Sharp County record., 1880-08-26
The BrinkerhOff Trap.

The drier the weather the more flies
we have. This is fact which has es-
capped the notice of fnaturalists, probably
because it is perfectly obvious. In a
wet season the flies seem to grow dis
couraged, and either conceal themselves
in sheltered places or migrate to drier
climates. A prolonged drought, how
ever, fills the air with tlies, and during
the recent hot and dry weather the
whole country has been covered with
vast areas of flies. Of course the wealth
er bureau has said nothing about it, as
it has been too busy in prophesying rain
ard lower temperature. 1t is well
known, nevertheless, that, in point of
flies, the present summer has been Who'll
ly unprecedented, except, perhaps, dur
inc the period when Moses was lavish
ing Objectionable insects on the land of
Egypt with the hope of bringing Pha-
rSah to listen to reason.
The invention recently patented by
| Mr.. H. T. Brinkerhoff, of Scranton, Pa,
as a protection against flies has been
brought before the public at an exceed
ingly opportune moment. Hitherto all
devices designed to protect people from
flies have proved failures. There are
dozens of tly-traps of different patterns
in EXISTENCE but none of them is of
much practical value. The aim of the
inventor has been, in all cases, to kill
flies, either by poison or violence, and
though an occasional fly has fallen
victim to a fly-trap, the effect of dimin-
ishing the untold myriads of flies has
been inappreciable.
The trouble with all these inventions
has been that they appealed merely to
the fy's stomach. They have been
baited with molasses or with some pal
atable poison and the inventors have
assumed that flies are always hungry
and so reckless in their choice of food
that they could not resist the attraction
of the bait. There never was greater
mistake made than the assumption that
gluttOny is the master passion of the fly.
OF course, he requires food and at times
feels the pangs of hunger, but he is
really an abstemious insect who cares
very little for the pleasures of the
table. Experience ought to have taught
us this long ago. Times without num-
Der has the hopeful housewife prepared
a hy-poison that ought, one would think,
to have made any hy's mouth water,
but she has seen it passed by unnoticed
by whole roomful of flies. The fly is
so independent of his stomach that he
can live weeks without food. In many
country houses the spare bedroom is
frequently kept closed for months at a
time, but the flies are shut up in it,
without particle of food except
wooden carpets and vanished furniture,
are found to be in the best of health
and spirits when the room is finally
opened for the accommodation of an
aunt or cousin. Obviously, an insect
that cares no more for the pleasures of
the table than does the fly cannot be
successfully entrapped by appealing to
his stomach. The mouse can be tempt
ed with cheese; the cats strongest res
olutions break down when brought face
to face with attainable fish and even the
@ost upright dog is sometimes unable
the gem2tatio9 I 5 aDe.l Sf bo9Gs G oAApgs4 Apgs74
baited with their favorite food, but it is
a mere waste of time to try to lure the
fly to his ruin by tempting his appetite.
Mr.. Brinkerhoff has had the penetra-
ton to perceive that the master passion
of the fly is love of malicious sport.
The fly will always abandon the table
for the sake of dancing on bald head.
The delight which he takes in this rep
rehensible sport is heightened by the .
struggles of the victim. Though driven
away dozen times by wild blows with
the palm of the hand or with a fan, the .
fv will return the thirteenth time with
undiminished zest. In fact the excite
ment of constantly avoiding blows gives
him additional pleasure, and as long as
the bald-headed man is within reach the .
flv will hover over him and dance away .
the giddy hours with Unsuitable delight.
Knowing that a bald head is the one
temptation that no fly can resist, Mr.. /
Brinkerhoff has contrived trap based
upon the knowledge of this fact. The
"Brinkerhoff fy-trap'' consists of a
life-sized figure of q middle-ageC man
with bald head. The figure is made
of wax, colored so as to perfectly imi-
tate the complexion of a middle-aged
and healthy diner-out, and the head is
so constructed that at fixed intervals of
fifteen minutes concealed clock-work
causes a roller to pass over the skull /
with the rapidity of lightning. The
Brinkerhoff trap, when placed in any
room, will instantly attract every fly
present. 1t is, to all appearances, pre-
cisely the kind of man whom flies de-
light to annoy, and consequently, the
moment a fly sees it, he will abandon a
lump of sugar, bowl of milk, Or even
a sleeping baby, and pounce on the
bald head. At the end of fifteen min
utes the roller passes over the head and
crushes every fly in its path. The same
process is repeated over and over again
until all the flies in the room are exter-
minated! The trap has been tried in
several of the leading restaurants in
Philadelphia with complete success,
killing, on an average, thirty full quarts
of flies per hour, and the inventor has
received thousands of certificates from
leading citizens expressing their obliga-
tions to him, and their determination
never to be without Brinkerhoff trap.
This shows us what can be accom-