Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1901-07-12

The Rodents Ara the Medium by Which
Pchi ilsnce Is Spread.

rat Is a danger to the world at large. u
Is more than probable that it is respon-
sible for the wide distribution of the
pestilence and its appearance In i'm
probable and Isolated places. Indian
coolies, who now go out to work on in
denture in distant and tropical British
possessions, may have taken 1t to Cape
Town. But the outbreak in an island
like Mauritius, surrounded by the In
dan ocean. looks very much like case
of rat-carried plague, and the sickening
of Lascar sailors on board ship, and
pther instances, like that lately record
ed as Spontaneous in one of the in
land Cape Colony towns, are probably
due to the same cause. The year 1895
was noted rat year. In 1898 and 1899
there was a plague of the creatures in
the open and cultivated parts of Nor
folk. They are supposed to have como
up from the fen when flooded in the
winter and spread over the hedges,
banks and covers Of the noted game
estates of the northwest corner of the
county. On one estate, the keepers
were reluctant to go down to a partlcu-
1arly rat-haunted wood by night, DIS
liking the numbers and proximity OF
the vermin in the dark, when most bold
and active.
In London they are only found a
great rumbers/in the docks and lower
down the river at Deptfod, where the
foreign cattle are slaughtered on dis
embarkation. Elsewhere the London
cats, and especially those prime enemies
of rats. the homeless classes of Lon
don cats. keep up such vigorous and
successful war upon them that the trade
of rat-catcher has become instlnce IN
the metropolis, though it is not long
since when the "rat-catcher to the Prln-
cess Amelia" advertised his business,
and took precedence in the trade as one
of the humble but necessary ministers
of royal comfort Even the riverside
rats are decreasing, owing to the clean
Illness of the river.
Formerly the amount of unchecked
and uncleansed sewage poured INTO tne
Thames was incredible, and with 1t az
equally incredible proportion of foul
food for yermin (mainly rats) to de-
your. in which they did service by prs-
venting the dirty and disgusting indif-
ference of the community at large fron'
making the river absolutely putrld' In
mouths of the London sewer outla"S
were haunted by the thousands OF the
vermin, whose appearance at low lice
was awaited as one of the curioslties Oh
riverside scenery.
If anyone doubts the encouragement
which Indifference to sanitary waste
gives to all parasitic animals, he might
do worse than pay visit on winter
day to one of the pumping stations
by the London river whence cleanse
sewage effluent is still poured into inc
stream. The stuff from the drains
greatly diluted and mixed with cheu'-
icals. is passed at considerable speeo
through three or four tanks before se@'
fling Over these tanks the gulls ve'y
harmless scavengers compared VIII
vote collect in dense flights. incessanti!
dining into and settling on the io"
water. many hundreds on each SINAI
tank feeding on the floating refuge a"c
fighting and struggling to find a place
+ Mutatis mutandis, reading rats ID
i, "gulls," and taking the sewage refuS'
of a population of 100000 as the tot'
tbe rats had to deal with, some idef
NAV be formed of their functions mr.!
a years ago.
This country at least might rid itse'
of the rat. 1t has no useful place II
nature as nature is understood here
Nothing would suffer by its absence.
has not even the partial merits OF tn'
. sparrow to compensate for its desyruc
tiyeness. Sentiment, which says some
thing in favor of nearly every othc
living creature, has not regret lett u
= the gray rat. 1t excites more Just re
nulsion than any other creature Il
" Europe. All domestic animals loathe u
Horses will not sleep in rat-haunte'
stables. but kick and fidget all nlgH
dogs Of every class detest it. 1t IS u
enemv of all birds 1t drove away u
- last of the black terms from the mars
- IN which they nested in Norfolk, ar
l. sucked the eggs of the flnches and wa
> hlers in our gardens. 1t spoiis az
" fouls grain in theestack, destroys pota
toes and mangolds in the earth clamp
% where they are stored for the w'ntfi
rohs the nests of all wild fowl or orna
menta, waters. drives away rabbits al:
game and causes more damage TO u
u nuthuildings of farms and large countf
~ bouses than damp and rain combined
II is an economic loss in every sens
and now that it has proved to be a pos
70 tive menace to human health as wei
a Il should. if possible, be improved o