The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-06-03
A PROPULSION OF TRAPS.
LIVES OF FESTIVE RATS TO BE
MADE MISERABLE.
To Catch Insects with Artificial
Flowers-Provision Made for WISH
tors of the Night-For Banjo
Music by EIectricity-Many Arti-
cles to Be Composed of Paper.

tnaJ Iney may not per1Sn. some OF the
queerest of them are devices for en-
trapping beasts, bugs, fishes and even
human beings says Rene Bache in the
Washington Star.
What, for example, could be funnier
than the notion of using imitation
flowers with poisoned honey to attract
noXious insects? The artificial bios
SONS, each containing a small quantity
of sugary liquid properly prepared.
are to be fastened to twigs. Moths of
destructive species sip the deadly nee
tar and die. A more elaborate device
of a similar description is intended for
the protection of apple trees. 1t is a
tin can covered as to its upper half
with luminous paint. On the outside of
presenter with the same sort of paint.
Inside of the receptacle is a, small
quantity of cider. The can is to be
hung on a branch of an apple tree at
night Insects attracted by the pictur
ed flowers light upon the can. The
smell of the cider induces them to enter
through holes provided for that pur-
pose; they drop into the cider and are
drowned.
NOT EASILY SEEN.
1t is not always easy to distinguish
between a crank idea. and a useful dis
covery. The poisoned counterfeits of
flowers above described are said to
work very we'll Many years ago a
man got a patent for a. method of kill
ing bugs on trees by inclosing the
whole tree in a. sort of balloon of can
vas, into which an asphyXiating gas
was to be poured for the purpose of
suffocating the insects. Everybody
thought he was a lunatic. But now
that his patent has run out the merits
of the plan have suddenly obtained ap-
probation and it's adoption is alleged
to have saved the orange-growing in
dustry in California.
Several kinds of luminous bats for
fish have been patented. One of these
is a minnow of hollow glass coated on
the inside partly with solution of
gold or silver and partly with luminous
paint. The result is a very brilliant
object in the water, calculated to at
tract any predacious creature with fins.
Another interesting continuance is for
making frog bait more seductive The
jerking of the line equipped with this
device causes the frogs legs to move
as if he were swimming.
ContrlVanceS for catching insects are
more numerous than any others. One
of them is furnace for slaughtering
potato bugs. To begin with, "a deep
and wide furrow is to be plowed all
around an infested field. Through this
trench a smooth log is dragged to
make the surface hard and smooth.
The bugs in migrating to other grounds
are unable to scale the trench, and the
furnace, which is cylinder of iron
filled with fuel, is drawn along Che
ffIf-,~ md f6at, Il i
devices are cartridges intended to be
inserted in the mouths of the ant
holes and to be fired, thus commune
eating sitting vapors. to the subter-
ranean chambers; also many kinds of
lamps for attracting and burning up
the moths of various worms in cotton
fields. There is a toy pistol for in
sects, which sucks them in when the
trigger is pulled.
TO CATCH THE HORN FLY.
An ingenious westerner has invented
trap for catching the horn fly, which
is such an enemy to cattle in some
parts of the country. 1t consists most
Importantly of a great frame, to which
the brush is attached in such a man
ner that when the beasts walk through
ca ger, as they always are, to scratch
themselves, the flies will be scraped
from their bodies by the branches
Finally the frame is closed up by
means of doors and the captured in
sects are destroyed. Nearly everybody
has heard of the gold tapeworm trap,
which the patient swallows. Bedbug
traps are of several varieties, all of
them being intended to afford attrac-
tive hiding places for those bloodsuck-
ers and to be burned or scalded out
afterward
Much ingenuity has been expended in
rat traps. Some of them are so elabo-
rate that no full-witted rat would go
near them. One requires Mr.. Rat to
come in through a door, which drops
behind him and makes him prisoner.
Seeing a bright light above, he ascends
a flight of little steps and trots across
a small plank that is so nicely adjusted
as to balance that his weight causes
it to tip and throw him into a tank of
water. Another contrivance consists
of a double chamber. One chamber
has a glass end, through which Mr.
Rat sees two or three imitation rats
having nice time with a bit of
cheese. Wishing to join them, he runs
around the box, gets into the other
chambers. and is caught.
There are number of devices which
employ mirrors for the purpose of lur-
ing Mr.. Rat to his fate. He mounts on
top of a barrel and sees toothsome
piece of cheese. AS he approaches it,
he beholds another rodent-in reality
his own reflection, in a piece OF look
ing glass-coming for the cheese from
the opposite direction. He makes a
dash to get there first, and a pivoted
board drops him into the cask, which
is half full of water. Rats will swim
for long time, SO one humanitarian
has patented a water trap with little
shelves around the edge and Just
above the surface. On the shelves are
placed small lead weights with fish
hooks hanging from them. The cap
tured rat, in trying to escape, grasps
one Of the hooks. gets fastened in his
mouth, dislodges the piece of lead and
is carried to the bottom by the latter.
TO CATCH THIEVES.
Sparrow traps are of many different
kinds Most of them invite the birds
to walk in through door which drops
behind them making them prisoners.
When next seen, in the restaurant.
they are reed birds on toast. OF
greater interest are contrivances for
catching thieves. One of them is de-
signed to discourage bank sneaks. The
sneak puts his hand through the tel
lers window and unintentionally actu-
ates a mechanism which causes a slide
with spikes to close suddenly upon his
paw and impale it. A trap of similar
character is steel shutter for a house
window so disguised with covering and
fringe helping to hold him fast.
American inventors have been fruit