Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-10-29
RAT CATCHER BILL.
AN ODD NEW YORK CHARACTER
 TALKS OF HIS PROFESSION.
The Business Has Gone to the Dogs, Meta phoricaliy speaLins-Tn the Good old Days Before the s. r. c. A.-Ths Pro lessor Tell. Son,cfhInr- of His Nicthn,is.

lessor Tells Something of His Methods.
 There are but six professional rat Catchers in New YorE city, and only two of these have regular places of busi- ness. The profession has gone to the dogs. This statement, while used as a metaphor. is also a paradox. As mat ter of fact. the business has not gone to the dogs, but simply declined because the state laws against rat batting are very severe and are rigidly enforced by the officers of the $. P. c. 4.
 In the "good old days" there was money in rst catching. The professor, " armed with his lantern and tongs and accompanied by a humble apprentice to ''hold the bag" would sally forth and make an arrangement with some restaurant or stable proprietor to relieve the premises of a portion of its popula- tion of rodents at so much per rat, gen. orally "l0 cents per. An hour later these same rats would figure in some Center street or Bowery pit as objects of the prowess of some fancy black and tan or rough haired terrier, the admir- ing owner of it cheerfully paying % cents each, or five for q, for them. William \. Heitlcr, who claims to be tho original Bill the Rat Catcher" title gained in Is years service with Harry Jennings whose memory is kept green among ''the fancy" said. in dis cussing the decadCuce of his profession:
 Tho business isn't what it used to be. Then we made our own terms and made money at both ends. Then we dealt with the people direct. Now We -s0f. st. flat is ovcrrun with rats, the tenant threatens to move. Then the agent writes on postal card, Bill. rid this fiat of rats That is mostly daylight work. l go up to the flat and set my traps and keep a-setting them until there isn't anything to catch.
 Don't you use ferrcts:'
 "Yes, l use fvrrets in my business, but not in flat houses. Don't you know that rat killed by ferret is just the same as poisoned rat under the floor or in tho wall? l sell ferrcts, but what good are they? Now, when we clean out l n flat, why. then. We sell the lady some stuff to keep them out. IL does the work all right, only it drives them into some ! other flat.
 The real art in this hero profession is night work. IL ain't really what you would call artistic, but it k moro like sleight of hand In the daytime yOu go to tho place and go all over the halls and nail pieces of tin over most of the holes. A house is to the rats just like a town is to people. There arc avenues and alleys.
 Now. just imagine that some night a lot of policemen would start from the North river and the East river. simul- tancuu>likr. and chase everybody into Broadway, aud then st 'cm all go | ing tu the Battery. Well, that's the way we do with rItS. We plug up all | the ends of the >: q streets. you might say, and g,t them cu to a Broadway. I We do this ly turning several fer rcts loose tD str them up. The cellar Is whcru want th,.m. There l am with my little hullsvvc lantern and my long | tuugS The Tat ~tIT;. ICr,,~S tho floor. l hear him and til.h tiI" lanterns. The minute tn ,"Uud light II .; strikes him he comes tu dead S;anl~till. Hr $, vm> paralyZcd, :.pd Eo wun't move under five seconds. Then l. rv chance.
 If l want tn save h:m tn try a dug with. reach fnrwmJ. and with rly tongs grab him ly the ;AiI. II | t,I [ want a livr rL'-.nd in IT. ain'i Iauch | call for them nnw-I lr,,k las Lack with the tong.
 The biggest nights work lever done was killing VGu rats at WllIard's hotel ! ill Washington. When l got through that job, felt like proposing to the government to rid the wharvcs and docks of the country of rats Now, that is all tn, rc k tr rat catching. The work isn' dangerous. except when you tackle the ratS on shin. When the Spanish training ship was here, l took lj6 rats off her. They were not like the house rats We ha:,. here They were slim and gray, with tLils twice as long aS their 1 bodies. They Were as active as monkeys
 ''To give yuu an idea. l have a lit tlc dog that has killed 70 rats in Is minutes. Iput :o Of these ship rats into pit with him. and at the end uf 90 minutes he had only killed seven. They did not fight him, but they simply kept out of his way. jumping over him when he wo!.ld rush.
 "But, aa was a-sayinG, the time was when a r,t catcher had money to burn l5w.lS a dull night that ho didn { clear hi+ $2I or S31. Now he cLn | make that iH We k ill the busy season. including wh"; hc EotS for trimming dogs cars, ceiling fcrrcts and things like that When you have to deal with real estat" uG,r.tS, yuu ain't going to get none the h.St tf il. "
 Did yOu ever tIy the scheme of bell ing raj? Th,y say that will scare all tho other rJts away
 II only know this: If you put bell on a rat, hc will L. found dead in the ! walls inside of two days. It isI..y hc- lief that the uthlr r.,ts kill him; but, say, if vuu cvtc want to sir mp r..I colony. catch one old fellow. smear hinl with phosphorous paste and send him on his travels.
 "In the winter l sell great many live rats % the medical colleges. They use them in experiments. There is big tannCry over i'll Newark that gives : cents apiece for rat hides. The skin must be perfect, however.
 "The least tear makes it no good, and it is hardly worth while skinning them, so many are rejected. They tan the skin soft, like kid. and tan it with tho hair on. The skins are not used to make kid gloves They told me the last time took l2 dozen over there that they were used for lining gloves. New York World.
 Mcssroom Pun.