The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-02-25
NEW Works. RAT DRIVER.
The Rodents Are Coated With Luminous
Paint and Then Turned Loose to Scare
Their Fellows.
(From the New York SUM-


Habitues Of Riverside drive, between
Seventy fifth and Eightieth streets, on
very sunny days have noticed middle
aged man carrying a case, which appears
to be about three feet long by one foot
deep and two feet wide. 1t is apparently
black leather case with an ordinary grip
! handle to the upper part, and the man.
| seeking some unfrequented piece OF WALL
generally one of the embrasures, places
his case on the wall, smokes his pipe anu
loiters around, looking at the ever-chang-
| ing river and it's traffic. If others come
around he moves on, but if not, he may
stay there from two to three hours In the
full sun, He is a rat catcher, or rather a
rat driver. He works only i'll large ware
houses, and does not touch the smaller
dwelling houses or flats. except IN rare
cases.
He is Scandinavian whom notnlng
will warm to conversation but his native
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 rats. If any
one comes near, down go to shades; but
as long as the coast is clear the shades are
up and the rats are running around bask-
| ing in the sunlight. II he takes you INTO
| his confidence, he will tell you that 1t is
with these rats he clears buildings. Inc
other day he said
| "When was living in Stockholm the
large granaries were full OF rats, ana q
| To- Ill
tried Traps were set by the hundred.
One man built room as large as an or
binary parlor, cased it with iron, 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
hundreds. The first man who did this
went into the room with dogs to XIII
| them, and was nearly eaten himself, like
that farmer out West few weeks ago.
The second man starved and then pols-
| oned his, but in a week there were just as
many rats as ever; the supply was mex
haustible from the river and quays. Pols-
oning was no good because OF me % 'g hns
smell, and SO took the matter In hanu.
| 81 thought it over, and finally set q
| tran and caught some rats. Then l tied
| a niece of wire round their necks to which
slung a little tinkling brass bell, and
| then l let the bell ringers loose in the
building they had been caught in. they
knew the runs and Went TO join tnelr
| friends and relatives, who of course ran
| from the bells. The more they ran the
more ran the bell carriers, until the build.
| ing was 'hoodoo' in rat language, and not
| rat would enter.
stIf l could have lured back my bell
carriers oil would have been well; but
| familiarity breeding contempt, the rats
| grew accustomed to them, and in few
months were back again. and as building
after building had been cleared by this
| trick, there was not rat in the city VINO
| did not know Of the bells. Then i tried
| tarrinp some rats with strong smelling
| coal tar which rats cannot bear and Will
avoid if possible and this answered for n
while but a fire occurred, and rat, tar
coated, ran out of the blazing building
with his fur ablaze, and, going into an
other building not i'll danger, set 1t on
| fire-wood gets very dry in those old
buildings over there-and SO an ordinance
was passed prohibiting the use of tar.
81 had made money and came to this
country. did we'll for some years, but
| in the recent depression my capital ran
| short and I failed, SO then l took to clear
| ing business places of rats again, and am
| doing quite well. The first thing is to
learn the lay of the building where the
rats come from. If a grain elevator is
near clear the elevator and trap those in
| the other places. Rats very seldom run
around more than one building, except as
an overflow. Then, having determined
that point, try the tar. then the bell. and
| after that these fellows in the cage. They
are coated with luminous paint, and be-
ing exposed to the sunlight here, can be
taken to building tonight, loosed, and
will fly through the runs, spreading
fear wherever they go. and creating a
stampede. If you have ever seen luni-
nous paint effects you can readily under
stand it. The great beauty OF this plan
is that the rats do not live more than "a
to 4S hours after-a coating with this paint
so the novelty never wears off. 1t Is a
preparation of lime which I discovered
| for myself, and has to be newly made and
mixed like varnish. This closes the
pores of the skin, and after chasing
around to catch up with the flying rela.
tives, the rat liz in a sweat, and that I'm
ishes him, and they never get used to it.
Will rat sweat? Well, you cage rat
and then let terrier roll the cage around
for few minutes, and you will see rat
as damp as if dipped into pail OF water.
got as high as $40 month for keeping
some places in this city clear of rats, and
l work several other cities as we'll. The
only thing I am afraid of is the society
\ prevention of cruelty to animals), but
have nearly made enough to start in my
own business again, and then will cease
rat driving. Sell my business? No;
may want again in this city of ups aud
| downs.
| IN RAD FIX