Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-01-31
TO ExTERMINArE THE RATS.
Great Britain Preparing For Scientific
War With Rodents.

| "dT lOdSutSs
London, January 1S.-Although most
of the London papers treat more or less
humorously the formation Of "a ma
tional society for the destruction Of
vermin," under the auspices Of Sir
James Crichton- Browne, yet scientific
men deem It one Of the most important
sanitary measures Of the century, and,
IL successful. one Of the greatest ac-
complishments Of the age
For several years England has been
entirely free from maddogs. but the
muzzling orders, under which cam
paign against them was begun, were
useless until Walter Long had the cour-
age to impose drastic restrictions upon
the importation Of dogs from countries
where rabies prevailed. But England,
which led the way to show how mad
dogs might become extinct, has hither-
to held aloof from emulating certain
Continental countries in their campaign
against rats In course OF time, there
fore, England has become the greatest
exporting country Of rats in Europe,
and hardly a cargo leaves an English
dock that does not bear to some for
eign port hundreds Of death dealing
rodents.
At the meeting held in Whitehall
rooms the other day Sir James Crich-
ton Browne, In semi humorous
onaanb onpopnoa5 tbof NOR 70 tho kpifa
was to be declared on the rodent, which
he arraigned as follows: 1T Is the chief
cause Of the 100000 deaths from
the plague that occurred in Iidia during
the first half of 1907; it brings
ptomaine poisoning by running over
pantry food; it slaughtered farmers
complete set Of ducklings in successive
years; 1t costs a ships captain a
penny rat day; 1t is the gamekeep-
ers natural foe"
He said that in Japan few years
before the war with Russia the rat had
become so intolerable a pest that the
ministers of agriculture took it up and
small reward was offered by the gov
ernment for every rat skin. The result
Of that policy was that the rat soon
became very scarce in Japan-too
scarce for those who had been making
good living by selling the skins to
the government and they took to i'm
porting rat skins from China.
During the war, when the cold season
came, the government issued to the
troops a fine, soft little leather pouch
to cover the ears and nose and prevent
frost-bite, and 1t was then discovered
that these were made of rat skins.
Rat skins, properly treated and prepar-
ed, made a beautiful soft leather, but
whether or not their skins were Of any
utility, rats must be exterminated. In
a small island like Great Britain, at all
events, he went on to say 1t ought not
to be impracticable.
There was a time when there were
no rats in England. They came out OF
central Asia and sent forth waves Of
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES the star Of en-
pire made it's way" The first great
wave, the black rat, reached Europe
about the beginning Of the 18th CEN
tury; the second wave, the brown rat,
did not reach England until the begin
ming of the 18th century. It was about
100 years after the first wave. that the
great plague Of London broke out, and
at that time London was over-run with
rats. The large brown rat had made
war on the black with such success
that the black rat had almost totally
disappeared from many parts Of the
country.
The plan Of campaign against the
rodent would later be considered by an
executive committee, but it seemed to
Sir James that all sorts Of warfare
ought to be undertaken-the gun, the
trap, the ferret, the terrier should each
have a place in their strategy. But Of
late there had been a new and prom
ising departure in the crusade against
rats. A modern st. Patrick or Pied
Piper Of Hamelin had come to their aid.
Sir James then described the prepara-
ton which had been produced by Doc
tor Danyz of the Pasteur Institute, con-
tanning the germs Of disease to which
only the rat is susceptible. Rats which
ate of the preparation suffered from an
illness which killed them off in eight or
ten days, and as they communicated 1t
to other rats an epidemic which was
not communicable to man cleared out
the rats.
Besides these suggestions made by
Sir Crichton- browne, others were put
forward, but the cat came out Of the
discussion with greatest honors. Com
missioner Nicol Of the Salvation Army.
gave an account of the army's cat
farms in India, and the multiplication
of cats was regarded by many speakers
as better even than poison or virus.
Among the active supporters Of the
new society are the National Poultry
association, the Royal horticultural So
ciety, whose secretary said that the in
crease Of poultry meant the increase
of rats: Sir Alfred Jones, who wrote an
interesting letter; Sir Henry Roscoe.
and a number Of experts in rodent
pathology.