The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-08-14
THE WAR OF THE RAIN
White Rodents Trained 70
inmate Their Brown Bro+ba-.<''
Dogs and ierret- Gave BATH,
Pests. but the .Japanc.e E,,. u
Proved CSi>cnd 4,
LUCKY isai.yyu,

Lucky Baldwin had r.,-s In.
ret-that - 10 say H. the rar-., '''' ..s'''' s''
bir hotel. SAYS the san j'r.r... .'
GulncT. Large brown rats ,b..v =.
and ill-brcd, too. inasnucb
cldn know better than n -.
into rooms occupied by ladies y. ''l-
scaSonable hours Of the niybt '-
times they would intrudc un,,, '''e
vat' dining party, and cause n ~. ir'
scattering among the por,;.t.
They had possession Of tho b.,...,..',,,'..'>
wei a the Earret, and mad. - @
selves AT home on each - "a. +'
floors. Baldwin was in d..,,...- -'e
cruuics were wont TO shout ..I,.,. %. ans
ior Tee fun Of seeing him irrap If-...E
hc sent cast for a couplc al l.....
scotch terriers. with pcdiel.,.s
.~ one Of Blair's speeches. .ga...R
in tailed ia the basement ,yber.. g.
ibics are kept. At the end of ,r..s
day old Silas. the color,d
daifairc~ Of the culinary dcD,,-.-
SAID ''onc hundred and -ivf[-f..-.-
the carcass Of the last dead RAT a,..
into an ash barrel The d,,s XXI
then al the rate Of hundred "a 5.rs
"a week. Then the rats moved fr,,.
basement 10 the other part, of
tel. il was impossible &,
dog al over the house, .o E,r5..f
haught two fcrrcts and hired ,,...
'3lsc charge of them. The long. >...-
ittic animals did great service. h..
rct5 arc the natural cncmic, Of RATS .-'
caa follow them into any hole. non.
trr how small The ferret, n,.tb,3
killing his rat Is 10 fight until b, ,,.,.
hold on the rats throat. and tb.r
dead rat. There is AN uuplea.g-,
feature about IL. though. ta..
killing lis rat the ferret suck, 'bal....
dry Of blood and leaves II in ts.f...
The Odor D. came 80 unbcaraI1.. .t..
Baldwin WIS forced 10 bani~l ,b.f-
rcts. Frequently the ferret, became.
gorgcd with brood that they found ds.
Guilty in emerging from hole, wbft
they entered with comparative es.
Aft"r the fcTrcts left the hotel the --,.
commenced 20 multiply again. Ami
i.ant genius vino inhabit~ the ba,em.-.
I'D an idea. White rats were wba,t.
thought Of Baldwin sent 90 dana.
and imported nine of them They V...
IL shape the saline a. am ordinary b-.r-
rat. but they were much larger AMI
pure white in color. and they had hin.
eyes. The genius in the ba,cmlr
knew how 10 handle them. he r-,
them in a large cage. fed them well rrr
made them understand that the car.
was their home. When be- had mad
them loose. The brown rats con.
mcHccd 20 decrease in number, u
n surprising rate. The chaps from Jan.
an "bos-cd the roost," "a they DOM
say In Paree. They chased 'hr b-u--
rats 10 their holes, fought them killed /
them and dragged the bodies ont s-
thc genius 10 gaze upon. Ic Dad
trained them TO do that. and the rc,1.
was that no dead rats were left in t5-
holes.
Sometimes the white rats would b
badly lacerated. but their courage va,
OF the right sort. and they never failed
10 attack a brown rat on sight
Another good feature OF the white rat
was that. being well fed. they ugr
stole food or tried 30 get away Tar
were al liberty 20 roam ~ wiII over 'g
entire building. Being docilr. nu, IN
the least timid and pretty creatures, tae
Indies and children in the hotel made
playthings of them. From floor to f0r
they pursued the brown r..t- and final
Is drove them from the building alto
gcthcr. Now. vou couldn't find BROW
rat in the hotel If you searched a wees
One or two OF the white rats took wT.
from among the brown rat. and 'ar
progeny had spots like coach dog, r
pink eyes. but the female white -t
made war on their brown sister, G.
forced them away. Baldvin'~ br1wt
free from care. and hr tali,- of ~tar.a,
a white rat farm on his ranch near Do .
Angeles.