The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-09-21
WAR DECLARED BY | AUTHORITIES ON RATSAT CITY JAIL Determine to Wipe Out the Rodents Which Infest Northside Prison PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS
 NOT SUCCESSFUL Caught One in a Trap But Others Proved Too Wity-Took the Cheese
 Without Springing Trap.
 Rifle No Good

Ihat there is great danger or conta- eious diseases in the thousands of rats that haunt police alley and the north side city jail was stated yesterday by the police authorities and a war to the death on rodents will be initiated in the immediate future.
 'aThe rats should be killed" said Chief Martin Eagan last night, "as they are a nuisance and a constant source of danger in that they carry disase. With thousands of rats running about the alley and the jail, there is always grave danger of contagious diseases such as bubonic plague as New orelans recently suffered from the rats and this we will attempt to prevent by waging an active war on these TO- dents. I will instruct the wardens of the city jail to devise means to clean the city bastile of the rats immedi- ately."
 | According to the oldtimers at police headquarters. the rats have, always been on the job at the city jail and in police alley In fact, one of the sights often offered to visitors at the north side city prison at night is huge rats -eAS@tffS ohN SSutIyiDS dDOuI over the prostrate forms of white and negro prisoners.
 Previous Attempts Unsuccessful
 In the past many attempts have been made to obviate the evil scourge of the rodents. The jail has been ordered thor oughly cleaned and whitewashed and When this had been done it was dis covered that the rats were still about. if not in greater numbers
 Poison was tried without any effect with the exception that the rats died in their holes and caused a mighty odor that brought the board of health on the scene.
 Then, one of the night wardens had a brilliant idea. He purchased a small calibre repeating rifle and amused himself during the long hours of the night peppering the rats as they scur- ried by in various parts of the jail. As the rodents are nearly as large as cats and one of the variety known as sewer rats, which are reputed to have as many lives as the feline tribe, the small .22 calibre bullets merely tickled them into thrills and provoked the war den into profanity.
 Traps Laughed At
 Traps were tried and this proved an excellent joke for the rats. The trans were of the wire variety in which a piece of cheese Is placed and the rat walks in unsuspectingly and when he Is about to nibble at the cheese dis covers that he has stepped on a trap tEaf has hah i,,a bt him in the cage to enjoy the cheese at leisure. One rat was caught in this manner but he sent numerous wireless messages to his brethren during his captivity and pyior to his death inform Ing them of the manner in which he was caught. From then on the wardens noticed every morning that the cheese was gone from within the cage but it never contained prisoner. One of the wardens to ascertain how this was ac- complished lay in wait for several hours and saw several giant rats ap- proach the cage and turn it over so the cheese would be moved to the edge. Then the rats calmly inserted a paw within and by skillful maneuyerinr managed to extract all the cheese with ih a few minutes. This enlightened the warden as to the uselessness of wire cages as traps for police rats.
 So for month the fight against tne rodents has been practically given up and they have multiplied grear,s- AL the present time their squeals min gied with the yells and screams of un- fortunate men and women are nightly diversions at the city jail.
 As to Their Size
 But, the police in excuse for the presence of rats at the Jail state that tae rats are all over the city. They claim that at the central fire station which is adjacent to the city jail the rats that inhabit the stable stalls are the largest and most ferocious in the world. The firemen dispute this by stating that the rats that frequent the cellars of stores on Fourth avenue near the fire station break all records for size and that the police and fire rats are merely mice in comparison.
 In speaking of mice the private office or Chief Eagan has several which have been made pets by the police. They are allowed to run about at will and women visitors at headquarters are often given nervous sh ocks by seeing a gray mouse playing about the chair of policeman who will be poking at 1t with pencil the same as a person would play with a pet cat. The sight is novel
 However, the seriousness of the rat situation is dawning on the authorities and drastic actions will soon he taken to kill them off. According to Chief Eagan, ways and means are already being devised to rid the city jail of the rats. The unfortunates at the bastiie will read this with hope in their heart