The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-07-04

preparatory to setting out for England;
all at once the rats on board began to
leave her in such swarms that the sail
ors stopped their work to let them go
by, They were delighted to be rid of
that annoying portion of their cargo,
and as the rats were making for the
wharves and nearby vessels, they were
in no mind to check their exodus.
Finally they raised the sails. A few
DAYS later it became evident that their
craft was leaking. The cargo was light,
SO the vessel remained afioat, though
the bridge was under water and the
crew persisted of hunger and thirst.
Only the cabinboy lived to tell the
story"
DR.. Calmette is not inclined to rely
too absolutely upon the narrative OF a
single cabin-boy, and he takes this story
with a grain of salt. Then he tells an
other, which he trusts more implicitly:
" On the 31st of August, 1898, fire broke
out in some grain stores on the Thames
bank in London. People on the river
barges remarked a. curious movement
in the water. Looking closer they made
out an enormous number of rats, who
had been dislodged by the fire and had
thrown themselves into the river. They
swan iudiciously, but fortunately could
find no landing place and were all
drowned. -
DIR. Calmette is not wanting in de-
gree of indulgence toward these sewer
rats; he recognizes their right to live
upon our planet; but he thinks they
have somewhat overdone the matter.
Every year the havoc wrought by rats
in the cargoes of ships, on docks, IN
shops and grain stores, and upon plan
tations of cereals, coffee, sugar-cane and
beets, reaches many millions of dollars
in every civilized country. Their diet
is extremely varied; while they like
grain, roots, young shoots, the bark of
trees, and the carcases of animals, they
also have a keen appetite for fresh
meat, fowl, pigeon and duck, when
they catch alive and slaughter without
| blinking. They rout birds out of their
nests They have even attacked sleep
| ing children and old people. IS. Mel
son. in his book on the fauna of Sean
dinavia (1S47) tells how an old man
/ fell asleep under a haystack whose IN
terror had been mined by rats, and
how, two days later, his skeleton was
! found, with only tatters of his clothes
to identify it,
Several years ago rats laid siege to
the Hospital of La Pitie, in Paris, and
the famous surgeon Terrier wrote:
''They are perfectly at home here and
highly respected by the director of this
ancient hospital. The administration
takes no notice of them. These ami
mails continue to destroy floors. gnaw
lead pipes and open water conduits:
hence sudden foundations necessitating
constant repairs. The rat, hospitalized
at LA Pitie, seems to have acquired
veritable rights of asylum. -
Some statistics. BY means of care
full experiment it is estimated that rat
turned loose upon a cargo of grain
meal. bacon, cheese and taliow con
sumes nearly two cents worth a day
ito say nothing of what he wastes!
On land the sewers and rubbish heaps
furnish the rascal with part of his
board. so the loss is less serious
Nevertheless. the Danes estimate that
each of their rats costs them half q
cent Il day. Expensive, when you think
how little fun they get out of him.
In great city 100000 rats daily