The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1900-02-02
SLAUGHTER OF HAMsTERS.
How the Destructive Little Rodent
Came from China to Germany
and France.

The farmers around Berlin recently
presented themselves at one of the pub
lie buildings with evidence that they
had killed so, 600 hamsters in six months,
and received the reward offered for
the destruction of these harmful ro-
dents. The hamster is a sturdy little
animal related to the rat, with large
appetite for grain and thrifty habit
of storing considerable quantities in
his hole for future consumption. His
skin is of some value and as there is
price on his head, and the grain he
steals and caches is worth recovering,
there is little profit in hunting him.
There are too many hamsters, and, like
the surplus population of Europe, he
tries to remedy the evil by emigration.
He has only recently appeared in GER
and the reception he has met would
grieve him if he were at all sensitive.
There is, just now, loud appeal for
drastic measures to stop the invasion,
and it is little wonder that the ravages
and fecunditiy of the animal have
alarmed the thrifty farmer folk, who
leave not kernel of grain for the
CLEANER when they reap their fields
and, much less desire to support ham
sters.
The hamster Is native of the Chi
nese empire and his overland journey
to the Atlantic has taken great many
years. He travelled by slow stages to
the southern part of Siberia, then
made his way across Russia, and final
ly appeared in the domain of the Ger
man, emperor. The French include him
among theaevils of the Franco-Prussian
war. They say he never crossed the
Rhine until he saw great masses of
men and horses marching to the west.
He followed after them to see what was
going on, was pleased with the country
and has never rejoined his brethren to
the east.
This is not the first time that an in
vasion of rodents has been attributed
to marching army. The famous re-
mark of Marquis de Cherville that
the only enduring result of the Napo-
leonic wars was the introduction to the
west of the Persian rat was not intend
ed merely as witticism. 1t is we'll
authenticated fact that the troops who
were hurried westward from the steppes
of Asia and the plains of eastern Rus
sia to take part in those gigantic
struggles were followed by many thou
sands of gray or Persian rats that for
aged in the deserted camps and found
good living in unconsidered trifes.
The marquis might have added that
these formidable eastern rodents were
more thorough scourge in their way
than were the Visigoths and Vandals,
for they almost extinguished the race
of the black rat which they supplanted
in the west.
But the Persian animal had really Sc
cured lodgment in the west long before
Russian soldiers marched against Ma
poleon. In early times the people of
western Europe knew none of these
rodents except the mouse, but during
these crusades vessels from the orient
brought the black ratsto Europe, and
the gray rat came to England as a
stowaway on merchant vessels about
1870 and was introduced into this coun-
try, or was first observed here, in 1775.
The American chapter in his history
thus dates from the year before the
declaration of Independence. This spe-
cies is to-day the common rat the world
over, for it is stronger and more ag-
gressive than the black or brown rat,
and has supplanted those animals in
almost every country.
1t is possible to keep noxious rodents
within bounds, but ii is very difficult
to exterminate them. AT present the
hamster is giving most trouble. He
advances slowly, but seems TO keep
every region he adds to his domain. His
presence was not severely felt in east
ern France till three years after the
German invasion, and he was not OBJ
served in Belgium till 1878. Ten years
later the Belgian minister of agricul-
ture offered bounty for his destruc-
tion, but in spite of the war upon him
the animal has held his own and pushed
further afield, defying the Belgian min
lister by invading cantons he had not
yet preempted, and then attacked
France on the Belgian as well as the
French side. He is a hard problem to
SOt'O, anu ali lHdI can De uOn6 seems 10
be 10 earn as much bounty money
as possible.
The far east is the grandfather of
the west, and very large part of liv-
ing things, including man and much
vegetation, has been traced from the
orient to the occident. There are ex-
ceptions, however, to this general law
of migration, and the latest that has
come to notice is the case of the little
insect pest known as the .jigger, which
reached the west African coast in sail
ing vessel from Brazil In 1872 and ar
rived at the Indian ocean last year,
having crossed the continent in the
equatorial regions, 2,70O miles, in 26
years, travelling from west to east.-N.
Y. Sun.
Bird ChRFmerA In Paris.
One OF the prettiest Partisan sightsis
thot Of ba hsV.J olar Al. ~.