Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 312, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 January 1918 — Page 3

REPRESSION OF RAT

First Exclude Rodents From Place Where They Find Food. BEST PLAN TO USE CEMENT Granaries, Corncrlba, Poultry Houses Etc., May Be Made Rat-Proof by Liberal Use of That Material in Foundations. If Prepared by the United States Depart- . ment of Agriculture.) First in importance, as a measure of rat repression, is the exclusion of the animals from places where they find food and safe retreats for rearing their young. The best way to keep rats from buildings, whether in, city or in country, is to use cement in construction. As the advantages of this material are coming to be generally understood, Its use is rapidly extending to all kinds of buildings. The processes of mixing and laying this material require little skill or special knowledge, and workmen of ordinary Intelligence can successfully follow the plain directions contained in handbooks of cement construction. Many modern'public buildings are so constructed that Pats can find' no lodgment In the walls or foundations, and yet in a few years, through negligence, such buildings often become Infested ■with the pests. Sometimes drain pipes are left uncovered for hours at a time. Often outer doors, especially those opening on alleys, are left ajar, A common mistake Is failure to screen basement windows which must be opened for ventilation. However the Intruders are admitted, when once inside they intrench themselves behind furniture or stores, and are difficult to dislodge. The addition of inner doors to vestibules Is an important precaution against rats. The lower edge of outer doors to public buildings, especially Markets, should be re-enforced with light metal plates to prevent the animals from gnawing through. Any opening left around water, steam or-

RAT-PROOFING BUILDING WITH CEMENT SIDE WALL.

gas pipes, where they go through walls, should be closed carefully* with concrete to the full depth of the wall. Dwellings. In constructing dwelling houses* the additional cost of making the foundations rat-proof compared with the advantages. The cellar walls should have concrete footings, and the walls themselves should be laid In cement mortar. The cellar floor should be of medium rather than lean concrete. Even old cellars may be made rat-proof at comparatively small expense.- Rat holes may be permanently closed with a mixture of cement, sand and broken glass, or sharp bits of crockery or stone. j ■ On a foundation like the one described above, the walls of' a wooden dwelling also may be made rat-proof. The space between the sheathing and lath, to the height of about a foot, should be filled with concrete. Rats cannot then gain access to the walls, and can enter the dwelling only through doors or windows. Screening nil basement and cellar windows with wire netting is a most necessary precaution.

Old Buildings in Cities. .Aside from old dwellings, the chief refuges for rats in cities are sewers, /wharves, stables arid outbuildings. Modern, sewers are used by the animals merely as highways and not as Abodes, but old-fashioned sewers often afford nesting crannies. Wharves, stables and outbuildings In cities should be so built as to exclude rats. ..Cement Is the chief means to this end. Old tumble-down buildings and wharves should not be tolerated in any city. In both city and country, wooden floors of sidewalks, areas and porches are commonly laid upon timbers resting on the ground. Under such floors rats have, a safe retreat from nearly all enemies. The conditions can be remedied In towns by municipal action requiring that these floors be replaced by others made of cement. Areas or ■walks made of brick are often undermined by rats and may become as objectionable as those of wood. Wooden floors of porches should always be well above the ground. Farm Buildings. Granaries, corncrlbs and poultry houses may be made rat-proof by a liberal use of cement In the foundations and floors; or the floors may be of wood resting upon concrete. Objection has been urged against concrete floors for horses, cattle and poultry, because

the material is too good a conductor of heat, and the health of the animals suffers from contact with these floors. In pqultry houses, soil or sand may be used as a covering for the cement floor, and In stables a wooden floor resting on concrete,is Just, as satisfactory so far as the exclusion of rats Is concerned. The common practice of setting corncribs on posts with inverted pans at the tops often falls to exclude rats, because the posts are not high enough 1:0 place the lower cracks of the structure beyond reach of the animals. As rats are excellent jumpers, the posts should be tall enough to prevent the animals from obtaining a foothold at any place within three feet of the ground. A crib built in this way, however, is not very satisfactory. For-a rat-proof crib a well-drttined site should be chosen. The outer waifs, laid in cement, should be sunk about twenty Inches Into the ground. The space, within the walls should be grouted thoroughly-with cement and broken stone and finished with rich concrete for a floor. Upon this the structure may be built. Even the walls of the crib may be concrete. Corn will not mold in contact with them, provided there is good ventilation and the roof is water-tight. However, there are cheaper ways of excluding rats from either new or old corncribs. Rats, mice add sparrows may be kept out effectually by the use of either an inner or an outer covering of galvanized-wire netting of half-inch mesh and heavy enough to resist the teeth of the rats. The netting in common use in screening- cellar windows is suitable for covering or lining cribs. As rats can climb the netting, the entire structure must be screened, or, if sparrows are not to be excluded, the wire netting may be carried up about three feet from the ground, and above this a belt of sheet metal about a foot in width may be tacked to the outside of the building. Complete working drawings for the practical rat-proof corncrib may be obtained from the office of public roads and rural engineering of the department. Buildings for Storing Foodstuffs. Whenever possible, stores of food for man or beast should be placed only in buildings of rat-proof construction, guarded against rodents by having all

windows near the ground and all other possible means of entrance screened with netting made of No. 18 or No. 20 wire and of one-fourth-inch mesh. Entrance doors should fit closely, should have the lower edges protected by wide strips ■of metal, and should have springs attached, to insure that they shall not be left open. Before being used for housing stores, the building should be inspected as to the manner in which water, steam or gas pipes go through the walls, and any openings found around such pipes should be closed with concrete.

If rat-proof buildings are not available, It is possible, by the use of concrete in basements and the other precautions just mentioned, to make an ordinary building practically safe for food storage. y When it is necessary to erect temporary wooden structures to hold forage, grain or food supplies for army camps, the floprs of such buildings should not be In contact with the ground, but elevated, the sills having a foot or more of clear space below them. Smooth posts rising two or three feet above the ground may be fised for foundations, and the floor itself may be protected below by wire netting or sheet metal at all places where rats could gain a foothold. Care should be taken to have the floors as tight as possible, for it is chiefly scattered grain and fragments of food about a camp that attract rats. Rat-Proofing by Elevation. The United States public health service reports that in its campaigns against bubonjn^plague in San Francisco (1907) and New Orleans (1914) many plague rats were found under the floors of wooden houses resting on the ground. These buildings were made rat-proof by elevatlpn, and no case of either human or rodent plague occurred in any house after the change. Placing them on smooth posts 18 Inches above the ground, with the space beneath the floor entirely open, left no hiding place for rats. This plan Is adapted to small dwellings throughout the South, and to small summer homes, temporary structures, and small farm buildings everywhere. Whenever rats might obtain a foothold on the top of the post they may be prevented from gnawing the adjacent wood by tacking metal plates or pieces of wire netting to floor or silL

Tools and Sheds.

Tool sheds haven’t risen In price nearly so fast as farm machinery.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

DOFFING THE HAT

Politeness Traced Back to the Primitive Times. Ancient Peoples, as Mark of Submission, Uncovered Body and Surrenderee! Their Clothing. - We consider a man a gentleman who* takes off bis hat to a lady. At least the act Is thought to, be gentlemanly, polite. The origin of this custom, like so many other customs common among so-called civilized peoples, goes back to primitive times, says the Salt Lake Tribune. ! ; When a person was made captive his conqueror stripped him of his weapons and clothing and left him without anything he could: call his own. The captive was thus made a slave, his lack of clothing being evidence of his subjugation. We need only to look at the sculptures of the Assyrians to see the truth of the fact And in Isaiah 20:2-4, we find the following statement: “And the Lord said, like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a- sign, so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians, prisoners and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot.” The first step, then, In tracing the origin of taking off the hat is the surrender of the clothing among primitive and ancient peoples as a mark of submission. The next step is the un-. covering of the body as a mark of reverence. There are all degrees of uncovering, though often only the most valuable parts of the clothing are taken off in the presence of superiors. It must be remembered that this act of uncovering the body was ceremonial In nature and used to show reverence to a superior. Then came the use of the ceremonial to propitiate the dead. We can' see a remnant of this most any time. At funerals and in our graveyards men take off their bats. They still take off their hats on entering churches and before the images of Christ arid the Madonna.

In times of chivalry men raised their hats to ladies to show reverence. But this was only superficial in meaning. A knight would ride down a poor peasant woman carrying a large burden and never think of helping her —least of all would he think of taking off his hat to her. However, if he heard of some beautiful damsel of his own class In the slightest danger, imaginary or real, he would go to her and, hat in hand, kneel and dedicate himself to her service.

Today much the same things occur. Ordinarily a gay youth forgets to take off his hat to his mother, yet he shows this deference to his “best girl.” After all It Is only form, and politeness should go deeper than this. However, the form persists, and it is of some historical interest to remember that it is a remnant of the primitive stripping of a captive by which process was expressed the fact that he yielded up all he had. Taking off the hat to a wealthy girl means, occasionally, not only the yielding up of all you have, but the getting of all she has. Ceremony Is often nothing but a hard calculation in regard to personal results, especially where self-aggrandizement Is the ultimate aim of the polished in-> dividual.

Smoked Dry Pipe.

The lost pipe of a Hun raider was found in the garden of a bouse In an Essex town over which a German airship passed. A portion of the stem has been cut and flattened and upon it is written In indelible ink, “Karl Werner, 13138—A. G.” The under side of the bowl and the stem have been notched eleven times and On the side of the mouthpiece are more notches. The finder of the pipe said: '‘There w’as no smell of tobacco about the pipe and it had not apparently been recently smoked. It is possible that, it was used by the owner as a dry pipe as the mouthpiece shows signs* of hard biting. The notches cut in the stem may record the number of - times the airman had flown with it in his mouth.” “Smoking” a dry pipe is not Unusual, especially would it be the case In a Zeppelin in which a spark from a lighted pipe might cause the ship’s destruction.

A Cameo Kingdom.

Prince Liechtenstein, whose frank utterances formed the most striking Incident of a peace demonstration held recently in Vienna, is heir to a principality which enjoys the unique distinction among continental nations of having no army and no compulsory military service. Prior to the AustroPrussian war the tiny state of Liechtenstein constituted part of the Germanic confederation; and was bound to maintain a quota of men for service in the federal 1 army, but after Sadowa Its force of eighty soldiers was disbanded and have never been revived.

Boy Drowns, Cat Saved.

The nine lives a cat possesses stood one creature in good stead in northeast London not long ago. A boy was taking a cat in a basket to the Cats* home to be destroyed. On the way he slipped and fell into a canal, the cat /being In the basket which he still held/ The boy was drowned, but the cat managed to save itself, and has returned to its owner’s house.

His Memory.

Proprietor—Won’t you try our pie? It’s just like mother used to make. Diner —Well —er —I knew your mother and you’d better bring me lee cream.

TAKING THE HUBBY SHOPPING

.ft t —— . * ' Big Chief of the Household Learns What Trouble the Wife Always Has .to Experience. As to the advisability of taking one’s husband to the shops, much may be _said nn both-RldoA observes Simeon - Strunsky, in Harper’s Magazine. On the one hand, it is certain that after he has spent thrrie hrturs in a chair while his wife tries on spring suits, a man Will have a very definite Idea of what women suffer In the daily task. The next tttne his wife comes home from the shops with a headache he Is likely to be more sympathetic. But then again It may be that the memory of his own bitter ordeal will prevail, and he will carry away with him a more vivid sense of the futilities In which the life of woman is spent. Tt all depends on the man, of course. But the husbana endowed with just a bit of philosophic reflection, planted three solid hours in a tapestry chair, In an audience of 300 women and 50 salesgirls, .will, watch the strained and tired faces, the trylngs-on and dtvestings, the search after the unattainable ideal, the final purchase made more out of weariness than out of satisfaction; and he cannot help asking himself; “For whom is it all?” And he will say to himself, “For us males?” And it will make him thoughtful.

Taking along one’s husband to the store as critic and appraiser Is of no use at all. In the first place, his principles of criticism are utterly unlike a woman’s. His criticism is of the romantic, impressionistic school. He looks at his wife in the green cloak with fur edging and says, “I like that.” Or else he says, “You look well In that.” As if the mere fact that a woman looks well in a green coat or that she likes it were the deciding factor!

Woman belongs, in the matter of dress, to the scientific school of criticism, which bases itself on universal principles—Aristotle, Taine, Brunetiere. It is criticism which does not ask whether a woman looks well in a green cloak trimmed with fox, but says: “How does this green cloak fit into that woman’s life, her temperament, her likes, her friends, her duty of being duplicated by the woman next door, on the other hand?” A man likes his wife’s new dinner gown when it looks well on his wife In the shop, A woman is bound to think of the gown in relation to the wallpaper and the lights at home, the fact that she had a dark-red dinner gown year before last, the fact that her color is somewhat higher than tt was two years ago, that she has taken on three pounds in weight, that her husband’s income has materially Increased since last year, and that next year people will be wearing greens and purples.

Found First Diamond.

The first diamond discovered in Griqualand. South Africa, was found by the children of a Dutch farmer, who for a time used it as a plaything. The stone was later sent to Cape Town, where its true nature was recognized, and it was subsequently forwarded to Paris, where it was exhibited and sold for $2,500. The valuable discovery soon led to other researches, and diamonds were unearthed in various places in Griqualand West, with the result that, 46 years ago, the country of the Griquas, a mixed race sprung from Dutch settlers and native women, was annexed by Great Britain. Diamond hunting was at first confined to the banks of the Vaal river, but in the year of the British occupation mines were opened in the locality known as “dry diggings,” which has since received the name of Kimberly. In 1872 the world was startled by the discovery of the Stewart diamond of 288% carats. The daily output of the consolidated mines at Kimberly just prior to the outbreak of the war was valued at $220,000.

Communal Kitchens.

The latest proposal for the elimination of waste in food and the supply of meals at minimum cost in England, includes, what for .a better term Is called, communal feeding. The communal kitchen has been proposed on several occasions but, save tor a few spasmodic experiments, it ha« not been given a thorough trial. Lord Rhondda is interested in the new proposal and acting with a committee of social workers he is devising plans to give the scheme a real test. With so many women doing war work and with consequent neglect of household duties, some such plan as is proposed will have to be carried out if th* rising generation is not to suffer seriously in health.

A Movie Fan.

“You must make home so attractive that yfiur husband will want to stay at home evenings.” “How can I?” asked the married young woman. “Even if we had a moving picture machine, I couldn’t make arrangements for all the firstrun films.”

Her Privilege.

Mrs. Pickles —You don’t mind my looking at your husband, do you? I think he’s perfectly lovely. He’s been making eyes at me all eveglng. Mrs. Peppers—Stare as much as you like, dear. A cat may look ft a king.”

Very Simple.

“Can you tell me, professor, If this amber Jewelry Is genuine?” “Oh, that’s very easily determined. Soak it in alcohol for twenty-four hours. It it’s genuine, it will then have disappeared.”

German-Americans Loyal As in Every Crisis of the Nation in Past

By HENRY WEISMANN.

The heart of our citizens of German stock is entirely sound. It requires only a proper presentation of matters and a firm stand to induce all of them to fall in line. They are Americans first—with but unimportant exceptions. , The assurances .of friendship expressed by the president for the German people, his high hopes for democracy, embodied the aspirations of millions of people of German Btock, and these millions believe that the present struggle will bring government by the people and for the -people to nearly the entire world.

The war with Germany is a great touchstone of our ability to think and, act as a great nation. The part of German-Ainericans in this war must, and I know will, be as fruitful of willing sacrifices, heroic deeds and patriotic devotion as that of any citizen who points to the 'Pilgrims as his ancestors —yes, liven more so, because we know how great is the advantage of America’s citizenship and how great the boon that has come to those who fled German conditions of life, both economic and political, to embrace the free institutions of the New World. German-American hearts, brain and brawn are merged with Idle great forces of the American people in this all-absorbing enterprise. And while thus active in this work of patriotic devotion, our vision rises and looks to a future for our American-born children, whose children and children’s children shrill and prosper upon the great work of today when this American ours will find a permanent lodgment with every one of the millions who, while proud of the achievements of the German race, are prouder still of the fact of being one of the new nation that shall bring the world the liberty and democracy which we enjoy. There can be no division. Only one loyalty is possible in th® heart and mind of our citizenship, no matter of what stock— the- loyalty which we have sworn and which I know the American citizens of German gtock will hold sacred as in former days when the German-American leaders of the past, in every crisis of our country, gave their lives for it® preservation.

Fixed Price for Wheat Protects Farmer From Danger of Overproduction

By DR. H. J. WATERS.

Today there is only one side on which any loyal American may be found, and that is the side of the Stars and, Stripes. Since we are at war it is necessary for us all to make and the smallest sacrifice anyone can make is the sacrifice of money. Price fixing is a new business to a democracy like ours and it necessarily causes some confusion and some dissatisfaction at first, particularly since it has had to come in a year when the available wheat supply was the lowest in many years and when the demand was perhaps the highest in history. The farmer cannot help feeling that his product under unrestricted sale would bring a much higher price than the government dares to fix. It is to be remembered, however, that the fixed price of *2.20 in Chicago is for the entire 1917 crop and continues in effect until July next, when the guaranty of not less than $2, fixed by congress, becomes operative. Moreover, while the world is short of available wheat, there actually exists a surplus of this crop. Australia has a reserve of 180,000,000 bushels, which ia being offered at $1 a bushel, and there is the prospect of an additional surplus of 100,000,000 bushels at the coming harvest in that country. In India there is in sight a surplus of nearly 100,000,000 bushels and in Argentina of approximately 70,000,000 bushels. If active fighting should cease and peace negotiations begin, these supplies, added to what is obtainable m Canada and the United States, would be thrown immediately on the market, depressing the price here, as well as elsewhere, to probably $1 a bushel. This does not take into account the vast resources of wheat in Russia,-which cannot be reached in time to affect the sale of the 1917 crop. The government price recently fixed protects the American farmer against any decline in the wheat market. While the present guaranty is based on a small crop and will furnish no subsidy to the farmer but will rather call for a sacrifice on his part, we are likely to have under normal crop conditions a billion and a quarter bushels next year. Under the government guaranty this will be sold for at least $2 a bushel.

War Marriages, Contracted in Haste, Often Bring Regrets

By MRS. EDNA B. FUNSTON.

Moving is the hardest duty of an army man’s wife. She has to be ready to shift her household from one place to another in perhaps a few days’ time. This means that furniture must be sold, some stored away, some shipped to the new home, other kinds Selected, trunks packed, the children outfitted, different kinds of clothing bought, and what not When I was living in San Antonio, Tex., I had the double problem of keeping one home ready in California and another open on the border. And the income of an army man is not. so big that this is a simple matter. But I wouldn’t have changed a single day of my life for anything. I do not think that as a general rule war marriages are good things, although circumstances often arise which alter the case. My husband waa the kind of a man who was easy to know, so that I felt after my two weeks Engagement to him that I had known him always. On the other hand, 1 knew a woman who was engaged to a man for ten years before she married him. She knew him too well, whs actually tired of him when they married, so of course they did not have a happy life. So yon see it isn’t the length of time you know your husband—it’s in the indiriduals. I think most young girls tfho marry during the war in haste often regret their hastiness. They do not think of the responsibilities of marriage. It is hhrd for a young girl to be left alone when her husbands goes to war. It is harder still for her to go on with her life should she be widowed, because no matter how young she is there is a big difference between girlhood and widowhood. In the majority of instances the waij bride does sot realize what she is doing.

PrewJent of German-Arne tcm» Alliance of SMi of NsWY«i

President of Kansu State Aricoltnral CoDcge

,Widow of Gen. Frederick B. Ftnutao