The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1917-02-08

Paying the death penalty for the
trouble they caused, three muskrats
temporarily closed down two of Hood
Rivers largest industrial plants last
week and O.-W. r N. trains, all of
which usually stop here for water, were
forced to fill their tanks at Wyeth and
The Dalles On Tuesday of last week
the ditch of the water power system
constructed number of years ago by
Joseph A. Wilson but now owned by
the Apple Growers Association broke
and allowed the reservoir on the
Heights where the family of amphibi-
Gus rodents made their home to run
dry. The penetrating cold weather
apparently drove the animals into the
outlet pipe and when the water was
again turned on the rats were impris-
oned.
From the reservoir to the level of
the business and factory section of the
city is drop of more than 200 feet and
the bodies of the muskrats had been
driven through two inch pipes. The
bones of the animals had been crushed.
AT the blacksmith and wagon factory
of W. G. Snow one of the plants
stopped when the water power was
shut off a part of the crushed body of
a muskrat being driven a distance of a
half foot into a half inch pipe.
The Hood River Apple Vinegar Co.,
where five big hydraulic presses daily
squeeze the juice from Hood River ap-
piles, was the other place of business
closed by one of the unfortunate ro-
dents.
d. c. KautZ, superintendent of the
water system, has been on the watch
for further trouble from imprisoned
muskrats.
L. J. Butterfeld, of the composing
rooms of the Hood River Glacier, has
a big tom cat that he says he will
match against all comers. The cat has
licked all other felines of the portion
of the city in which his owner resides.
Mr.. Butterfield reports a battle royal
one night last week in is basement,
when a stray, gray cat, larger than the
black, invaded the latters domain.
81 was on the point of going down
and taking hand myself" says Mr..
Butterfied, "for the noise of the fray
had awakened the babies. But the
noise ceased, and had forgotten the
night battle until the next morning,
when | found dead gray tom cat as |
was gathering up an armful of wood
Mrs. j. R. Nickelsen, of Alderbrook
farm, lust west of this city on the Co.
lumbia River Highway, when she
belled her pet cat to prevent him from
catching China pheasants, thought she
had solved problem that might be as
useful to the Portland City Council,
the members of which have recently
been involved in a discussion of the
cat-bird question.
But my method has its drawbacks, -
says Mrs. Nickelsen. while | be.
lieve it would suffice as a warning to
the birds, the tinkling of the bell on
my cat worried a neighboring family
almost into distraction.
81 was reporting my method of pre-
venting my cat from slaughtering Chi
nese pheasants to meeting of neigh
boring women. Well, | know now
what that was in our attic for the past
several nights, said Mrs. f. E.
Schmocker, one of our near neighbors.
i had beer leaving an outside win
dow to the attic open, in order that our
cat might reach the place from a back
porch roof and clean up the mice there.
For the past several nights, we have
been awakened numerous times by a
mysterious tinkling of bells. Your cat
was our ghost.