Ogden Daily Standard | 1909-08-02 | Page 5 | A Band of Trained Rats

A BAND OF TRAINED RATS D Crawford fifteen IWeen years I old anti and living Jiving near Lake Hopatcong N J has a band of remarkable rats whIch ho has trained after six months of hard work The first rat was captured In a cage It was trained after aCtor a week of oC patient work so that It would eat from the boys hand The rat which was named Scipio was thou then released with n a small bell around Its neck on the chance that Il 11 would return For ten tori days the family hoard the ben 1011 jingling among the r rafters Thou ScIpio returned with three Oth other l rats who hail presumably been persuaded aCtor ator listening to the tho arguments or of the tho former captIve After running about for Cor three hours the thie finally ate foo food front from the tho boys oa hand under tinder the loader leader ship shill of Scipio Tho work vork o of training them began The other rats were then lien named march marck Gladstone and LI Hun Hung Cluing Chang Each hUH has an Iii hi a cage At tho bo boys call each rat wIll respond to tolila lila his name comIng forth from the cage with a lag of tho thio nation represented Tho They form In line and gO through mil Ilor In sharp time Then Thena a battle battlo follows Each rat Is 15 armed wIth a stick and at al the command or of ScIpIo who nets acts az as referee they ther fight sham sImm battles first engages Gladstone until tho receives a thump on the head and falls a as If dead Then Thon ScipIo battles with LI Hung Cluing until tho latter runs nina