The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1916-11-10
PLANS TO ExTERMINArE RATS,

PLANs TO ExTERMINATE RATS.
Under date of Nov. 4, Frederic j..
Hoskins writes the New Orleans
Times-Picayune as follows:
The Women's Municipal League of
boston recently started a campaign
| for the determination of rats in that
city. Posters setting forth the Pc
~culiarities of the rat, together with
a long list of his crimes against man,
were placarded throughout every dis
trict; the children were set to work
hunting rat holes and the men to dis
tributing poison, while the women
lowered nervously in the background
and gave directions from authorita-
tive pamphlets. Since then, thou
sands of rats have been destroyed,
but the women have not relaxed their
vigilance. Swatting the rat has be-
come a permanent occupation in Bos-
ton.
Now women's clubs all over the
country have taken up the campaign.
and the rat is being pursued relent-
lessly from one stronghold to anoth-
err. Prizes are awarded in many
towns to the person with the great
est number of dead rats to his credit.
and in several cities rat days have
been established when the whole COM
munity mobilizes for a wholesale rat
slaughter" We are going to awaken
this town to the danger of the rat
menace as it has never been awaken
ed before" wrote the secretary OF a
southwestern woman's club recently
to the Women's League in Boston,
land would appreciate the use Of
your posters"
1t is estimated that rats cost the
United States S1S2.000. 900 annually.
They destroy our crops, steal u
poultry. infest our warehouses. and
tunnel under the foundations of u
cities, protected by our carelessness
and multiplying in incredible num-
bers. The possible increase of a
pair of rats in five years is over
$40. 900. 600. 900.
In addition to destroying property,
the rat is guilty of a much worse evil
the spread Of loathsome diseases
such as trichinosis and bubonic
plague. To the average person, bu-
bonic plague is associated with the
Middle Ages or some period equally
1 SiiOlC pdl " ~ liSSi
at United States ports it is a very
real and ever present enace. Cases
are constantly being reported in
Ceylon, Chile. China, Ecuador. Egypt,
India. Java. South Africa and a few
European ports.
One rat authority also accuses the
rodent of the spread of typhoid few
err. malarial fevers, diphtheria and
other diseases that may be conveyed
from drains; for the rat is an en-
thusiastic admirer of drains where
traffic is uncongested and dignifed
progress is safe. The recent conten-
ton that the rat may be to blame
for the epidemic of ~infantile paraly-
sis occurring during the past summer
has not been established, but in view
of his known character and habits,
the suggestion is well within the
bounds of possibility.
What is needed in combating the
rat is concerted action. There are
three things that the rat must have
in order to live and propagate his
species, and they are food, water and
g resting place. Fortunately FOL
him. these have always been forth.
coming. People leave their food
scattered about in various accessible
places; they place their garbage
; where the rat can get at it; they DROP
their lunches around Office buildings
and they proceed to build up outdoor
piles of rubbish. wood piles and plank
walks by the thosuand that afford
admirable nesting facilities. Now,
if in addition to setting traps ano
distributing poison. everybody would
stop supporting rats, their number:
could be effectively reduced.
AS for annihilating the species
completely, it seems to be out of the
question. Perhaps, if every com
munity and farm and hamelt in the
=. United States Joined the campaign
y against rodents and acted simultan.
: eously. it might be done, but o.
and ever so the rat authorities art
a doubtful. The rat is an intelligent
and r~esourceful animal. He usual!
> knows q trap when he sees it, anC
. seems to have a mysterious way o.
! imparting his knowledge to futur,
= generations; furthermore, You car
rarely fool a rat colony the secont
! time. If some of their tribe die from
eating q certain kind of cheese O.
~lozenge, the rest Of the members sta.
carefully away from it. While tn
rat is usually a cannibal. eating tn
weaker or MANNED of his species a
every opportunity, he will not toucl
4 a poisoned rat. And, what is more
5 if the trapping and poisoning occu
5 too persistently he devours his younI
0 and helpless offspring as a matter o
5 convenience and departs for the mex
0 nearest shelter, often to some nearb,
D town.
; Many accounts are given by nat
0 u~ralists who have observed whole col
0 onies Of rats travelling swiftly b
5 night, crossing roads and bitches an
0 rivers-anything that came in thei
0 way-until they reached a place tina
appeared 10 be satisfactory. The
they would suddenly disappear an
be G only individually and at lon