The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-02-23
RAT HUNT IN A SEWER.
Exciting Sport, Resulting In the Baggtn
III n Thnuazud Rnf

| Exciting Sport, Resulting In the Baggtas
OF q Thousand Rats
Not long ago the writer attended q
rat hunt in the Canal street sewer at
the invitation of Capt Webb. who had
been superintendent of the sewerage
system of the metropolis for over thirty
years, says New York correspondent.
During his term he had patrolled these
underground tunnels, which now ag-
| gregate nearly five hundred miles
Our party consisted of nine men and
twelve thoroughbred rat dogs of SUI
perior merit Preparations had been
made to attack host of rats at every
possible point of vantage. The great
Canal street sewer was selected for the
hunts. It is fifteen feet in diameter
| from the North river front to Broadway
quite large enough to drive coach
and four through Sewer men had been
sent out in advance to fix strong wire
MEETINGS to close the mouths of the cross
sewers, at will, and barrels of garbage
had been placed where they would at
| tract the hungry rodents. These wire
screens were arranged to be dropped so
as to effectually cut off the escape of
the rats at the proper time.
Our party entered the sewer by a
row boat from the river front near the
midnight hour, when business in the
city had been suspended for the day.
The scene was that of huge tunnel,
the strong old brick walls being coated
with grim yellow and gray slime, varied
a. different points here and there; at
times glisteniHg with almost reflective
power and at others having a fuzzy or
dull effect The atmosphere was heavy
and oppressive, but not at all nauseous
according to the popular conception).
At times there was g sour or stale odor,
but upon the whole the air was far bet
ter than Is breathed in many of the
poor tenement houses in the city.
Over the bottom of the sewer there
flowed volume of water less than two
feet in depth Under the rays of the
lantern, cleaning over the surface, it
looked black and forbidding. Soon,
however, ones eyes became accustomed
to the gloom through which we peered
and could dimly perceive the forms of
thousands of rats, their eyes aglow
with phosphorescent light, cleaning,
glaring and flashing toward US As we
gazed upon them they glared upon US
They seemed to realize their peril and
appreciate their desperate condition.
The string of dogs, which, up to this
time, had been kept in the background
and were controlled with no little diff
Guilty. were let loose and dashed impet-
uously forward toward the hosts of
rats.
Instantaneously there was a trans
formation scene. The whole atmos-
phere seemed full of dogs and rats.
The snarls and bowls Of the CANNES
mingled with the screams and squeals
of the rodents was pandemonium of the
most appalling character. In the
twinkling of an eye there was d kaleido-
SCOPE spectacle of indescribable con-
fusion, in which the leaping, rushing
to and fro, swapping of teeth, snarling,
yelping, barking and struggling of the
dogs, together with the splashing in
the water and the screams, Kisses and
squeals of the rats, made a chorus of
incomparab BILE horror. The echoes rang
with these hideous sounds as the strug-
gle continued. and at times it was al
most impossible to distinguish dogs
from rats as they sprang, leaped,
clinched, snapped and tumbled over
each other in the mad contest
The most that we could see was a
grim, weird sort of merry -go-round of
heads, tails, legs, paws, teeth. claws,
and fur of rats and dogs.
Meanwhile the wild mob of the ro-
dents sought desperate escape by fran
tically rushing for the only outlet. gal
Looping and scrambling in their efforts
to pass where we stood, leaping, tumb-
ling and rolling all around us, with
screams, Kisses, and hoarse coughs, in
horrid din, as we whacked at them
with heavy clubs in merciless vigor, and
also stamped them under our heavy
boots But the struggle was brief and
decisive. The well trained thorough
bred dogs in their carnival of destruc-
ton made quick, short, complete work
of their natural prey; and besides what
we failed to destroy with our bludgeons
very few escaped slaughter. We could
not count the number of the slain, but
Capt Webb calculated the death roll to
be more than one thousand-Philadel
phia Press