Bartley puts on ‘rat blitz’ in 1943

Just to prove how easily I am distracted by historical news items, this column is not going to be about C.W. Barnes, publisher of the McCook Republican, though all the articles will be from the July 23, 1943, issue which also happened to be the issue in which T. E. Barnes announced that the Republican was (hopefully) temporarily suspending publication after 60+ years of continuous operation. C.W. had passed, WWII was in full swing and according to T.E., “permanent reliable printers are hard to find. Unfortunately the type we have had have been incompetent, lazy, and “sick” or have the wanderlust.”

This caught my eye simply because in my humble opinion McCook is an extremely benevolent community. “Circus sale of war bonds here netted $41,750. A total of $41,750 worth of War bonds were sold to purchasers of a special section of seats at Cole Brothers Circus, it was announced today through the office of Jack Seelhammer, a member of the local Retail committee sponsoring War bond sales. The circus set aside at each performance a section of 192 seats, selling regularly for $1.85 for persons who purchased War bonds, varying from $1000 down to $25.”

Ok, I enjoy a bit of a hearty laugh and this article fit the bill. “The beer license of E.C. Hanke, proprietor the Keystone Cigar Store in McCook, today was suspended for 15 days by action of the state liquor control commission in Lincoln, a United Press dispatch revealed. The action followed a hearing in Lincoln. A Red Willow County court jury on July 9 found Mrs. Helen Madsen, an employee of Hanke, not guilty of selling beer to minors and contributing to their delinquency. One of two Kansas youths became intoxicated in the dealer’s place on July 5. The case interested the state association of brewers and beer distributors, an organization which lends every assistance to state law enforcement, and the state commission. The hearing at Lincoln followed. Elwood Widener of Hastings, today thanked the commission for suspending his beer license for 30 days for illegal beer sales by his wife. “We haven’ t had a vacation for seven years,” Widener told Commission Chairman James McEachen.”

Perhaps my sense of humor is somewhat twisted, I’m sure that this wasn’t funny to the townspeople at the time. “Bartley to put on “Rat Blitz” all over town. Tuesday and Wednesday, July 27 and 28, have been set as the dates for an all-out “rat blitz” in Bartley by the village board. The board has enlisted the aid of Don B. Whelan, entomologist from the Nebraska College of Agriculture, and H. J. Martley of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service who will help conduct the campaign. They will be in Bartley both days. Both red squill poison and cyanide gas will be used in the drive. Red squill is harmless to human beings and livestock and the cyanide gas will be used where it will affect rats only. Everyplace in town where rats live will be baited or gassed. The object of the drive is to kill off all the rats in Bartley. The pests are reported to have become very numerous and have done much damage to poultry, stored grain, and to both residence and business properties. The village board, headed by Mayor Dan Mitchell, requests the cooperation of all residents and property owners in the “blitz” campaign.”

Now of course, I had never heard of red squill rat poison. Seems that it comes from a tropical lily-like plant that is less harmful to other animals for the simple fact that any animal that could vomit, because it is slow acting, could safely eliminate it from their stomachs. Apparently rats can’t vomit. Looking all this up sufficiently answered any question I had about killing rats but I must say the baking soda method reminded me of years ago when we threw real cherry bombs down the rat holes at a farm on which we spent celebrating the 4th of July.

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