The Oskaloosa herald., 1900-09-20
DEAN OF OSKALOOSA
A Writer of Fiction Making Cur
Town Famous.

A writer of fact and fiction in the
New York Journal has accepted the
o de plume of"Dean of 0~skaloosan
and is making IA town famous at
home and abroad. While at New
York Mr. Elvyn Ninde met the gen.
tleman who is known by that name.
The writer says that years ago he
heard the name "Oskaloosa'' and he
became so fascinated with it that he
decidedto attach it to his literary pro-
auctions. The following story is ac-
copied by the Journal as it isvouched
for by the "Dean of O~skaloosa:"
"Since the days of Pharaoh ,one time
King of Egypt, no animal has been
more written about and discussed in
all languages than the old familiar rat.
The latest story comes to hand from
Singapore, that terrestrial paradiee
of the East where winter is unknown
and the native jinrickshaw is still the
fashionable means of locomotion.
Singapore is the port in the Straits of
Malacoa, where the homeward and
outward bound mail steamers meet on
their voyage from Japan to London
and vice versa.
One of the great sights is to stroll
down on the wharyes in the cool of
the evening when the big steamers
have stopped working and watch the
rats changing ships. Those that come
down from Yokohama go on board
the outward bound steamers by means
of the big warps by which the ship is
moored, and the London rats ship ON
the homeward boat, taking their bag
gage with them.
On the Sd of April two small steam
ers were alongside the wharf, and
astern of them lay a Dutch schooner
laden with cheese. The captain of
the outward boat was sitting in his
cabin about 8 O'Clock in the evening,
when the quartermaster knocked at
the door and informed him that the
passengers were coming up the after
gangway with their baggage. The
captain said:
There must be some mistake, quar-
termaster; they are not ordered
aboard till z in the morning. How
ever, you had better tell the baggage
master and the chief steward Il mus
ter his staff, for as long as they are
mere we must take them on board
Accordingly the hands we're mus
tered aft to receive passengers, and to
their surprise they found out that it
vas only a big crowd of Chinese rats
walking upthe gangway with a cheese
under each forepaw. which they had
raided from the Dutch schooner At
first the officer in charge ordered the
men to get the rifles from the wheel
house and load the Maxim guns to
attack the rats en- masse and slaythem
ruthlessly, but on second thought he
told them to stand by and watch the
further proceedings.
Arriving on deck, the rats took ne
notice Of the sailors, but went to the
open batch and proceeded to form a
chain, so that they could lower the
cheeses safely into the hold, a depth
of forty feet. A very big rat, who
seemed to be the chief mate Of the
crowd, twisted his tail round an iron
stanchion and got a firm grip, the next
rat twisted his tail round the body of
the big fellow, and the others fol-
lowed in succession until a complete
chain was formed that reached to the
lower deck.
D The remainder of the rats rolled the
cheeses up carefully and passed them
into the forepaws of the first rat, who
loweredtbem gently down to the next
one, and 80 on till all the cheeses were
safely slowed away. The chain gang
then broke away and hauled them.
selves up over each other after the
approved method of acrobats and then
went to their lairs rejoicing,
After it was all over the baggage
master wiped his heated brow with 4
banana leaf and said, We'll, this beats
me, boys
To msnythis story will appear rath-
err doubtful, but it is given on the
authority of no less a person than the
Dean of Oskaloosa, that sainted man
who did such good work among the
Houla Houla Indians"