t one rat, and you decide to award
the victory to a given one, then the owner of the other dog will probably
accuse you of wrong-doing and favouritism. Then is the time the
Rat-catcher has to be prepared to pull off his coat and start fighting
before, perhaps, 500 spectators. This has often occurred with me. This,
I can assure my readers, is what I call "roughing it."

Of course, what I have just related occurred a few years ago, but when
the Muzzling Order came into force, the authorities practically stopped
Rat coursing, for they would not let a dog run at a Rat unless the dog
was muzzled. This was about the worst thing that the authorities could
do for Manchester and district, for at that time I was supplying for
coursings about 100 Rats per week, and at the same time sending 50 Rats a
week into Yorkshire, and all the Rats I supplied were caught within 15
miles of Manchester. This in my opinion, speaks very bad of the Muzzling
Order, which I think is nothing but a farce, for at the very time I was
going ratting, dogs were muzzled in some parts of the country but not in
others. My opinion of dog muzzling is, muzzle all or muzzle none.

You will see by what I have said respecting these coursings, etc., that
the Rat-catcher has plenty of work to supply so many live rats, and he
has also to mix with company high and low. He also sometimes experiences
difficulties in travelling on the railway. I have often entered an empty
third-class carriage, sent my dog under the seat, and put the Rat cage
there also. The carriage would fill with passengers, and upon reaching
my destination I would take from under the seat my cage full of live
Rats, to the amusement of some and the disgust of others.

I have also entered a railway carriage with my cage of rats when there
were passengers in, one or two of whom would generally object to live
Rats being in the same compartment, and on enquiring of the railway
officials, I have found that any one travelling with live Rats is
expected to put them in the guard's van.

I have also had a few good customers in my business, one or two in
particular. Gentlemen have often sent me post-cards instructing me to
take six or twelve Rats to their residences. I would run them out on the
lawn in front of the house with their dogs, and generally I have received
good remuneration for my trouble. These are the customers who should be
looked well after, for they are the sportsmen who do not cons