The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-04-09
THEY CAUGHT ONE MOUSE ANYWAY.
One Trap Which an Expert Did Not Have
to Buy.

~ cts
Did you ever buy a mousetrap:" PEN
siveiy inquired :. man on Il train the 9th
er morning of the friend who sat next to
him.
II never did. said the other. looking
up from his newspaper in some surprise.
Did YOU"
Il have indeed. | am a mousetrap
expert. You see the mice in our fiat
have been pretty bad. They grew SO
tame that I've seen them run across the
parlor when three or four people were
in the room. and at night the nibbling
and pattering became so loud and con-
slant that we could scarcely sleep. We
kept a pile of slippers and shoes by the
side Of the bed, and while the an
milton held out there vas a constant
fusillade. About two weeks ago ! grew
SO sick Of mouse, mouse as the unend-
ing domestic topic that l said to my
wife: See here, this lot business
must stop. I'll buy a trap l did. l
came home that evening with n of
those round, red snap traps, and on the
way up from the elevated station I in
vested in a big slice of fine fresh cheese.
well, we set that trap for four nights
and caught not one mouse. l thought
perhaps it worked hard, so l oiled up the
wires. No success. l her bought a
square trap with two holes and another
with four. thus giving US a total of II
mice capacity, but all in vain. The next
day l went over in Vesey street and
looked into the mousetrap business.
"'Can you give me any points on
mousetraps? l said to the proprietor of
a store over there. I know a thing or
two about snap traps, but l am looking
for a trap that will appeal to an edu-
Gated. intelligent mouse
The dealer looked a little surprised.
".Have you children he said. l adj
mitted a little girl.
"'Then here he said. is the squirrel
cage trap. 1t always pleases the chill
dren. The house 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 a very amusing
device l said we were not looking for
amusement, but we would like to catcha
mouse or two, SO l added that trap to the
collection and also another with wire
wings, which We're open when the trap
was set, but clapped together by mon
keying with the bait.
Il now had five traps. and that even
ing, just before retiring, l smoked up q
big piece of cheese. baited every trap
and stood them around the corners of the
room in an ~artless way, which ! felt sure
would appeal to the class of mice we
were catering to. About 3 o'clock in the
morning l awoke feeling very faint. We
always keep a cracker or two in our bed
room, and | determined to get up quick
ly and obtain one. l forgot that wing
trap. y moment later my wife was sit
ting up in a cold perspiration.
William she whispered, is the
holse afire"
".Vorse than that
"'Heavens and earth, she sid, getting
ready TO Scream.
keep quiet snapped. My big toe
is caught in the new wing trap
when she Gained down, she kindly
told me that my language had revealed
depths of ~depravity in my nature that
made her shudder. l finally separated
that mousetrap from my person and
crept back to bed, smelling like a Welsh
rarebit. The next night l made one more
attempt with those traps. l concluded
the cheese was too mild. SO l came home
that evening with a slab of German
cheese. never had so much room in an
elevated train before. The crowd fell
over each other to give me a seat. Icould
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 We're baited, and l said to
my wife, tt now o. never"
The narrator paused here and pensive.
ly read the advertisements on the oppo-
site side of the car.
well, did you catch a mouse:' de-
manded his friend with much interest.
Ives, we caught a mouse"
(which trap
"No trap at all. He fell into the bath
trb."-New York Tribune.