Photograph from U. S. Public Health Service 

 MODEL OF RAT-PROOF HOUSE 



These diminutive buildings, designed by the U. S. Public Health Service, are used in 

 instructing the general public how to comply with the rat-proofing ordinances, which have 

 been adopted in many American cities since Surgeon General Blue's epoch-making work in 

 California. Note how the underpinning of the doorstep is cut away so that rats and mice 

 can find no shelter underneath. There is a heavy wire grating over the ventilation opening 

 in the foundation wall and a section of the side wall is cut away to show the brick or con- 

 crete "stop" between the joists to prevent rats from getting into the box between the outer 

 and inner walls and there having safe harborage. 



gent people should tolerate such unsavory 

 and unhealthy conditions. 



OUR U. S. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE LEADS 

 THE WAY 



Ordinances should be passed and rigid- 

 ly enforced forever to end this situation. 

 The cost of the proper rat-proofing meas- 

 ures would quickly pay for itself in the 



saving of foodstuffs, and would warrant 

 increased rent to the owners, in addition 

 to conferring a lasting benefit on the com- 

 munities involved. 



Surgeon General Blue's dictum that 

 "rats must be built out of existence" well 

 indicates the importance of rat-proofing 

 in the war against these rodents. 



One of the most effective campaigns 



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