The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-07-22
RAT GATCHERs.
Ancient and Modern Have Per- formed Many WOndrolIs
 FeatS.

One of the oldest professions is that of rat catcher and strange and Won- drous, to the lay Tnind are many or the feats performed by the followers of this curious trade. This might be called Rat Catchers' Day, for it is the anniversary of the memorable achievement of the most celebrated of all the foes Of the murine species, the Pied Piper of Hanelin, who has been tnrnortalized by Browning's poem. It was on July 22. 1878, that the Piper freed the town of Hamelin. ] in Brunswick, of rats. by means or the mystic charm of his pipe. When the burghers, a thrifty lot. refused to pay all stflat was promised. he exer- cised the power of his music on the 1 children of the place and drew them away into the heart of a nearby hill, which opened to receive them. And this great wonder happened on the 22nd of July, 1376, we are assured by the historian Verstegan.
 Now that rats are charged with re- sponsibility for the spread of the bu-
 bonic plague, or black death, the war fare on the pest is pursued with more vigor than ever. Until his death this
 month, the worlds most famous rat catcher was William A. Heftler, Of
 New York. He had followed tlle
 profession for forty-f1ve years and in
 that time had captured more than half a million rats. MT. Heitler us
 ually caught the rats with his bare 1 hands, although he occasionally used tongs. At hotel in Washington he l captured 906 rats in one night, and on another occasion he won wager by catching eighty-seven within an l hour. Another man who attained
 fame in this profession was Henri | Dayve, of Paris who was known
 some forty years ago as s.tl1e King of 2 the Rat Catchers. 2 Harry Jennings, I known as Dick the Rat, won fame
 and fortune from this occupation in
 America about the middle of the last I are borns not de, and none of them has ever revealed the secret Of his I power.
 Italian rat catchers Of the sixteenth
 and seventeenth centuries went through the streets bearing flag on
 which were representations of cats and rats. Dutch rat catchers of four centuries ago bore plaeaTd read f ing tsBy the cats you put rats to I flight. If you drive away little
 thieves by great ones, it is utter fol- l Iy Look at me. provided only a lit both rats and cats to flight Chinese rat catchers train cats as their assist I ants, and the Oriental carries. as sym bolfc of his craft cat in bag
 Hats are now feared as common I carriers Of deadly disease germs, but in former and less prosaic times they were accredited with mystical pow
 CTS. They were believed to have an 9suncanny instinct for fcrecasting evil.
 and .trats leaving a sinking ship
 has become common figure Scf I speech Thus in the England Of to-
 day a politician who deserts his par I ty. or workman who takes the i place of a striker. is called a rat I Happily the modern rat catcher has
 no such powers over children as " ere
 possessed by the tsold kind Of com I panion, who. for the fantastical coat I Which he wore being wrought with
 sundry colors. was called the Pied
 Piper The youngsters who were I lured away by the vengeful rat catch
 CT wers never discovered, although the men were sent out with all dill- agence. both by land and by water, tc
 inquire if aught could be heard o
 them Of all the children Of Flame
 lin over six years of agey only one. g
 crippled lad who could not keep UT with the Piper, was left alive, and he
 returned alone to the village to breal
 the news to the bereaxed parents among whom, we may believe, north. with began great lamentations