Arizona republican., 1900-11-25
RATS.

They fought the dog and killed the
 cats,
 And bit the babies in the cradles, And ate the cheese out of the vats,
 And licked the soup from the cook
 own ladies.
 Split open the kegs of salted sprats, Made nests inside mems Sunday hats, And evln spoiled the wonen's chats
 By drowning their speaking
 With shrieking and squcaking In fifty different sharps and flats. And out of the house the rats came
 tumbnng,
 Great rats. small rats, lean rats
 brawny rats,
 Brown rats, black rats, gray rats, .taw-
 ny rats,
 Grave old plodders, gay young frisk-
 CTS,
 Families by tens and dozens, Brothers, sist.rs. husbands, wives Followed the piper for their lives.
 Browning.
 William Hawley Smith gives in his Walks and Talks" the following ac- count of rats:
 ''Ncw, chentlemen. efery man must make a liefin' som way, und I makes by rats. I don't get so werry rich by it. but I chensrally manage to got along butty we'll. Der way I makes it, I gives a rat show; und I don't sharge 1t he can give my rats vat he bleases,
 
 Now of you stands a leedle pack, chentlemen-poys. got back on the sidevalks.-I show you vat I got in dis pox.
 He was a grimy faced Bohemian. and while he was making the little speech just quoted, he stood in the open street, a few feet from the curbstone, and immediately in front of the post office. to which the people were flock ing for their morning mail.
 While he spok-' d crowd of curious men and boys gathered about him, and by the time he had finished his open ing remarks they were beginning to press in upon him quite closely, He waved them back to the sidewalk and fhsn proceeded to mal1s ready for his performance.
 He first spread out tripod which stood about shoulder high, and on this placed an obi0ng box which was about tw2 feet long, one foot wide and per- haps nine inches high. From ons end of this box he riggcd an extension in the shape of a platform about four feet long and a foot wide. This was the rt-Ioi J,i ently to appear, and on which their p5r- formance was to be given.
 Having completed these arrange ments. he opened the end of the box which Was near st the platform. In Stantly there was a rush from within and a dozen or more of rats poured themselves cut on the narrow stage They were of all ages and sizes, sons gray and some white, but all-rats ThSy scurried along the board and over the box, sniffing the air. and now and then stopping to gag at the crowd.
 Presently some of them began to climb over the edge of the box ana to let themselves down to the ground by means of the legs of the tripod. Once on terra firma they scampered over the paving stones and ran toward the peo- pie standing about, who immediately bsgan to retreat. Then the master of spoke again, this time ad- dressing the rats:
 Ha! ha! take care, dere! Don't scare der boobies! Come! Come!" And at this request the rats ran back to where their master stood and formed into d circle all about him.
 'Und now ve viii gif der boobies T leedle show. Come, Blondin. und let me sse if you can walk dot dight rope across Niagara yet"
 Then the rat called Blondin climbed up one of the poles and mounted the rope. He cautiously crept across it from end to end, having done which he ran down the other pole to the plat form. sniff5d toward the crowd and then ambled away into the boy, much as pretty 'elocutionist reader" would smile, and make a little bow, and then trot off into the wings of ths. stage af- ter she had made a hit with the hCuse and while the clapping of hands was at its height
 This was the: "-perinS, and after is there followed much more that was quite as clever. The rats marched across the platform in single file, anJ by twos and fours, even as we have seen the knights of this or that parade themselves on St. Som body's day One fired a pistol and another rang a bell, while a third turned a crank of q zmall music box. It was a good show and well worth the pennies, nickIcs and dimes that were presently sought from