The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1913-06-28
RELATING TO RATS.


RELATING TO RATS.
In all of our tropical dependencies
the government is waging a war Of ex'
termination against rats because Of the
well-established fact that they are car
riers Of the BubOnic Plague. It is in
teresting to note that the method of
fighting the rat is mainly that Of de-
stroying the places where it harbors
and breeds And this is done by the
use of concrete, which is known as rat
proof material. Then Uncle Sam reg
ulates the construction Of buildings by
prohibiting the erection Of "any house
or building, storehouse, store, ware
house or other structure except the
floor of the lower story be made of
concrete, when such floors are not Of
sufficient height from the ground to
permit free access; or a wooden floor
may be placed Immediately on top Of
the concrete, providing no spaces are
left that may serve as a refuge for
rats; no wood or other inferior ma
terial can be used under the flooring"
Government regulations also require
that in buildings of all kinds where
the floors are laid close to the ground,
they shall be Of concrete, that the
foundation walls shall be Of the same
material or solid stone, extending at
least two feet below the surface and
including the concrete or masonry wall
extending one foot above the level Of
the floor.
Uncle Sam also demands that people
who want to keep barnyard fowls shall
provide rat-proof hen houses; that all
stables shall have concrete floors and
foundations with good drainage; that
manure must be kept in concrete
vault, or well provided with tight-ft-
ting sectional coverings, and that all
grain used as food for live stock be
kept in rat-prOOf bins.
The foregoing are some Of the regu-
lations which the government is en-
forcing In the PHILIPPINES in its efforts
to stamp out that dread disease, the
Bubonic Plague. 1t is easy to see that
they are certain to be effective agen-
eies in finally exterminating rats and
in. controlling the spread of a plague
that, if left unchecked, kills thou
sands of human beings every year.
There can be no question, either, that
the most effective way to nd a com
munity of rats is by destroying and
removing the places where they can
harbor and breed.
The Department Of Health has al
ready called attention to what may be
well termed the rat plague in Chicago,
which is costing millions Of dollars in
damage to business interests every
year. Attention has been called also to
the importance Of rat-proof eonstrue-
ton in many kinds Of buildings, es-
peeiaIly barns, stables, warehouses,
grain elevators and the docks along
our miles of river frontage. The gov
eminent authorities in their fight
against rats, begin with either demol-
ishing or making existing buildings rat
proof, the next step being the rigid
enforcement Of sueh regulations as win
make an new buildings proof against
rats. Rats mnst have places to har-
Dor, breed and multiply. Destroy or
do away with these and the rats VIII
disappear.
Why let the flies kin our babiesf
Much better to kin the flies. stin bet
ter to abolish the places where they
breed, which include manure, garbage
and other deeaying animal and vege-
table filth Of every kind
rrpu 1TrlT1e11 n nRTTGHFFn THAT