Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-11-06
A BAD YEAR FOR RATS
Thousands Already Killed and
Many More Doomed to Die
Eat 5000 e10, 600 Worth Of Food An
nnally and Require Labor Of
2nO.GTN Men to u ecu Rat Popu-
IHtiOu Alive
BY Frederic !. Haskin)

Washington, n, G., October 31.--During
The past few months thousands Of rats
have died In a nationwide organized
warfare aaginst them. and thousands
more of them are doomed TO die. as the
warfare against them. and thousands
estimated that between thirty and forty
American towns and cities have conduct
&c campaigns against the rats or are
now conducting hem. At this time the
Baltimore city government Is slaughter
ing rats Wholesale, TO the accompaniment
of much popular appliance and newspap per
publicity.
The latest stunt in Baltimore has been
the showing of moving picture film.
frst used in Picnnond, virginia, which
is sensational exposure of the private
life of the rat--his outre geous fecundity
his disregard Of sanitation. his greed, his
cost to man.Rats rat two hundred million
dollars worth Of food every year in the
United States II takes the labor of two
hundred thousand men. to keep our rat
population alive. And the rats repay our
generosity by CARRYING bubonic plague
and many other diseases about with
Them
The determination Of the rat is one Of
the most important problems the country
faces. and the. rat is the hardest animal
on earth to eXterminate. He ia hardy
shrewd and above all. prolific. Rats
breed six or eight times "A year, and begin
their conjugal life al the age of about
three months Eight to ten young rats
are born in each litter. Some statistician
at the Biological Survey has figures out
that ~ this rate one pair of rats In three
wears would have established a family
conta ming 25a. ,fs2 individuals If you
hall !, ~,
tic for yourself,
This rat campaign started by the
Biological Survey and is under the
special generalship of Doctor Bell and
Doctor Fisher of that bureau These are
the men who cleaned all the prairie dogs
out Of several western States, often leav-
inF whole countries literally without a
prairie dog DR.. Bell says he went out
and lived with the prairie dogs" until he
had evolved dead sure method of kill
Ing them, and then he put that method
into operation a large scale and
thoroughly organized.
He had intended to do the same thing
with rats. II would not be possible TO
eyterminate the rats at completely and
clearly as the prairie dogs and ground
squirrels were eXrermlnated but II would
ne possible to save the country millions
several fatal diseases
The first thing was to find a method of
killing rats that was thoroughly
practicable The survey found such
method in Systematic poisoning with
harium carbonate, It wrote bulletin
about II, and instigated several cam
paigns, hut because of lack Of funds. the
survey had not intended to launch its
main assault on the rats until next year
Meantime various commercial concerns
and city governments seem almost to
have taken the at-kilinc business out of
the hands of the government. Not only
have all the manufacturers of rat poison
and rat traps in the United States sud
denly taken a new lease on life and on
advertising spaces. but in addition
several concerns have been organized for
the sole purpose of exploiting the new rat
poison which has been made popular hv
the government-barium carbonate. The
Biological Survey now appears 70 no
somewhat embarrassed. therefore by tho
fact that whenever II boosts bariun1
carbonate, It is boosting the business of
sundry shrewd commercial operators
Neverth less the survey cannot very
well desert its pet poison nor give up its
well-laid plans for a grand rat-war next
year, Accordingly. il has adopted the
seemingly successful policy Of working
with the private operators. and exercis-
ing sort of informal government super
vision over them.
The real king of these rat killers is a
middle-aged travelling salesman who
happened to pick up a copy of the gov
eminent bulletin explaining how rats
>oud be killed with barium carbonate
and who instantly saw the great COM
n1erNia1 nOesjhilitiee If hat