Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 November 1894 — HOW HE BANISHED RATS. [ARTICLE]

HOW HE BANISHED RATS.

The Quaint German Legend G s the pi C( * Piper of Hamelin. There are few more curious legends than that of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, a subject that has been im. mortalizod by the poet, Robert Browning, and which attracted the artistic brush of the eminent painter, William Von Kaulbach. Hamelin is a town of Hanover, Germany, and towatd the close of the thirteenth century was infested by rats. They were so numerous that in the words of Browning They fought the do„'s and killed the cats And bit the babies In the cradies, And ate the cheese out the vats And licked the soup from the cook’s own ladles, Split open the kegs of salted sprats. Made nests Inside men’s Sunday hats And even spoiled the women’s chats. While the mayor and authorities were in consultation over means to rid the city of the pest a strange figure, dressed in yellow and red, entered the room and offered for 1,000 guilders to expel the rats. The offer was accepted, end going into the street he began playing on his pipe. Theu out of the houses the rats came tumbling. Great rats, small rats, lean rats, brawny rats, Brown rats, black rat 3, gray rats, tawny rats. Brothers, sisters, husbands and wives Followed tbe piper for their lives. The piper led the way to tbe River Weser into which the rats plunged and were drowned. Returning to the mayor the piper demanded his 1,000 guilders but was refused. He again entered the street and began playing another tune. Immediately children began to flock around him and he led, under the spell of his music, toKoppelterg Hill, where they entered through a door that suddenly opened and were never again seen. Numerous effortswere made to discover the whereabouts of the piper and have him restore the little ones, but the piper was never again heard of. A Vast Ruined City. A party of scientists have recently explored the ruins of the great city of Ancor, or Angor, situated in what are now the almost inaccessible forests of Cambo.iia, Tnese ruins were discovered _ only a short tme ago, comparatively, though rumors of the existence of such a place have long been current in the country. The ruins as described would indicate that Ancor mu-t have been one of the largest cities in the world, if not the largest. Temples, palaces and edifice tof vast size in a fine state of preservation lie scattered over a wide territory, intermingled with mounds and masses of crumbling stone and brick. Large forest trees are growing upon the debris and in the courts of palace and temple. Little is known of the history of Ancor, though it is-stated that it could send forth a million or more fighting men. The portions of the walls still standing are cyclopean. How it should have fallen into such complete desuetude it is difficult to conjecture. Deserteis from the Navy. The statement has been recently made that 1,20(1 sailors deserted from the navy last year. This is in proportion of one desertion for every seven enlisted men. The explanation is that we cannot keep men in the service without some encouragement; that the men realize there is no future for them; that they get discouraged and desert in order to enter some other vocation. A woman will gi«e up anything for ove except the man she loves.