The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-13
Rhrs HOLD TEE FORT.
Refuse to ne Rented sy Dos or Cas ana Get
Drunk ana steal NighMy.

Within a stones throw of Sixth avenue, where
Broadway CROSSES that thoroughfare at Thirty.
fourth street, there is . two-story frame building
which Is overrun by rats. Tho building Is an
old one, and up to three month"; ago It had been
unoccupied for some time.
On the ground floor OF the building Is a saloon.
The second floor Is used as o reception room,
where mon and women may sit and drink.
When the present occupant OF the building
started his saloon his bartenders were mystiled
every morning by the disappearance Of eggs
that had been left under the bar at closing time.
They couldn't imagine where tho eggs went to
until q rat was seen eating one Of the shells.
When the eggs were put out Of their reach the
rats turned loose on the sugar. Lump and pow
dcred sugar disappeared in surprising guam
titles. 1t was kept In small wooden boxes
screwed to the top OF the bar. and the rats bit
through the boxes. Raines law lunch began to
vanish through a hole In the rear of q big Ice
box. To get into the ice-box an inside casing OF
zinc had to be gnawed through.
After finding that all tho food left over night
in the leo box had been stolen or made unfit for
use, the proprietor Of tho saloon concluded that
he would get rid Of his unwelcome guests. He
got q female cat from o friend who gave her q
long pedigree as an exterminator Of rats. The
cat entered on her now duties. and for two days
the rats seemed to have selected q new homo.
Then the cat gave birth to three kittens, and she
was kept busy caring for them and forgot the
rats. Three days after the kittens appeared one
was stolen by the rats. The next night another
ters met a ike tsto a day or two later. " Finally IN
the rats tackled the old cat. In the early morn
Ing her ss as% %., 9 SsSIy T Sist tSu aSoS on thu the n ssFrG sna
pieces OF her fur were scattered about the floor.
There was not any evidence that any Of the rats
One Of the bartenders oyns a bulldog named
Jim. Jim 10 an ugly-looking brute and his temper
jim hates more than other dogs It Is rats. There.
fore Jim,s owner thought rats would be scarce
II the bulldog was Installed in the saloon.
closed for the night. Early in the, morning,
when Jim was placed on guard, people passing
s iSS saloon. q EsGy A rs * s Sin lis fssh Il ~as * RR. sas 4 fG iTs'
to see what he was after. II one looked closely
he would make out the forms Ct big rats close
pear. Every little while a rat would run acros,
the the rS SssT %ere quicker nHS G es and s g. sRs % 1%inS0s Eo M1,
Jim was badly ratified. The rata, seemed tc
reTTGpg reg .S this fact Ct, for srt they grey ~ s old q; n,.,.
rat: and { was such : costly Killing that %iH
was, srst. seen on the sidsboard behind the bar
hanked by glassware and unopened. bottles Of
iisIn It spp saR ssR Sss ts the d fsti rs sRRERsFGfn thsst f he ' %a1
getic. With his business eye on the RAJ
his tormentors on the floor. Getting in a direcl
line with the rat on the sldeboard, however
Jim made q mighty effort. sgrang over the bal
glassware. followed BY growls and the squeal
thorough one the dos carried the dead body Of thu
rat to the middle of the floor, Crouching dowr
He was still on guard when tho saloon wa
The. cost Of getting rid of that one rat wa
something over $50. and the proprietor of tn,
saloon figured that he would be bankrupt q
that rate before half of the rats had been killed
The rats in this saloon are confirmed topers
Beer is their, favorite beverage, and they wal
low in the beer trough every night. Many o
the rats have been killed because they were to,
drunk to get to their retreats. The beer the,
drink seems TO increase their appetites, AMI
consequently raids on the free lunch are NOR
frequent. A whole cheese has been eaten In
night, and meats go as quickly.
Poison was resorted to-, but ono experiment
put an end TO that line of battle. The poisol
was sprinkled on a piece Of cheese. but only on
rat nibbled 1t. This one died in the wall, an,
three days after his demise the wall had to b
torn out.
The owner is afraid to clean the bar trougl
nights for fear the rats would bite through tn
beer pipes to get their supply Of intoxicants.