Waiting 75 Years Overnight

We were attending the Fairhaven Middle School orchestra
recital last night and while the 8th graders were playing,
I stepped out into the hallway. There was a display case
featuring a Bellingham Herald from January 1, 1936.
With the beehive tone in the background, I started to read
about the Liar's Club grand championship of 1935.
Fibber McGee won with his tale:
"Two years ago the weather was so cold
that it drove a large rat into our house for shelter.
Do whatever I could, I could"
and there the joke stopped. I could not reach
through the glass to turn the newspaper page.
What was the punchline? A sleepless night
awaited me. Fortunately, I work in a library
and the next morning I went back in time
on microfilm to pick up on page 2:
"not catch him, even with the most cleverly
baited traps. Finally I hit upon an idea.
The cold drove him in says I to myself
and the cold will catch you. That night
after supper I brought in our largest
thermometer and put it in the kitchen
putting a big piece of cheese beneath it.
The next morning I had Mr. Rat.
The mercury had fallen so low during
the night that it pinned him to the floor."
p.s
Later in the day, I stopped on the 4th floor
to see what Esar's Joke Dictionary (1945)
had to offer in the way of rats: