TWO MEN IN THE DARK.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 29 April 1931, Page 4

TWO MEN IN THE DARK.

BANK OF ENGLAND KAIDED Two men who carried rifles, electric torches and mysterious bundles were admitted at the porter's door of the Bank of England one night recently. They were gimTet-eyed men, wearing peaked caps, and their rubber-soled feet made no sound on the pavement. The men were as mysterious as their appearance, They roamed through »;he labyrinth of rooms, staircases, and corridors without attempting to switch on lights. Thqjr familiarity with the intricacies of the great building was complete. They took wire netting from their bundles, and spread it about the floors. Then for almost an hour they stood motionless together near some large safes. At length, one of the men gave a sibilant whisper through his teeth, at > which there was ,a pattering sound. They switched on their torches, and lo! the floor was alive—with rats! The rats swarmed over counters and flung themselves against walls, and climbed over one another in desperation. But escape had been cut off. The men pounced on them with their bare hands.

Sentries in other parts of the building heard muffled rifle shots, but took no heed of the firing, Mr, Thomas Dalton, son of Mr. William Dalton, London's celebrated rat-catcher, was making his periodical round-up of the bank's rats. He, has the unquestioned right of entry to the Bank of England after dark. "We usually make a good haul of rats at the banK," he said. “My family have been in the rat-catching business since 1710, and we have secret methods for catching rats."