The sun., 1906-05-06
TRAPS MI SKRATS FOR 4 LIVING.
queer Business Of Chicago Wan AlOng
Lake Calumet.
From ne Chitaoo Daiiy Nors,

FROM me tHtcdOo DdhB NtnH,
Frederick Arndt. bachelor and philoso-
pher. has found way TO fortune through
a Chicago muskrat farm and Is busily en-
gagged In the bigge harvest OF muskrat
pelts ever gathered within the confines OF
Americas second city. Arndt is believed
TO be the only man in the country farming
for muskrats. and he is surely one of the busi-
est men that ever ran any kind OF farm.
Night and day he labors, the click. click
Of his sharp steel traps sounding up and
down the marshy shores Of Lake Calumet
all night and the splash of his oars daytmes
telling tales OF his energy in the harvest.
Arndts acres OF muskrat families lie along
the northern end OF the big round lake on
Cbicagos southern border. All along the
shore are their colonies, where little ones
may be reared in safety. protected on all
sides by half mile Of bog and wallow. i'm
penetrable TO human kind There the musk
rat tribes are born. grow. live fight and die.
for those conditions form the cycle OF muskrat
existence.
Out In the middle OF the marsh land Arndt
built his cabin. He gave up the world and
its ways. Winter and summer he lived alone;
cold and heat were alike 10 him. He fshed
and hunted and found happiness For he
had good dog and there were fish to catch
and birds to shoot and always. always the
muskrat.
As nuskrat farmer Arndt lives a life OF
almost idyllic ease In summer. He fishes
and rows by day and by night sits and smokes
and listenB to the booming bull frogs and
tho saueals Of fighting muskrats growing fat
against the coming winter, Sometimes he
locks UP his little cabin and spends day or
two among men that he may be glad when
he goes homo that he Is privileged to be a
trapper and philosopher rather than a toiler
among thousands.
With the coming Of cold weather Arndt's
eyes brighten Before the first furry Of
snow he has seen from his boat tho uprear-
Ing by the fiat tailed animals OF his farm
countless little round houses Teeth are
busy all about him and reeds and bulrushes
fall by thousands that the little animals
may have shelter from storm and chill.
Where there has been fighting Arndt secs
peace. Where warfare was wagei in sum-
mer he sees calm and cooperation For
yards about each little hummock designed
to shelter muskrat colonies the marsh Is
out clear OF vegetation before the first frosts,
Every stlok and blade Of Wild grass goes to
the making OF the winter home
At last comes the snow and with a final
whisk Of their tails the muskrats run for
shelter. Sometimes as many as eighteen Of
them pile into one house, All the houses
have entrances and exits under water, that
cold and storm shall not break up social
affairs In the colonies and imperil lives by
freezing and food.
The big wild rats cannot prepare against
Arndts invasion and he goes among their
houses with his traps without fear. Behind
him Is the clicking OF swapping steel and
the squealing Of imprisoned rats, some OF
them fighting against death by. drowning
as the heavy traps draw them under water.
1T has been the best season on record"
said Arndt, Sometimes ] get a lot of EN-,
Then again they. avoid the traps. 1t 10 all
right anyway, ] make living somehow.
What's the use OF worrying''"
There's no worrying this year. It's
getting better and better all the time, The
rats don't seem TO mind bad water. Tho
only thing that bothers is the price-and
20 cents Amt much for muskrat skin. ehf'