Show the trap atone at one time during our stay at harrisons landing the quartermasters department part ment was wan overrun with rats there were thousands tho mands of them as ravenous as wolves and they became BO so bold and defiant that the 1 Q I M X was in impair at last rome some one suggested to him to eink sink some barrels in the runways fill them about two thirds fall full of water and cover the top of the water with oats then place A board aboard BO so that it would ewt balance on one edge of each barrel and fasten to the lower end of the board a piece of cheese the board was to be attached to the barrels edge by a small arnall double staple so 0 o that when it tipped up and let a rat into the water the board would return to its old pod portion tion the quartermaster adopted the plan with enthusiasm enthus las but used instead of barrels a lot of tierces or hogsheads hog each large enough for a it thousand rats the scheme worked finely aud and the first night hundreds of rata bad had met a watery gracd when about midnight there was a tremendous splash followed by frantic yell yells such as could have proceeded only from an african throat investigation hinves ti gation showed that a colored boy in trying to steal an overcoat over cont from the quarter quartermasters musters stores storm had made a misstep and plunged into one of the hogsheads hog a the boy was frightened almost to death while the soldiers whom be he waked up laughed the them m elves selves sore the quartermasters trap proved effective thereafter both for rats and darky boys and the former after a few nights disappeared as mysteriously as they calne came Springfield homestead |