The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-09-20

~ulass cost the state Of virginia n
- es,yyS,4s0 the year. OF half NJ
asA - eiti.ens pay In state taxes for
10 sauDsrt ~ tho gevsrnment. TAa'
Hst snn u worth savingt II can b
kvsA ~ war On the rata" 30 concludes
bulletin recently issued by the VIZ
(nia department Of health.
The bulletin submits that tho rat 10
Ieuacs to health and industry. II
bks In its foreword:
.xfow many rats are there In your
laosr'
After declaring that the man whe
N answer with assurance that hi'
rsmisss are free OF the pest In for
mate In the extreme, II says tina
racticaily every farmer and many
houssnd city jewellers find their homes
nd their outhouses oyerrun with ro
snts.
Careful estimate by people who have
kudied tho situation Is that there arr
least as many rats as there arr
sople IN this country. and that every
arm has at least ave times as man,
m ~ human beings. This applies
Virginia
The rapid breeding of this pest and
ssponsibie for the great army oil
estroyers. and for the loss II causes
he rat IL a vandai. 1t is cumming
nd secretive and quick. 1t lives away
rom the walks of men by day ant
estroys by night. The rat has Ions
cen an outlaw. and because OF this
hapca. Its habits accordingly
What the Hat Costs.
Even though rats were harmless
heir multitude would make them q
Nuisance. but, as a matter OF fact they
re- famong the most destructive pests
the world. 1t Is estimated thai
he average rats destructive work
osts one-half OF cent per day. Thi.
means an annual loss o sl.s3 per rat
is3 per year on the farm where there
Ire q hundred rats, fair average pc,
(arm.
Rats destroy corn In winter, youne
Ehiekens In sspring. various crops In
)un,sner. and other property In fall
gGGN and other foodstuffs OF value
kre~ being consumed at all times
Recent reports from several coun
les in Southwest Virginia. says tht
bulletin, Indicates that that beautiful
Iection is suffering heavily from rats
ons eminent authority who Is fami
lar with conditions there declares thai
rats on many farms are destroying II
per cent OF the crops--more thar
bnotgh TO pay taxes. Young chick en- s.
turkeys and other fowls have been de.
troyed by thousands.
"enrely here Is condition which
rails for united action. Prosperou.
be We are. we cannot afford to haxs
the Increase of our fields and tbs
yield Of our memories destroyed by
ibis nithy pest
The Rat and Health.
But the rat is as great a menace
70 health as II Is to industry. Thi.
Is one of the new and vital facts which
science has demonstrated to an age
which regarded the rat as n nuisance
and nothing more.
sBubonic plague Is one of the worst
fpestffences known to man. IT is SHARP
lin Its attack. fatal in far more thar
Ihalf the cases and IL spreads with
mysterious elusiveness that long bafyset
lecientists. For centuries the worle
Fought the plague with weapons thai
were worthless. 1t came from the
Far East during the middle ages
swept across the Leyant. overwhelmed
italy and then crept over the CONT
nent to England. Again In the seven.
fteenth century 1t appeared suddenl,
and decimated half Of Europe. The
disease which DeFoe described in hill
Journal OF the Plague year and Sam.
eel Pepys bewaiis in his diary wa,
probably hubonic plague.
During the early years OF the pres.
ent generation. bubonic plague wal
virtually confined to the Orient Blu,
Of late II has crept gradually west
ward into scattered ports OF Europe
and even to the British islands. Dur.
Ing the first years of the twentieth
century II mysteriously appeared ir
San Francisco and called forth q cam.
paiEn worthy to rank with the grea,
sanitary achievements In the Panams
Canal zone. Last year II was reported
from Porto Rico and from Cuba; thi,
year 1t has reached New Orleans
Thus 1t Ia becoming more and more
Of . menace to the United States and
particularly to the Seaboard States
We shall be called upon before many
yeArs to take very active and expensive
steps for its eradication.
The secret of plague has been dis.
covered. We now know. positively and
definitely. that in It's bubonic forr
u = spread solely and only by nea.
which infest rats and by rats are
conveyed to the habitations ana thu
persons Of men. Plague IL primaril,
disease OF rats and gets to mon only
whore there are rats. IN New Orleans
where 1t Is At this time. the chiol
work OF the sanitarians 10 to destro,
The thousands Of rats who may con.
'-aet the disease and carry the in.
fected feas to man.
These facts put an entirely nav
1snect on the rat nuisance, especiail,
~ IL time when we are faced VIII
the possible introduction or plague
tntA the State. We must kill them q
protect ourselves from the dread dis.
tase Of which they are the carriers
We must kill them. too. not by Il.
spuFadic efforts Of individual house.
holders. but by united endsavor. W.
must realise what tho rat costs M and
how he threatens our safety. NsDe.
ciAlly In Those counties whore rats ar.
MON destructive. campaigns must b.
organised simiiar to those which. n
the citiea. have greatly reduced thu
NY nntsancA. Wa haxa swatted tn
fly& W must XIII the ratl Nd more
tmtprtaAt Recommendation can be made
to HE people u the affected countis1
thu that they organise 10 drivs oui
thecoetly md Nyn6erops ro1ensA IN.
14G& Mir ~ dons ~ ebqanen aitiylty
~ AAxlllI
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