The farmer and mechanic., 1912-09-17
WAN TED: TRAP FOR
BUB0N|C PLAGUE
One Fit for Adoption by the
Service for the War
Various Suggestions on the Subject
to Surgeon Rucker Of Public
Health Service.
(By .AMES BROWN.)


Washington, d. c.. Sept. 14.-As-
sstant Surgeon General William Colby
Rucker, of the Public Health Service,
announces that he is searching for a
new sort of rat trap, to be adopted
as the official trap " the service in
it's war against the bubonic plague
He has now in his office seventy five
models for rat traps of many designs
together with about fifty drawings and
written suggestions for traps, which
he will exhibit before the Interna-
fiOnal Congress of Hygiene and Dem
Ography to meet here September 26.
Rat Psychology.
RAT psychology has evidently been
the subject Of deep study on the part
Of the inventors and would he in
yentOrs who are trying to market their
ideas in my office said DR.. .Rucker
land the interesting thing is the wide
divergence of the conclusions that
have been reached
The Old Cheese Bait.
AN Iowa student sent me the fol
lowing suggestion: Take an iron pot
and place small rock in the middle.
Fill the pot with water even with
the top of the rock, SO as to make the
rock look like an island. Float
piece of cheese on the water. The rat
will jump for the cheese and after
falling in the water will climb on the
island and scream for help. The en-
tire rat family will rush to his assist
ance, dive overheard to his rescue and
then kill each other fighting for a
fOOthold on the rock.
Another trap OF simple type sug-
gested was the Bran Barrel Trap.
was told to cover the surface Of a pail
OF water with bran; to fix a plank
platform to lead to the edge of the
tor Nd fn hi rryi{
was predicted that the rat would eat
his way to the waters edge and then
behOlding what he thought to be a
sea Of BRAN would dive into it, thus
ending the romance Of his life.
Eectrocution Traps.
"A number Of suggestions for cleo
trOcution traps have been sdnt in, but
all of these are Of such complicated
design and would cost SO much to
manufacture, that they have no value
for our purpose.
The trap models which DR.. Rucker
has secured are of three main classes
cage traps, box traps and fiat traps
There are cage traps shaped like bee
hives circus wagons and hay stacks
One looks like a little volcano and
has crater-like hole through which
the rat may fall to oblivion.
Box Traps.
One of the box traps resembles q
rabbit box. which Huckleberry Finn
might have built. Another is linee
with mirrors The rat Is supposed tt
be attracted within by his reflection
and to wander around twirling hi:
mustaches until by accident he en-
counters a spring which releases the
door, thus penning himself in. A thirt
box trap has a gallery into which th'
hunted rodent is attracted by bait at
tached to a fish hook. Directly un
der the bait is spring door through
which the rat falls into the lower box
Each end Of the lower box is mad'
of glass. The inventor who brough
his trap to Washington himself ex
planned to Dr. Rucker that the ra
would kill himself in making ineffect
ua dashes for freedom at these gias
windows.
Flat Traps
The fiat traps are the old style Q
trap with wooden base on Whlcl
the bait is attached to sprinS-re
lease. The rat on biting at bait re
leases the spring and powerful arm
whirls over. choking him to dealt
against the base. There are dozel
of these which vary little.
One Of FeudaI Architecture.
Resides these three classes there ar
numerous traps Of original structure
The Ratipault, as DR.. Rucker name
one, is built on the style of the 10
man war engine or the catapult @
feudal times Going after the bai
the rat steps on a small fOOtboar
which releases the powerful sprins
The spring whirls a long perpendicu
lar iron arm in a circular groove. Tn
arm brains the rat, striking the rodeT
with such force as to throw hiI
twelve inches or more. DR.. Rucke
Is exceeding careful in demOnstratin
this model.
The Cayenne SneeZer.
The "sneeze" trap is simplest
construction and least expensive,
all the models which have been sui
mitted It consists Of a paSteboaI
In 4 ion