The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1910-06-01

about so cents worth of wheat to
feed a single rat for a year. The
eggs, cheese, young chickens and
squads, which is prefers to wheat
increase proportionately the cost of
it's board.
Even if there were no more rats in
the United States than there are hui
man beings, and if each rat consumed
and spoiled only % cents worth of
food in a year the total cost in a ten
years would be staggering. AS a
matter of fact, according to Nc
Clure's, the rat population of most
communities is at least five times
that of the human. To this, more
over must be added as many more
mice, for the mouse is really rat.
There are then probably 500, 000,-
900 rats in the United States, not
including mice and the various Wild
rats that for the most part keep out
of mans way. This means a yearly
cost for food alone of $10G, 900, 900.
To this must be added the damage
they do in obtaining material for
their nests. The annual loss in this
direction is largely a matter of guess
work. A reasonable and semi-official
estimate, however, gives for Den
mark, 100000 annually; for
France, $40,000,000; for Germany,
$50,O0O,000; for Great Britain, $751;
100000, and for the United States at
least 800, 100000, of which $15,-
100000 is from fires. Fifteen dol
lars month is a loss reported from
a single farm.
No wonder that the United States
department of agriculture in this
country, in Europe L'AssociatiOn In
ternational pour la Destruction Rat
ionnelle des Rats and a similar So
ciety in England are trying to rouse
the public to an appreciation of the
gravity of this problem.
The fact is that of all warm
blooded creatures there are just two
that are really dominant, successful,
increasing in numbers and range and
able to maintain themselves any
where in the world against all rivals.
These two are man and the rats.
The genus homo and the genus
mus go everywhere and eat every
thing. They are the two creatures
that dwell in houses and travel in
ships. Each drives it's other rivals
to the wall, but neither, except local
ly and for brief periods, has ever
come near to discriminating the 9TH
er. Civilized man has fought the
common rat for 200 years, and the
battle is still drawn.
Trapping alone and even poison
are rather to the advantage of the
rats. Every living thing, save only
oixr;1 RI
limit of its food supply. To destroy
from time to time three-quarters of
the rats in city only kills off the
surplus population and makes life
easy and food abundant for the rest.
No matter how many are caught
there will always be plenty more.
The remnant. experienced and
trap-shy, will get their living from
granary, pantry and chicken yard,
and will shun bats and survive.
The only way to dispose of the last
few individuals is to cut off abso-
lutely their food supply and make
them choose between certain starva-
ton and the chance of poison or trap.
On this basis San Francisco car
ried on it's campaign. Fifty thou
sand new metal garbage cans with
tight metal covers wiped out as
many feeding places. Eighty-seven
inspectors saw to it that all poultry
yards, bakeries, restaurants, wharves,
stables, slaughter houses, grain bins
and the like. were made rat proof
with wire netting and cement, and,
induced the San Franciscans to fore
go the convenient practice of throw
ing their edible refuse in the nearest
vacant lot.
In general all unsanitary struct-
ures inhabited by either men or ami
mails were condemned, all sewers re-
paired and made tight and all cellar
floors relaid with cement, to do away
with favorite nesting place of YER
min. An elaborate card catalogue
recorded the conditions of every