SPOKTSMEN, FARMERS, &C. 811 



they die, and stink the house, so that you 

 cannot live in it, until you have removed 

 the floors and wainscots. This, I trust, 

 will prevent every prudent person from at- 

 tempting to destroy rats by poison : you 

 shall be instructed how to destroy them all, 

 without incurring the risk of any expense 

 in your house. I mu^t inform you how I 

 acquired this valuable secret. 



When I was aid-de-camp to my most 

 worthy patron, protector, and friend, Sir 

 Henry Chnton, then commander in chief 

 at New York, one day, at dinner, he told 

 Col. Phillips, that the rats were so nume- 

 rous in his quarters, that he had been forced 

 to have the bottom of the doors lined with 

 tin, for that they had very nearly eaten 

 through the door where he kept his papers ; 

 and he asked Col. Phillips, if he knew of 

 any person who could destroy them. Col. 

 Phillips, who was a loyal American in our 

 service, replied, that, some years before the 

 American war commenced, a rat-catcher, 

 who had been transported from England, 

 came and lived as gardener with him, at his 

 estate at Phillipsbourg, about twenty odd 

 G 2 



