouble found in selling the
animals caught. The demand for them is in
variably greater than the supply, and good
prices are obtained for them.
VERY few rat catchers have traps. Some
use an instrument ike long, slender pair of
tOngs, while others wear gloves, and trust
entirely to ther hands. Their mode of work
ing is the simplest thing in the world. They
sit down on the floor, which is strewn with
some food that rats like They place near
them a saucer of water. Rats seem to be
torInented with perpetual thirst, and every
one of them viii take drink before he re-
turns to his hole. While he is drinking is the
catcher's opportunity. You may have no
ticed, when you have been watching a wild
rat, that so long as you do not stir the brute
viii show no terror. Frequently he will APP
proach close TO your feet, for he cannot
recognize life in motionless body; but the
instant you move, be it In ever so slight de-
gree he vanishes like a dream The catcher
is as still as death until his victim is within a
few inches of him, either with his head
turned away, or SO occupied in drinking as
to see nothing but the water.
Then the tongs or the 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
ever quickly the capture may be made, one
or oth-, of the rats in the room is tolerably
sure to see it and to give the alarm. Then
the catcher must begin new vigil He never
he's long to wait, however. A rnt must actu-
ally view or hear danger to detect it, He is
utterly INSCRIPTIONS, repeated warnings are
thrown away upon him, and nothing that
does not appeal directly to his senses can
affect him in the least. If no noise is made
he comes out of his hole in few minutes to
tempt his fate again. A catcher could, and
sometimes does, get a hundred or hundred
and fifty rats and clear the premises of the
pests in a single night.
"In London, where rafting is much moro
in vogue than it is here, some of the fancy
tried to breed rats. They succeeded to GER
tain extent, and produced great number
But they were no good. Being in fact do
mestic animals, they were not much afraid of
the terriers, and the dogs, as a consequence,
killed them in tardy, half hearted way that
would have insured their defeat against time
or rivals in pit big rat is not always
the best He is apt TO be slow and to die
without struggle. The large fat sewer rat
is generally overfed and can neither run nor
fight A medium sized animal, thin and
hungry, is probably the best. When be is
coTnered he viii often spring at the terrier,
grip him under the lower jaw, out of reach
of his teeth, and hold on for dear life If
the dog knows his business he viii waste no
time in trying to scrape him off with his
paws. He will go straight on with his work,
killing the other rats in the pit, until the one
that is ciing!ng to his chin gets tired and
drops or, when he viii not be likely to have
another chance
Some people amuse themselves by hunt
ing rats with ferrets. There is not much
sport in that. 4 rat viii do all he knows to
save himself when a dog is pitted against
him, but when be sees ferret be feels that
his doom has found him, and he bows 70 his
destiny. \ rat never makes an effort to eS-
cape when his small natural destroyer APP
breaches. He covers on the floor and does
not move when the ferret taSes him by the
throat and proceeds 10 suck the blood out of
his body. All, here's Jack, | hope he ha.
the rest of the Jersey City order"
A slouchy, frowsy, lame young man en-
tered the cellar His face seemed 10 support
the dealers theory, for it bore the impress of
his trade ard some Likeness 10 his captured
victims He was a c2tcher, end he carried
the rsts required shout his person He drew
several from his pockets, and many more
from the interior OF his vest, his cap and al