The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1891-11-06


He Honnd IL
A woman AT By the open basement win
dow OF house IN West Thirty-hfth street,
when 4 mar, came along with seven RAT
traps and eight mouse traps slnng over his
shoulder on . cord. He leaned on the
fence! wiped his perspiring brow with .
crippled handkerchief and said:
MADAM, no lengthy explanation Il de-
rnanded. ! am selling mouse and rat traps.
M stock Is right here. Sell you trap
warranted 10 catch the cutest old rat In
New York city for aquarter These mouse
traps, warranted to entice the most bash
ful mouse IN the state TO his destruction,
are only fifteen cents. Might make the
two thirty-fye cents to you.n
The woman was dafnfng hole in the
heel Of long handled black stocking. She
darned and looked up, and darned and
looked down. but she made no reply.
"Of course naid the man, as be detached
one Of the traps from the cord and held It
out, ~ you have no rats here you want no
traps, but take Il You have rata We all
have ,em. That's where the rich can get
NO advantage over the poor ! don't say
that II isn't cheaper 70 lay for q rat with !
sled stake, but as matter Of convenience
The trap i ahead. savoy, ma'amf,
She looked up again, turned the stock
ing wrong side out and back. and said
nothing.
VA person not III the rat and mouse
business gives little OF no thought 70 sta
tistics,n continued the man, a. he rested
one foot on the fence Have you any idea
OF the appalling increase Of the rodent
populationi Probably not have met
poets, editors, financiers and statesmen
who had given 1t no thought As a matter
Of fact, ma lam, one pair Of rats will multi
ply themselves 1000 times in two years.
One Thousand rats will consume an aver
age OF 8, 900 worth Of provisions per year.
One OF my traps will catch 1000 rats every
1856 days It is therefore a question Of
whether you will invest Is cents or lose
5000. Could anything be palmer, ma'amr'
BY this time she had got through with
the hole in the heel and found one In the
toe Of the stocking. She looked up at him
as she threaded the darning needle again.
but was silent.
mind you,v said the man, after looking
up and down the street, 81 don't say that
the rat shouldn't have = show. He was
created for a purpose, the same as man,
and simply because we happen to have the
most intelligence we have no right to wipe
him out Of existence. What do contend,
however, Is that he must be kept within
certain limits Whenever, owing to num-
bers and righteousness. he becomes men
ace to mans welfare, he must go to the
wall. II IL with that end In view that rat
traps we've invented, and that have come
down from Yonkers to offer these traps at
the low price Of twenty-five cents each. I
trust that have defined my position clear
ly, a'am.
She bit Of the yarn close to the stocking
turned II right side out and passed her
fingers over the spot, but her eyes were not
even raised to his.
II think see how It is" he said, as he
refastened the trap to the cord and pre-
pared to move on. II think do. You
have not made finance and domestic econ
omy a study. You look at twenty five
cents paid out for a rat trap as 20 much
capital invested In o nondividend paying
Investment. You do not figger"
At this juncture she rose up, laid the
stocking aside, and putting her head out oil
the window until it was within four feet Of
his she called out:
Don't want anyl We never buy pota
toes Of peddlers anyhowi'
He stood and looked at her for minute
with mouth wide open, and then, as the
sash went down and the curtain wa,
drawn, he turned away with:
"TH never make q Twin at It In the
worldi My line is windmills or sewing
machines, or something that runs with 3
drive wheel and does its own talkingi,-
New York Evening World.