Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-18

PROF. LOUIS HIRsCH.
A Pied Piper has come to town.
A Pied Piper and more. for his power
extends farther than to rats-extends to
ants. reaches. water bugs. bed bugs,
fleas and other vermin and insects and
rodents.
He is the latest and most unique Of
fetal Of the United States government,
and he is on the pay roll Of the United
States Capitol. under Supt. Elliott Woods.
with the rather unromantic name of Prof.
Louis Hirsch. His home is in New York
city. and he has been an active foe OF
vermin and insects Of all kinds. for up
ward of thirty years. How many insect
lives he has cut short 1t is impossible
to estimate, for the figures mount into
the billions.
In taking a Job with Uncle Sam. Prof.
Hirsch has made a contract covering
the work he is to do. According to its
terms. he can keep his job IL he only
ribs the United States Capitol of its rats
and mice, its reaches and ants. and. In
cidentally, of the other vermin and In
sects which Supt. Woods and his en-
ployes have been fighting for many years.
huge contract 1t Is admitted to be,
when the size Of the; building. the posi-
number of experts who have tackled the
job in the past are considered. But Prof.
Hirsch reads over the contract with
smile of confidence and assurance. and
wonders how he will put in his spare
time In fact he longs to extend the
scope of his work in Washington. be-
cause, he says, he sees the results to De
accomplished.
Gone Big Rat Hole" He Says.
washington is one big rat hole" he
says. 1.-The rattiest town have ever been
in" His conclusion, he admits. may be
based largely on his investigation Of
conditions in some Of the big public
buildings in the National Capital.
Prof. Hirsch did not get his govern
ment lob until his ability to carry out
the terms of the contract he offered had
been put to the test. And that test was
made at the Post Office Department build
ing.
:'Show me the room where there are
the most insects he told the superin-
tendent Of the building at the time the
test was to be made. He was taken to
four rooms used by the dead letter Of
fee, where a drove Of reaches were
stirred to activity every time a book or
paper was moved. There was CLEAN
of satisfaction in his eyes as he surveyed
the field, and remarked that there was
plenty of opportunity for his work.
When he got ready to start he turned
TO the officials who had accompanied him:
You see how many insects there are
here now he said. When you come
around tomorrow l want you to look for
them and for every one you find I will
give you dollar BILL"
He says the offer hasn't cost him
cent.
Well Informed on Insect Life.
Having made the fighting of rats and
other poisonous vermin a profession for
three decades, Prof. Hirsch has found
out many interesting things about ami
NAL and insect life that are startling to
the ordinary person, who frets at the
ants which have gotten into the kitchen
OF at the rats that nibble at the oatmeal
box in the pantry.
That the instinct of rats is keener than
the intelligence Of man is one Of his be-
liefs, drawn from the long study of ro-
dents. He tells an interesting story In
illustration.
"A friend Of mine, a professor in Co
lumbia University in New York city. dis
agreed with me when 1 argued with him
on that point. / prepared test. 1 had
some OF the young men in our employ
catch twenty-five big rats, all healthy
and strong. I had them taken in a big
cage In room in the college, where they
could be watched by the professor. They
remained there five days without food or
water, and when We gathered for the
test those rats were but skin and bones.
but they were still alive. Most of them
were so weak that they had fallen over
on their sides. In that same room 1 set
about preparing cake which / knew
rats were particularly fond of. ! made
it most attractive to their scent by the
use of oils. and then l put some small
portions of deadly poison. absolutely
odorless, on that cake In different places.
The room was fairly redolent with the
appetizing smell. l put that cake i'm the
cage.
Instinct Stands the Test.
do you suppose those starved, dying
rats would touch it? Never. They did
not go near it. although we left the room
Reverse the case and substitute human
beings i'm a prison. Do You suppose that
the ravenous. starving man, educated and
cultured, would refuse bread and meat Ii
they Amos, knew they contained poison:
Not much. But rats had that instinct
that told them that the cake was poisoned
and they would not eat. The college pro-
lessor had little to say at the close OF
the experiment"
prof. Hirsch is a graduate Of one of the
most famous OF the German universities
and sought fame and fortune In the
United States many years ago. Even
while he was q student of chemistry In
the university ne WAS StuuSHi6 rats 0'u
their habits. He found they were tame
and would make good pets, IL properly
trained. He would sometimes put one OF
his tame rats up his sleeve and shake 1t
out in extending a hearty greeting to one
OF his lady friends. He doesn't say how
long after that the friendship lasted.
He began his professional career as
.'King Rat Catcher"-as his friends
have dubbed HMM q fight with bed
bugs in a New York boarding house.
He had a job as an assistant book
keeper and had room In boarding
roommate foound that the bugs. as such
bugs will, kept him awake nights, and
he talked about moving.
Value Of His Discoveries.
Prof. Hirsch's study of chemistry
came in handy at once. He bought
small quantity of nelson's. and, uresfot