Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-02-25
MOST DESTRUCTIVE OF PESTS.
Estimated That Rats Costs America
S6O,OOO,0OO a Year.

of their Scourge through the pleasing
agency of music, which has charms
for the rodent as we'll as the human
ear, they managed things better and
certainly more picturesquely, but for
present-day conditions little Denmark
is acquitting itself with honor and eff
ficiency in the campaign against rats,
iby which the kingdom where once
there was something foul" has been
convulsed for the last four or five
Years.
1t was Mr.. Zuschlag, distinguished
civil engineer of Copenhagen, who
first deserted the rat peril and in elo-
louent accents warned his fellow coun-
trymen against the danger to their
pockets and their persons of longer
supinely submitting to pay the oner-
Gus rat tribute. He pointed out that
the rat kingdom yearly raised a tax
of two million dollars upon the indus
tries of the country, while the indi-
rect losses, the exact figures of which
cannot be ascertained are, as he
demonstrated, clearly enormous.
In the beginning of Mr.. Zuschlag's
campaign was not hailed with enthu-
siasm upon every side. Indeed, few
men have survived such torrent OF
ridicule and obloquy as was poured
upon his devoted head, not by the
friends of the rats, for no one took up
the cudgels in their behalf, but by the
business and commercial classes Of
the country, who feared that the good
name Of the most famous exports Of
the country, such as pork and cheese,
would suffer as the first result Of the
| ,ttention which ne was attracting to
a rat-ridden land.
Happily for Mr.. Zuschlag and for
his country. this first period of mill
tant and an almost criminal skepti-
cism is over-the rat catchers are in
stalled in every community; they
wear the royal uniforms and their ef-
forts are supplemented by the whole
populace, who are participating in the
anti-rat crusade by means of trap and
gun, poison, ferret, dog and cat and
an occasional well-directed brick.
| A state grant for a large sum was
voted last July, out of which two
cents is paid for every rat tail pro
duced. An extra levy of about
a dollar upon every community Of 100
inhabitants has also been ordered TO
enrich the crusade, and this they will
each and every one have to pay until
the head inspector of the rat contract
service declares the neighborhood
free of rodents.
Today the rat catcher cruises about
through the land armed with his wea-
pons and pushing little cart with
several air-tight compartments OF
glass, in which he exhibits the proofs
of his cunning and industry. To pre-
vent ALLEN rats from being imported
for the bounty stringent measures
have been adopted at all the custom
houses and frontier stations, and SO
hot Is the pursuit of the penny in this
thrifty land that several travellers
have been detected bringing in deceas-
ed rats concealed in their personal
luggage.
Rats Cost America $6ooo0,ooo.
Mr.. Zuschlag made no attempt to
estimate the damage to the field
crops, but merely sought to find out
the damage done to the grain after 1t
| is housed in the granaries and man
calls it his own.
If the same conditions of rat de-
predations obtain in America, and Mr..
Zuschlag thinks they do, the Ameri-
can rat is not eating us out of the
house and home, but he is costing us
$6O, 100000 a year.
For instance, If the rats were sup
pressed and the tribute allowed to ac-
cumulate for four years we could
build the Panama canal without ask
ing the taxpayer a cent, and every
twelve months we could construct
twelve battleships for the new Allan
tic fleet without having to obtain
congressional appropriation.
Fifteen years ago in Korea when
both the black death and the cholera
were raging in adjacent lands and
rumored to be approaching the con-
fines of the then Hermit Kingdom"
every householder had painted upon
the doors of his abode the picture OF
ferocious and predatory cat in the
act of devouring a rat.
IF we can only keep the rats
away" said the Korean peasants when
called upon to explain, "the plague
can not reach u.s." There was much
merriment in the foreign colony over
these pictorial precautions, but today
the legendary belief Of most Asiatlcs
is confirmed by the recent discoveries
of modern science.
Spread Deadly Disease.
| Mr.. Zuschlag shows conclusively
that the rat is the principal agent In
spreading trichinosis, fearful disease.
very common and nearly always fatal
in those countries where fresh pork
is eaten.
Further, the Danish rat eXtermi-
nator pointed out in the course of his
propaganda, which has recently cross
ed the North Sea and is raging in Eng
land that a law granting a premium
of one penny to every one who brings
in q dead rat would save collectively
seven shillings and five pence, or
nearly two dollars on that particular
rat for each year of its natural life
you prevent from living. And you
will also save a number Of people,
maybe yourself among them, from
dying of trichinosis."
Wise men point to the fact that the
plague which devasted England dur
ing the middle ages and again during
the day of Defoe was introduced by
the black rat, which, in the last hun
dred years has been cXterminated by
the brown rat; but as the men of sci
ence ask, How do we know that the
brown rat is any less dangerous to the