The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1920-10-05
Rat Is Mans Chief Foe.
Has Caused More Deaths Than All the Wars
of History.
From the New York Times.


The rat is responsible for more deaths
among human beings than all the wars of
history, according to David E. LAM, assistant
biologist of the Bureau of Biological Survey,
who claims the house rat is the most destruc-
tive animal in the world.
mot all the fatal epidemics of the past
were bubonic plague, but enough of them
have been so identified to show that almost
every century of the Christian era has had
at least one great pandemic of this scourge
which destroyed millions of the worlds popu-
lation," he says in report to the department
of agriculture.
"The great plague of London which killed
more than half the inhabitants that did not
flee from the city was by no means the
worst outbreak recorded. The plague called
black death devastated Europe for fifty
years of the fourteenth century, destroying
two-thrds to three-fourths of the population
of large territories and one-fourth of all the
people, or about 25,000,000 persons.
Since 1896 plaques have carried away near
ly 10000 of the population of India alone.
The disease is still intrenched in Asia, Africa
and Australia and South America, and cases
of it have occurred in Europe and in North
America.
Through the fleas that infest them rats
are almost wholly responsible for the per-
petuation and transmission of bubonic plague,
and it has been proved also that rats are
active although not exclusive agents in
spreading pneumonia plague. Only the prompt
measures taken by the United States Public
Health service against these animals prevent
ed disastrous epidemics of plague in San
Francisco, Seattle and Hawaii in 1909, in
Porto Rico in 1912, and in New Orleans in
1914.
'The economic loss due to rats is astound-
ing. No extensive or exact statistics on the
subject are available, but surveys of condi-
tions as existing in few of the older cities
of the United States show that losses due to
rats are almost in exact ratio to the popula-
tions. In rural districts the losses are much
greater in proportion to inhabitants than in
cities.
Assuming that there are in the United
States only as many rats as people, and that
each rat in a year destroys property valued
at 50 the total yearly damage is about $780,
100000. To this must be added the expense
of fighting rats, including the large sums
paid for traps and poisons, the keeping of
dogs and cats and the labor involved. In
addition the loss of human efficiency due to
disease disseminated by the rat should be
considered.
Civilization and science have by no means
spoken their last word about the means of
combating this great plague of the human
race A building can be made rat proof
why not a farmstead, a street, village, a
city or seaport? If rats cannot be ex-
terminated they at least can be repressed in
this country, and at the same time effective
barriers can be erected against the landing
of fresh hordes. Up to the present time,
however few efforts have been made to find
out the way, or even to apply properly the
means already at command 1t is high time
to begin.
"To combat the rat successfully is largely
a building problem. Buildings should be so
constructed as to exclude the animals from
shelter and food. When this is done, indi-
vidual and community efforts to destroy rats
will give satisfactory and lasting results The
program may be regarded by many as too
expensive. Will it be too costly? What do
rats cost now? If half the money II w spent
in feeding and fighting rats coula be ex-
pended in wisely planned and we'll Executed
cooperative efforts for rat repression it
would be possible within few years nearly
to rid the country of its worst animal pest,
to reduce losses from its depredations by at
least 80 per cent, and to free the land COM
pletely from the fear of the bubonic plague"