Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 February 1874 — Rats as Reasoners. [ARTICLE]

Rats as Reasoners.

I HEARD the narrative first from the lips of a® old sea Captain—* man of unquestionable veracity—and I have not the slightest doubt of its entire truthfulness, although the reader is not obliged to believe it. I will give it, as nearly as I can remember, in the narrator’s own words : “I sailed from New York for Liverpool, with an assorted cargo,” said the captain, “in a ship terribly infested with rats. I tried ever/plan I comd think off to lessen tMnr number, but all without effect The more I caught the more there seemed to be, till I became almost disheartened and well-nigh resolved to let them alone altogether. “At length one of the sailors suggested a new trap, which struck me as ingenious, and which I thought would be likely to prove efficient Acting under the advice of the old sea-dog alluded to, I took a barrel, which I half-filled with water—then I took the head belonging to the barrel and trimmed it on the edges till it was small enough to fit inside the barrel—across this head I nailed a stick, the ends of which projected about an inch on each side, which ends I had whittled roundthen I bored two holes, one on each side side of the barrel, near the top, and inserted the ends of the stick therein, so that the head, while apparently covering the barrel, swung free of it—now I fasten ed a piece of pork on the exact center of the cover so that it would swing neither one way or the other unless touched on the edges, and my trap was complete. The reader will readily understand that when a rat leaped on the edge of the cov. er, to get at the pork in the center, it would go down with his weight and drop him into the water below, after which it would swing to its former position and be ready for the next customer. “The trap succeeded admirably. On the morning after I first set it 1 counted thirty dead rats in the barrel—fine fat fellows, who had been plundering the ship’s stores till they had swelled to aldermanic proportions. On the second night I caught twenty—on the third night ’ twelve—on the fourta night two—and on the fifth night none at all—and vet strange to say, the pork was gone. I baited it again and again, but each time the pork was gone and no rats toere caught This puzzled me not a little. How could the rodents secure the pork without get ting a free bath » The subject worried me. I called a council of war consisting of the entire crew and officers of the ship, but nobody could suggest a solution oi the mystery, and in the meantime the rate were thicker than ever. My curiosity and my combativeness, were both aroused. I resolved to solve the mystery at any cost I determined to watch. “Accordingly at about seven o’clock one evening, while it was yet light, I took a binnacle light and went down into the hold of the ship where I had fixed my trap. I hung the lamp on a nail and en sconcing myself behind a cask of beef in as easy a position as possible I settled myself to await patiently a solution of the problem which had so puzzled and vexed me. “An hour passed by and yet np sound save the Diash of the waves as they parted from the ship’s bow, and the straining of the cordage fell upon my ears. My eyes had become accustomed to the darkness of the hold, and the ‘dim religious light'thrown by the binnacle lamp made everything around me distinctly visible. “At length a slight scratching noise, followed by a squeak, startled me, and the next moment two grave-looking and obese old rats ran to the cleared space whereon the barrel stood, and snuffling —the air as. they- looked around, began to -reconnoiter. “Seemingly satisfied after a brief investigation that no enemy was at hand, they scampered backhand in the course of some five minutes returned with an army numbering some thirty or forty ol their companions at their back. “I watched with breathless eagerness to see what would follow next. “After apparently consulting together awhile the rats divided themselves into two squads, and one-half remained on one side of the barrel while the other half went round on the other side. Then the party on the side nearest me ascended the side of the barrel one after another each placing his forward feet on the edge of the cover to hold it down, and then the party on the opposite side ascended, surrounded the pork, loosened it from the cover, dragged it to the ground; and then the whole party surrounded it and began greedily to devour it. The mystery was explained, and I concluded that from that time forth it was useless to attempt to circumvent the rodent thieves. Grasping an old belaying pin, which somehow had found its way into the htffd, I let, it fly full force at the crowd, and succeeded in knocking over some three or four of them, but I bothered myself no further about them. ‘When but about two days from port my ship began to leak badly, and al though we had no storm I found it necessary to keep the men at work at the pumps constantly to keep her free. This was a great mystery to me. I could not understand it, nor could any of my officers or crew suggest a possible cause. We reached port in safety, however, and then I had the vessel hauled up for repairs. The caulkers could discover nothing wrong at first. Even the paint on her bottom seemed to be intact, but on a closer examination ft was found that in Pj aces the planking was a mere shell. The rats had gnawed their way downward in spots till they had reached the water, and had left nothing but the laere crest of paint between us and eter- • nity. . Had a storm overtaken us before reaching port, nothing on earth could have kept us from going to the -bottom, for there were many places thfSttgh which a strong man might easily’have/ forced his You may well believe there was not a rat on board that ship when I started on my homeward voyage, for I smothered them with sulphur while the vessel was on the stocks, and took their dead bodies out by the basketful. “To conclude, I may say that I have read natural history not a little, and have heard of and read a great deal concerning animals and their habits. I have known dogs and horses to do wonderful things—l concede the ingenuity of the beaver, the cunning of the lox and the sagacity of the elephant, but I have never yet met with any incident which seemed to have in it so much of reason as the one which I have above narrated ” Francis S. Smith, in N. Y. Weekly.