The King and the Rat-catcher.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXIII, Issue 7365, 12 November 1898, Page 4

The King and the Rat-catcher.

There lived in Antwerp a few years ago a man whose name was Jules Marachaud, and the profession he followed with such a degree of proficiency as to make his name celebrated throughout city and province was rat-catching. He was the son of a poor fisherman who made a precarious living by selling eels brought from the muddy bottom of the River Scheldt. Jules had no liking for his father's calling, and when an opportunity was offered to him to become an apprentice to a tinsmith he embraced it. It was during his apprenticeship, says the Birmingham Mercury, that he developed a mania for rat-catching. In time Jules was compelled to leave the service of the tinsmith to make room for one whose inclinations would allow him to be more attentive to his master's interests. This was the beginning of the career of Jules Marachaud as professional rat-catcher. For some years he managed to gain a meagre existence by his skill. One day he received a letter asking him to leave for Brussels at once. On arrival, Marachaud was met by a man in livery, and was driven to the royal palace, the residence of Leopold, King of the Belgians. The palace had become so overrun with rats that all ordinary methods of exterminating them had failed, and as his reputation had spread to Brussels, as a last resort he was called upon to do what the King's household had in vain attempted to accomplish. This marked the turning point of Marachaud's fortune. When it became noised about that he had received a royal commission as rat catcher to his Majesty, the upper tendom of Brussels and Antwerp discovered that their dwellings were overrun by rats, and Jules was sent for to expel them. Soon he was so overwhelmed with orders from the select set that he had more on hand than he could personally attend to, and he engaged a staff of assistants. But here society demurred. It was Marachaud who drove the rodent from Leopold's palace, and no other but him should perform that function for society's representatives. Marachaud saw his opportunity. He was not slow in recognising his elevation from a commonplace rat catcher to the exhalted position of society's portege. He charged whatever he pleased for his services, and hia bills were paid without protest. For seven years he was the prince of his kind and held the " better class " of trade in his grasp, when a physical misfortune overtook him, resulting in his retirement from the profession that had covered him with glory and given him wealth. While handling a ferret that had shown a disposition to sulk, the little animal sprang at him, fastening its fangs in the left eyeball, permanently destroying the sight of tha;t organ. Out of hia earnings, which were reputed to be over 200,000fr, he purchased a tract of land just beyond the ramparts of Antwerp, his native city, and erected a pretty dwelling-house thereon. On the residue of his fortune he was able to live in ease and comfort, if not in luxury.