The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-03-16
HE IS A RAT DRIVER.
LUMINOUS PAINT SUCCEEDS WHERE
EELLs, TAR AND TRAPS FAILED.

gan the business II Stockholm.
Haibtues Of Riverside drive, between
Seventy fifth and Eightieth streets, on
very sunny days have noticed middle
aged man carrying case. which APP
pears to be about three feet long by one
foot deep and two feet wide. Il is ap-
parently black leather case with an
ordinary grip handle TO the upper part,
and the man, seeking some unfrequent-
ed piece of wall. generally one Of the
embrasures, places his case on the wall,
smokes his pipe and loifers around, look
ing at the ever changing river and its
traffic. II others come around, he moves
OH, but If not be may stay there from
two to three Eoars in the full sun he
is rat catcher, or rather a rat driver.
he works only in large warehouses and
does not touch the smaller dwelling
houses or fats except in rare cases.
He is Scandinavian whom nothing
will warn 70 conversation but his ma
tive tongue. His case is wood ON the
back, ends and bottom and wire on the
front and top. There are neat spring
shades which roll down over front and
top In this cage are eight or ten large
rats. If any one comes near, down go
the shades, but as long as the coast is
clear the shades are up and the rats are
running around basking In the sunlight.
If he tpkes You into his confidence, he
win tell you that it is with these rats
he clears buildings The other day he
said:
when / was living in Stockholm,
the large granaries were full of rats,
and reward was offered to clear them.
Many tried Traps were set by the
hundred.
lone man built room as large as an
ordinary parlor, cased it with tin and
fed the rats with oatmeal scented with
oil Of aniseed, gradually laying trains
of this feed to the room until he had all
the rats on string. Then he fitted an
automatic drop to the entrance, and
when his rats were feeding he Gagged
them all. several hundred. The first
man who did this went into the room
with dogs to kill them and was nearly
eaten himself, like that farmer out west
a few weeks ago. The second man
starved and then poisoned his. but in a
week there were just as many rats as
ever The supply was inexhaustible
from tho rivers and quays Poisoning
was no good because of the terrific
smell. and SO took the matter in hand.
Il thought it over and finally set
trap ard caught some rats. Then / tied
a piece CT wire round their necks, to
which l slung q little tinkling brass
bell, and then l let the hell ringers
loose in the building they had been
caught in. They knew the runs and
went to join their friends and relatives.
who cf course ran from the bells The
more they ran the more ran the bell
carriers. until the building was hoo
dco' in rat language and not rat
would enter
"If could have lured back my bell
carriers, all would have been well; but.
familiarity breeding contempt, the rats
grew accustomed to them and in few
months were lack agaiu. and as build
ing after building had been cleared by
NLlH lAlAh luNIG WIS AOb Adl III NbA 1ANf
who did not know of the bells Then
tried tarring some rats with strong
smelling coal tar. which rats cannot
bear and will avoid if possible, and this
answered for awhile. bat a fire occurred,
and rat. tar coated, ran out Of the
blazing building with his fur ablaze
and, going into another building not in
.
dry in those old buildings over there
and so an ordinance was passed prohib-
iting the use Of tar.
81 had made money, aud l came TO
this country. l did well for some years,
but in the depression my capital ran
short and failed; so then / took to
clearing business places of rats again
and am doing quite we'll The first
thing is TO learn the lay of the building
where the rats come from. If grain
elevator is near, clear the elevator and
trap those in the other places Rats very
seldom run around more than one build
ing, except as an overflow. Then, hav-
ing determined that point, try the tar,
then the bell. and after that these fell
lows in the cage They are coated with
luminous paint, and being exposed to
the sunlight hero can be taken to a
building tonight, loosed and will fly
through the runs, spreading fear wher-
ever they go and creating a stampede
II you have ever seen luminous paint
effects, you can readily understand it,
The great heauty of this plan is that tie
rats DO not live more than "a TO IS
hours after coating with this paint, so
the novelty never wears off. 1t is a prep
aration Of lime, which discovered for
myself, and has to be newly made and
mixed like q varnish. This closes the
pores of the skin, and after chasing
around TO catch up with the flying rela-
tiTes the rat is in q sweat, and that fin
ishes him, and they never get used to it.
Will rat sweatf Well, you cage rat,
and then let a terrier roll the cage
around for few minutes, and you will
see a rat as damp as if dipped into a
pail Of water. | get as high as $50
month for keeping some places in this
city clear of rats, and | work several
other cities as well. The only thing am
afraid CT is the society prevention Of
Cruelty to Animals), but | have nearly
made enough to start III my own bust
ness again, and then | viii cease rat
driving. Sell my businessg No, may
want again in this city of ups and
downs New York Sun.