Read Motor Matt; or, The King of the Wheel Page 20

  THE RAT CRUSADE.

  The crusade against rats, begun in Norway a few years ago, is graduallyextending over the world. For many months San Francisco has been wagingremorseless warfare upon the rodent dwellers of the city, and severalhundred thousand of the pests have been destroyed. The persons who areactive in directing the slaughter predict that if the other cities ofthe State can be induced to assist, California can be entirely clearedof rats in the course of a couple of years.

  Long ago scientists proved that the rat family is one of the worstenemies of mankind. By nature the rat is an unclean animal, and,dwelling in multitudes as it does, in the most populous parts ofcities, it is a constant menace to public health. Microscopicexamination of fresh rat hides invariably reveals myriads of diseasegerms. Almost every contagion known to the medical profession maybe communicated, or, rather, is communicated, to persons living inrat-infested neighborhoods.

  The methods employed by the San Francisco rat-hunters are simple,inexpensive, and most effective. Traps are being used, but ferretsand terriers are most frequently employed. A ferret is started intothe burrow of a rat community, while three or four dogs are kept inleash without. The tiny ferret explores the galleries of the house,sometimes chasing a dozen or more rats into the open. Then begins thework of the dogs. The ferret is a bloodthirsty little creature, andis held in terror by most animals of several times his size. Three orfour diminutive ferrets and a half-dozen trained terriers will destroyseveral hundred rats in a day.