A Rat In The Telegraph Service

A telegraph inspector in England recently pressed into his service a rat under the following peculiar circumstances : It was necessary to overhaul a cable of wires inclosed in iron tubes. A certain length of the cable bad to be taken out of the tube, and the men commenced hauling at one end without having taken the precaution to attach to the other a wire by which it might be drawn back into the tube after inspection and repairs. The. question arose how the cable was to be restored to its proper place ; and here the ingenuity of the inspector was manifested. He invoked the aid of a rat-catcher, and, provided with a large rat, a ferret, and a ball of string womid on a Morse paper i-urn, he repaired to the opening in the tube. The 'flush-boxes'were opened,Jand the rat, with one end of the string attached to his body, was put into the pipe. He scampered away at a racing pace, dragging the twine with him untü he ed the middle of the length of the pipe, and there stopped. The ferretwas then put in, and off went the rat again until he sprang clear out the next flushbox. One length of the cable was thus safe, and the same operation commenced with the other ; but the rat stopped short a few yards in the pipe, and boldly awaited the approach of the ferret. A sharp combat here commenced, and ït was feared that one or both the animáis would die in the pipe. But, aftèr sundry violent jerks had been given to the string, the combátante sepaiated ; the ferret returned to his master, and the rat, making for the other extremity of the pipe, carried the string right through, and so relieved the inspector f rom his anvW.v. The existence of deep gold lodes has attracted the attention of the Goverment of New South Wales, owing to the development of the rich reef lately opened in Victoria, and a reward of $5,000 has been offered to any person finding gold at a greater depth than 800 feet.