Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-04-06
THEY CAUGHT ONE MOUSE.
One Trap Which an Expert Did not Have
to Buy.


One Trap Which an Expert Did not Have
to Buy.
Did You ever buy a mouse-trap?.
pensiveiy inquired man on Sixth
avenue elevated train the other morn
ing of the friend who sat next to him.
never did" said the other. looking
up from his newspaper in some sur
prise, did you?"
have. indeed. lam a mouse-trap
expert You see the mice in our fat
nave been pretty bad. They grew SO
tame that I've seen them run across the
!arior when three or four people were
In the room, and at night the nibbling
ana patterlng became SO loud and con-
stant that we could scarcely sleep. We
Kept pile of slippers and shoes by the
sioe OF the bed, and while the ammuni-
tlon held out there was a constant fu-
SHADE. About two weeks ago I.grew
SO sick OF mouse, mouse as the
amending domestic topic, that 1
said to my wife: See here, this
mouse business must stop. I'll buy a
trap. / did. came home that even
ing with one of those round red snap
traps, and on the way up from the ele-
vated station 1 Invested in a big slice of
hne fresh cheese. Well, we set that
trap for four nights, and caught not
one mouse. I thought perhaps it
worked hard SO I oiled up the wires.
No success / then bought a square
trap with two holes and another with
four, thus giving us total of eleven
mice capacity, but all in vain. The
next day I went over in Vesey street
and looked into the mouse-trap bust
ness
Can you give me any points on
mouse traps said to the proprietor
OF a store over there. 4 know a thing
or two about snap traps, but I am
looking for a trap that will appeal to
an educated. intelligent mouse
THE dealer looked little surprised.
Have you children? he said. ad-
mitted a little girl.
Then here he said, is the squirrel
cage trap. 1t always pleases the chill
dren. The mouse goes in here, the trap
closes automatically, and he is caught
He then runs out into this wheel, and
by running turns it 1t is very anus
ing device 1 said we were not look
ing for amusement. but we would like
that trap to the collection, and also an
other with wire wings, which were
open when the trap was set, but clapped
together by monkeying with the bait.
now had five traps, and that evening,
just before retiring, smoked up big
piece of cheese. baited every trap, and
stood them around the corners of the
room in an artless way, which 1 felt
sure would appeal to the class of mice
we were catering to. About three
o'clock in the morning 1 awoke
feeling very faint We always
keep cracker or two in
our bedroom, and I determined to get
up quickly and obtain one. 1 forgot
that wing trap. A moment later my
wife was sitting up in a cold perspira-
ton.
William" she whispered, SIS the
house afire?'
Worse than that
Heavens and earth she said, get
ting ready to scream.
Keep quiet" snapped; my big
toe is caught in the new wing trap.I
"When she claimed down she kindly
told me that my language had revealed
depths of depravity in my nature that
made her shudder. l finally separated
that mouse trap from nv person and
crept back to bed. ssmelling like a
Welsh rarebit. The next night made
one more attempt with those traps.
/ concluded the cheese was too
mild So 1 came home that
evening with slab of Ger
man cheese. I never had so much
room in an elevated train before. The
crowd fell over each other to give me a
seat. could have led that cheese by a
string. We went to bed. that night
with cologne on our pillows and every
window open, but all the traps were
baited. and said to my wife, it's now
or never"
The narrator paused here, and pen
sively read the advertisements on the
opposite side of the ear.
''Well, did you catch a mouse?" de-
manded his friend, with much interest
"Yes, we caught mouse"
(which trap"
''No trap at all. He fell into the bath
tub."-N. Y. Tribune.