Wholesale Slaughter on the London Tube Railway.

NZ Truth, Issue 198, 3 April 1909, Page 3

Wholesale Slaughter on the London Tube Railway.

At least three" of the underground railways of London are now free from rats. -Once the rats had obtained an entry into the " tubes " they multiplied rapidly until, quite recently, their death wairant was decreed, •as it was found that tney showed an increased liking for nibbling electric cable covering. The tubes affected were the Bakerloo, the'Hampstead, and the Piccadilly. To carry on the war 1,000 tubes of DANYSZ VIRUS was obtained. This virus only harms rats and 1 mice, and once eaten by them they suffer from an inordinate dread' of being underground m a confined space. They, fed a great longing to get to the upper air, combined with a consuming desire for one last long sip of clear, cold water. The offieials.preparediine'^irus.aiidlaidit during the rdght. A few days after eating it the rats commenced their jostling rush to the surface, and, each morning when the stations were opened the corpses of rodents were found. The numbers were very large> at Trafalgar-square Station, for seemingly the rats knew by instinct how near the fountains were. Eventually all the rats, to the number of many thousands, succumbed. •—London " Daiily MaH."