Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1894-04-07
AN ALASKA PRODUCT.
A Rats Nest Large Enough to Fill
 Freight Car

Rats Nest Large Enough to Fill a
 Freight Car.
 For queer and unusual article of freight rats nest can hardly be eX- celed, especially the nest of wood rat that was built by those strange little animal architects in far-off Alas ka. and which was shipped from San Francisco recently in 8 freight car to the Smithsonian institution at Wash ington. Only one available car for the purpose could be found, So large and cumbersome was the nest, it being ap- proximately cone-shaped, seven feet in height, and with an irregular broad base, ten feet wide at one end and about six feet at the other. With its crate of light framework it weighed nine hundred and eighty pounds, and a big New York Central furniture ear with wide doors and high roof solved the problem of shipment.
 Of course, neither the wood rat nor his nest is a very uncommon sight, but the one in question is, however, on ac- count of night and size and, like many other nests of these rats is most in- teresting sight to many who have never seen one of them, and a study to every body for the intelligence and design displayed in its construction.
 The nest at the first glance is appar ently huge pile of small branches, twigs, leaves and grasses imbedded in clay and hard, dry Jumps in chunks of mud. The odor of dry grasses and dull, whitish mud or clay predominate, and on close inspection it could be seen that the little Alaskan rodents had evi dently laid every twig and piece of wood and every bunch of grass and leaves with a nicety and according to a well-defned plan that would cause the winds and rains and the storms to beat against it without avail. AS is their practice, it has been built up against number of small trees stand ing close together in a dense under brush, and it's sides were solid, com pact and waterproof.
 At the narrow end of it's base or foundation was a small opening or door into this tiny castle, where proba- bly, couple of hundred rats were want to make their home. It was no doubt big enough for that purpose, be- cause the inside of the nest was filled with a large number of pounches or little rooms, each one leading from an opening and upon rude climbing and winding stairway clear up to the apex of the nest The pounches are all lined with soft grasses and leaves, and some of them had lot of fur or hair in them, for these little animals often pull out their own fur to make warm beds for their young. They have been known to pull their fur from their bodies by the mouthfuls in order to fit up the pounches as snugly as possible for their young. and this had evident ly been done by some of the rats that had occupied the nest in question, judging by the amount of fur in it, San Francisco Examiner.
 - ind my lessons in bread-making have saved us many dollars But I thought you couldn't eat it, you said?'' We don't, but can make playthings for the baby out of it, and they never break or wear out. t."-Inter-Oeean.
 -Ranger--"How did your crops turn out last year?' Granger = "Poorly. We had nearly two months of continn- ous rain. What do you suppose we would be likely to raise under such conditions?n Ranger-s.U U mbrellas. - Yonkers Gazette.
 My son" said MT Binks, with a frown, MT. Waldorf tells me he was hit behind the ear with piece of putty this morning. Were you the boy that threw that piece of putty?" ..I can not say, papa,' said Willie. Pieces of putty are so much alike that I doubt if I could identify mine. ]" And then the old man took the boy upstairs and ad- , ministered a few loye-taps -Harper's Bazar.
 Two Consciences. Let's go up on this side of the street." said one man to another at Woodward avenue and Jefferson. "No," was the repIy q owe bill at a place just above here. and l can't comfortably go along the side of street where owe anything 2 ssWhew!'' exclaime-. the first man, If felt that way I'd have to take to the