, 1912-07-20

LIhIDS LIZ V INV l ALNA NSAN~
can be had by application in the Fort in
Christiansted and Frederiksted.
124 lines of rain was measured in Chris
tiansted on Wednesday morning and B lines
ON Thursday morning. At Est. Sally's Fan
cy - lines was measured on Wednesday
morning and 2 lines on Thursday morning.
Mr.. Jean Petersen writes US on Wednesday
'81 lines of rain measured this morning:
making Ii for July"
We have been informed that the Revd j..
". Christopher of Antigua, will preach at
both services in the Morayian Church to-
morrow.
Since the plague scare, the interest which
most Of us have been driven from time to
time to take in the warfare against rats has
naturally been much increased. Personally
we have always found it uphill work. If we
shrink, as most people do, from using poison,
there is nothing left but 10 catch the animals
in traps. This is a war OF wits, IN which
the rat often gets the upper hand. On the
one side is human ingenuity, which has de-
vised many kinds Of traps, such as the com
mon gin, the simple cage trap, an improved
cage, the ''viln' and doubtless a few others.
On the other side is the caution and fine
memory Of the rat. After he has had a lit
tie experience Of your devices you find your
la5our lost. Tempt him as you viii, he is
so wise as to look at your bait and pass by
on the other side.
In the field you can get the help of the
rat-caiching dogs, and in larger countries
we have men who make q regular business
out of the destruction of the troublesome
Jk+Jo oo1I1 II mn IntnrASf thnSp of
our readers who have never seen a profess
sional rat catcher at work if the writer de-
scribes an experience of this kind, only it is
so long ago that he can merely recall the
main features, not the full details.
The place was the ground attached to an
English country cottage. The rats had be-
come troublesome, and dire punishment was
at hand. One morning the rat-catcher APP
peared, bringing with him several eager
dogs, and a box containing two or three
f9rretS, little yellow haired creatures, not
much more than a foot long and extremely
slender. The man brought also a rather
large wire cage. His advent drew TO the
spot a few men and the inevitable group of
small boys, of whom the present writer was
one. The man commenced by locating all the
rat holes he could find. Next he stationed at
several of them a dog to each, and these we'll
trained animals kept each a sharp lookout
on his own particular hole, we'll knowing
what was coming and what was expected Of
him. Then the man went to his box, took
out a ferret and put him to a hole whore no
dog was stationed. Down went the slender
little ferret, and i'll a very short time out
the rats buried in mortal terror. Then
came the work of the dogs, and the writer,
watching one of them, admired the CELEBRITY
OF the process, it was Il grip, Il shake, q cast
ing aside and then the resumption of the
watch. That was all. but when the work of
the ferrets and the dogs, under the guidance
of the man, was all put together it was seen
to be effective for the final result was a
good number of rats killed and a cage full
OF live ones carried away for sporting pur-
poses.
After that little experience the writer
never needed any explanation of the COM
mon phrase "to ferret a thing out" Some
trickery or dishonesty is hiding like a rat
i'll a hole, and ii public-spirited person