Arizona republican., 1903-09-13
TO KEEP noNcOosE OUT
The Little Animal Is Barred by the
 United States Government.

Since the annexation of Hawaii. Por- to Rico and the Philippines to the United States customs officials in every port of entry in this country have re- ceived repeated and urgent orders to maintain vigilant lookout for several varieties of undesired birds and uuad- rupeds, says a Washington special to the New York Tribune.
 The alien of the animal kingdom against which the most rigid exclusion is enforced is the mongoose. Upon no consideration is this creature allowed to land from foreign ports or even to be shipped from one part of American territory to another.
 To carry this prescription into effect two cabinet officers are invoking the far reaching power of their departments. Secretary Wilson has convinced Secre- tary Shaw that the coming of the mon goose would be as great a menace to American prosperity as would be the unrestricted advent of anarchists or paupers. The secretary of the treasury, therefore, working in cooperation with the secretary of agriculture, has issued the strictest orders to see that no mon goose is put down alive on American soil.
 The sweeping character of the order and the evident determination on the part of Secretary Wilson and Secretary Shaw to exact its enforcement have created on the part of minor officials an eager desire for information con- corning the animal in question. A num- Der of inquiries have come from GUS toms officials asking what sort of a bird" the mongoose is, so that they might be able instantly to arrest any attempt to smuggle it into this coun- try.
 Instructions now have gone forth so that officials who thought that the mon- goose was some sort of a predatory bird shall be able to identify the quadruped and to understand why the government required that it should be killed in- stantly upon arrival.
 Should the mongoose get a foothold in the United States" said Dr. T. A Palmer, of the hospital survey, "it would work the greatest possible calam- l ity to the farming industry of the country
 The mongoose Is a native of India The ichneumon of Egypt. which com- mends itself to the inhabitants along 1 the Nile because of its appetite foI crocodile eggs, is a member of the same | family. In India the mongoose is held in high esteem. for it is unequalled as a devourer of rats, and to accomplish this purpose is dcmesticated in thous- ands of Hindoo homes.
 Moreover, though it is small ami mai it does not hesitate to attack large and venomous reptiles, invariably caus- | ing their death. It is popularly believ- ed in India that the mongoose while fighting snakes chews the root of the OphiorhiZa mungos (regardad Gs an an. tidote for snake bites), and that it i: l thus rendered immune. Scientists however. say that it's success in con- tests with snakes is due to it agility.
 A few years ago the mongoose Wa: | imported into the island of Jamaica tC see what the animal would do toward the extermination of sugar cane rats | Before long the island numbered thou sands of them and rats were practical! exterminated, but, nevertheless, crop: were found to be ravaged. Like condi tions obtained in Porto Rico and tht Hawaiian Islands. where the mongoost had been tried as an experiment. No long ago the United States governmen | sent scientists to investigate. It ha! been found that the mongoose include! in its work of eXtermina ton the bird.
 that live on crop destroying insects.
 "The result is," said Dr. Palmer. "tha
 the devastation of the crops caused b,
 the insect pests in some parts of thes' islands where no birds survive has beer almost complete
 The mongoose lives in holes in thu ground. and is nocturnal in its ways Being quick and cautious, it is extreme ly difficult to shoot or trap it. Recent ly Dr. FleXner, the toXicologist of tn,
 university of Pennsylvania, imported two mongooses for the purpose of eX perimenting upon them with poisonous snakes. He was confronted by tn governments order. but the scientist of the department of agriculture wish
 ed, if possible, to have the experiment.