Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 January 1917 — INTERESTING ITEMA FROM THE CITIES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

INTERESTING ITEMA FROM THE CITIES

Baltimore Has Rooster That Is Expert Mouser H ALTIMORE.—AII the commission houses in the Pratt street vicinity find it U necessary to keep a cat or two to keep down the mice which are brought up from the country in the produce shipments. Down at

exchange, they have found a substitute in a big Plymouth Rock rooster,' are willing to pit against any cat in the city as a mouser. Dick, as the rooster is called, has the freedom of the exchange and holds a record of 19 mice killed in one hour. Not only does Dick kill the mice, but he swallows them head first. --- Dick’s mousing abilities were discovered accidentally. He came up from the Rappahannock river in a

shipment of chickens about a year ago and, as he seemed to have weathered, the trip badly, was taken out of the coop and thrown into a corner to get well or die. A day or two later one of the employees whs surprised to see Dick hopping madly across the floor in the wake of a scudding mouse. Just before a pile of old crates and safety were reached, Dick caught up with Mr. Mouse, gave It several shakes in order to .squeeze out all the life and then gulped it Gown. This was the beginning, and every time a mouse was cornered thereafter Dick was thrown on the trail. - —■ - - - A year of petting has made Dick quite tame. When he came up from the country a year ago he weighed only three pounds. Now’he tips the beam at nine. Not only does Dick eat all mice that are pointed out to him, but he stalks them just like any cat. He. has been known to stand patiently for half an hour at a spot until a wary mouse poked out its head. Then there was~K ■imp and one less mouse in the world. \ Not only does Dick eat mice, but he 18 a & reat lover of oysters. Etych morning the men on the exchange open a dozen raw and serve them to him. That constitutes his breakfast. He also has developed a fondness for cracked, ice, and demands his share every time the iceman Comes around. He is a favorite in the neighborhood and when he is in a- good humor does not mind‘going through a variety of simple tricks, such as posing motionless In any position ip which he is placed,, and playing dead and jumping through a hoop at command. J Elevated Trains in Gotham Now Play Leapfrog NEW YORK. —To relieve the swelling traffic on the elevated lines in New York city trains are now made to play “leapfrog” by an ingenious method of track laying. A horizontal view of the completed structure would bear a

strange resemblance to the roller coaster railroads so much in evidence In nearly all of America’s amusement parks. Nearing a station the express trains for which the new track is being designed, rise swiftly on an incline/so that they play at a modified, mechanical game of leapfrog. Under the raised tracks, ]or “humps,” as they are technically known, the local stations are situated. The reason for the “leap-frogging”

is obvious. There are three tracks in service already on the elevated-lines, but the third track could not be used for express service unless the trains crossed over and onto the local tracks to - take on and discharge passengers. This would involve delay and a'serious possibility of accident , The stations selected for the express stops are either re-enforced or renewed, and the middle .track is raised about 12 feet. The loading platforms for the “extra elevated” express tracks are built over the existing local tracks, which are left unchanged. The length of the “hump” is determined by the grade of the present local tracks at that particular section, as the grade of the express tracks never.exceeds 3 per cent. The new platforms are about 350 feet long. 1 - It is expected that the cost of operation of the express trains will be somewhat decreased as the headway which they get on the incline will carry -them seme distance before power need be applied. Trains will also be able to stop quickly and smoothly because of the upward incline as they enter the station. '

Chefs Say Detroit Is a City of Soup Eaters DETROIT.— -Detroit is a soup eaters. The chefs s# are always racking their brains for new preparations to please the" palate. The waiters admit it. Many times their wives wash shirts spotted with

consommes and chowders. And last” of all, the cashiers' books show it. -Alston baked beans are advertised; and eaten in all parts of the country. New York sharpens its carving knife, smiles broadly, smacks its lips and “digs into” its game—bear, venison, ' wild ducks, partridges, quail, grouse , and pheasants. Chicago feasts on choice steaks, chops, domestic fowls and stews. Baltimore casts its net and offers salt-water fish, oysters, dams and others; St. Louis likes

delicacies; Deliver likes French pastry and other imported sweets. Memphis and other cities below the Mason-Dixon line are strong for barbecued sqtrirrel. ■" . ’ But Detroit, um —ah. It is literally flooded with soups, French, German, Swiss, English and American. The investigator made his way into the kitchen of one of Detroit’s leading hotels. There 'were hundreffs of cooks.waltersahddishwashers, scurfylhjg.lh every direction. _1" ’ ’ \ “What is the gastronomical peculiarity of Detroit?” he askefl the chef. “It’s soup,” the chef replied. “I believe there is more soup eaten in Detroit than in any other city in the country. are two cooks who do nothing from morning till .night but prepare soup—German pea soup, cream at tomato soup, chicken gumbo, cream of chicken regence, chicken broth, beef consomme, French onion soup, clam chowder, mock turtle soup, clam Juice and special French chowder. Those, mem are conceded to be the best cooks. Ln the hotel.” ? -..i-1 In another hotel the same guestion was asked. The reply was “soup.” New Yorkers Watch a Man Make Pead Fish Flop JSW YORK—-Crowd at the window. Inside a man In a smock, struggling M with a three-foot eel. One second eel is about to slip through the man’s hands, but he grabs It just in time, and then the eel with another squirm is

| loose. Again‘the. man grabs it. This time he gives it a slap and the struggle is over. This is a regular scene on the West street front pf Washington market. David Tohias, who learned how to make a dead fish wriggle way k back In 1868, is the performer. He has an interested audience. KV If, you ask film how he makes .not onlK <‘ els hut codfish and flounders — and, ks they are in season, sturgeon— Outun Just as if they were alive, he

will tell you that he has an electrical thingamajig in the palm of his hand which puts llfe Into the fish ; but he is only joking.' . « “Making a fish squirm is a trick,” said Tobias. “I learned how to do it 1)0 Jr lb the old market. It can’t be explained, and the method can’t be acquired except by long practice;” - With this he grabbed a cod, which began to flap about and curve its spine Then thepollceman insisted that the crowd move on.