The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1900-08-04
THE PROFESSIONAL
RAT CATCHER,
Now is the Time When he Plies his
Strange Vocation at.llom and
Abroad, .s,,

While rat CATCHING ia Il profession
that is well known in id7Ey' parts OF
| Europe. Ii is seldom 4 fcWsf as an oc-
| cupation In this cou.tly. rhe rat
| catcher Is an uncanny sort 81 pc son
| and, IL rumor IS to be believed III" rats
fear him as men fear ghosts. II Is he
| who knows the mastcjin VOID at the
| sound of which their hearts ,hump
| against their ribs aSd both whiskers
| and tails stand cut straight and culver
with superstitlOuS fear. Poison and
| traps to a well educated rat are merely
unpleasant incidents 10 b. carefully
| avoided.
To them the cat is not an object of
dread, hutethe rat catcher is quite an
other thing ,Tp-doy there are men in
.the business Who iViil guarantee that
a house which they have freed of rats
will remain clear during IN entire rat
generation. which IA about five years.
In other words. 50 long as the memory
OF the Oldest wiisketcd graEdsre will
endure the evil ltt,r creatures Will
avoid that house a. Il 20 enter it meant
certain death.
1t is supposed that they have been
told the stories Of teri ible monster
who fell upon their pa'ontr g night
and charmed them, while T. d.,
them This NAY or may rot l.. lie
true expianatinL Of the rHyetery, but
the tact remains tha '7use exerts
some irilucrce so great mat even the
nieAt foolish young rats do not dare 10
penetrate the walls of the dreaded
building.
plague of rats IL ono az the worst
evils that can beset mankind. Rats
are repulsive a best, and nearly every
body is afraid of them. In fact, the
rodent probably has more enemies than
any other animal on earth. and yet
they manage to increase with rapid
ity that would put most animals TO
shame.
If anyone should wonder how it is
that the rat manages to do this he can
satisfy his curiosity by taking spade
sad digging out a rat hole almost any
day az fh,s tinis Of year. The months
from March ! 10 October ere the fam
lily rearing times. and during this ne
riod three broods are usually sent out
to begin their predatory existence.
II the man with the spade succeeds
in reaching the end of the hole he will
probably uncover family of young ro-
dents averaging from twelve to fifteen |
in number. Taking twelve nestlings as
the average family, every pair of old |
rats will present to the world each year |
about thirty-six of their kind. In view |
of this fact it is comparatively easy to |
calculate the probable increase in the |
rat population. and it is certainly a
wonder that there have not been rat |
plaques in some of the American cities. |
If such a thing should occur there is
some satisfaction IN lsnswigg that at
least portion of the bounty paid out |
to the rat catchers could be recovered |
by the sale of the tails themselves.
A few months ago Professor E. L. |
Jones, of Cumberland, Md, announced |
that he had found use for rat tails, |
~, more properly speaking, for the fine
.endons win which the tails are
equipped. fhess' he empIqys as suit
res, as catgut is eInpioysH fbr 'sewing
he edges of wounds or deep incisions
n the Aesh after PuFgical operations.
FOR many XII, 2l suFsleel work the
atgut has been too 0atse, .S Sspr rs'ii N
he case of operations IN '"e region ot
he eye, and it is in this kim III 9eti
ate work that the rat tendons can W
pplied.