The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-01-15
A GREAT ENGLISH SPORT.
How Rat-CAtching IL Carried on In the
Eastern Countries.

Eastern Countries.
Though the tenant and the landlord,
the gamekeeper and the gardener be-
wall the plague of rats, there Is one per
sonage who is delighted at its existence,
and that is the lazy, sport-loving, poach.
ing village wastrel, who finds in rat
catching an employment that at once
gratifies his inclination for out-of-door
recreation and yields a respectable
wage without excessive toll. In Nor.
folk there hardly seems to be hamlet
without one or two men of this kind in
it, and, being in that county about a
fortnight ago, took fancy to watch
forenoon's rat-catching. That was
no difficult matter You can not take
a walk without coming across some on e
engaged in it. The specimen stumbled
upon was stifliy built but strong made
veteran of sixty or so, with a bristly
gray mustache, big voice, a sharp eye
and joke ready for every occasion.
His implements were long spade
with an iron hook on the handle, a
sickle for clearing away ncttles and un-
dcrgrowth, and box, which contained
his ferrcts, and number of glass-stop-
pered bottles "The varmin bit So" he
explained, she had to carry ontments
and balsams to dress the wounds. "
Taking up one of his fcrrete, he showed
where its head was all SCARED with
tooth. marks. For the protection of his
own hands he wore stout chamois
leather gloves But the most interest
ing part of the equipment consisted of
the sharpest looking dogs | have ever
seen. The fancier who administers
small doses of arsenic in order to make
the coats look well on the show bench
might well have envied them the
healthy, glistening skins produced by
constant work in the open air. Yet the
creatures themselves were hopeless
mongrels in color and shape not unlike
Scotch terriers, but larger.
A hole was just being finished as
went up as there any more, Bob?
asked the rat-catcher, addressing just
as if he had been Christian the most
aged of his followers. Bob shifted and
turned away. IAN right" said his
master. ego on to the next" Bob
wagged his tail, and set off along the
bank of the dy Ike, merely glancing at
several little borrowings. 81 follows
Bob" rema rlsed the man, as he gathered
his traps to gcther. "There, he's found
i'm" and sure enough the terrier had
stopped and made dead point" fifty
yards along the ditch, and no sooner
was ferret taken out Of the box than
he planted himself in front of one bolt
hole" his companions chose two more
and the whole three stood alert and Wig
liant, but perfectly still while the
ferret was put in. Hardly had that
been done for a couple of minutes ere
the rats, large and small, began to dash
out into the very jaws of the dogs.
Fifteen had been killed. and then
came an interval that made us think
that the la st was finished. But, when
we attempted to move, Bob gave a
whimper and little scratch at the
earth he was watching Il must dig
him out" said the man, and few we'll
directed polses with the spade disclosed
rat that might have been the father
of the tribe, caught in blind alley
A single snap was enough to lay him
dead, and Bob, with his customary
sniff, turned heels and was off again t.
new quarters. This time his point wa.
made opposite thick hedge, the dry
ditch running alongside being quite
cholsed up with briar and nettles ant
weeds
With the reaping hook these were
soon cleared away, however and some
idea of the extent to which the vermir
prevail may be judged from the fac
that at least half dozen "loose" rats
were killed before the ferrets were USED
at all. imagined a splendid days work
had been accomplished when eighty.
six rats had been killed and both ter
riers, ferrets and men were obviously
becoming tagged with the work.
For it must be remembered that the
creatures had not congregatcd in on,
place, as they do in corn rick, but
were all found in open country that il
TO say, in the boundary ditch and hedges
of turnip field But su bsequent in
quiry showed that the slaughter hat
not been exceptionally large, two mer
having betwec them killed two hundred
and forty-three in single morning or
an adjacent farm. London Globe.
Embarrassing.
The infant was tucked into bed or
Christmas eve. although he was very