Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1897-06-24
LETTERS TO THE NICE.
The Asetest Greek Method of Hid
ding Fields OF the P~.s.

\ fallacy entertained by many people
regarding mice is that house cats will
Kill them This belief is proved every
day to be erroneous A mouse trap is
a more sure and less troublesome meth
od Of putting the pantry's infe..ers to
death House cats. as time goes BY. are
changing Formerly they were active
by day and vigilan, by night. The
tendency of improved civilization Is &c
make them sleepy BIZ day and rovers
by night They have their whirns now
adays. requiring considerable atten-
ton Perhaps the superior intelligence
OF the Martians will make them useful
Cats in Mars may talk for anything I
know. and mice in Mars may be so
large that they hunt the cats. Both
possess some intelligence. and both
have folklore.
The probability is that the use of
cats as mice eNterminators is eompar-
atively modern and custom that origi-
mated in the occident- The story OF
Whittington's cat indicates that cats
were scarce articles in the rat-infe<ted
islands Of the east where the London
i captain traded At the time the cat sold
for four chests Of gold No one who
likes cats and reads the story at this
late day can refrain from 4 slight feel
ing Of disappointment at whittington's
parting with his cat. He might not
have been lord mayor Of London if he
had saved his feline friend from the
fiery sun and high-spieed meats of
Cathay. but the chances are that he
would have come To the frost with
meldIing with politics.
The Greeks were Internationally
overrun with mice and Bishop Hattie
had troubles Of his own with the ratS.
The latter hari-hesrted prelate los;
wealth. dignity and life. but the Greek.
had n peaceable and genflsrianly meth
cd of dealing with nice that ! rattle.
unique When cellar OF granary
was overrun with mice. the Greek sus-
perStition dictated that letter be writ
ten in large readable ancient Greek
characters. with these words:
Il adiure yoU, ye nice. ROW present
neither TO iniure me nor TO let Others
do 50 ] give you yonder field tspeei
tying one no, too far ..f) and If ever
| catch you here swear by the mother
Of the gods will tear you in sever
pieces"
The paper containing these word.
was TO be placed on large rock IL
the field with the writing uppermosr
1t was believed TO be eficaeioUs. anC
no doubt there were cases that could b
pointed to in proving the proposition.
People OF the present day, after wag
ing fruitless and Intellectual wal
against the rats with poison and ice
picks. sometimes try writing letters 4
! them after the style of the Greek let
ter, although not in the same words
| have n case on unimpeachable aalthori
". told me last week. Ii occurred il
Milwaukee \ housekeeper on Grans
avenue found that there were man,
rats in the cellar and storeroom. Sh.
wrote n letter addressed to the rats
! politely calling their attention to III,
, fact that their presence in the hoasl
: was a great inconvenience. The lettei
POINTED out that there was a feed sror,
D in the next block where they woul,
! attain better results with less work
! Finally, the letter requested the rats ..
: go. as a personal favor. The Ieturr wa
laid on the lower cellar stair one nigh,
Next day the rats had disappeared. an.
D were seen no more. Ny informant di,
not profess TO believe that the rats wer,
] accommodating enough TO move thei
: quarters because they understood tina
a she wanted them TO do So Her theory
a was that seeing the white paper on III.
. stair and taking il into their heads i
might be some new warlike strarag~r
directed against them. the rat. se~ne,
\ discretion the better part of valor ans
! left the place Rats, like all the 70
dents. are extremely sn<piciocs.-MiI
waukee Sep.ineL