Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-04-06
A NATTY SUBJECT.
The Buffalo Insects Don't Appear TO
Have Done Much Damage TO the
Memphis Horse.
Considerable Injury Done TO the Livery
Trade, but no Mortality as Yet
Reported.

While the buffalo gnats have this yea
gained great not0riety in this part OF the
country, and their efforts in the way of bit
ing and annoying every living animal have
been more appreciated than ever before
their advent has not been in Memphis any
more fatal to the stock than the arrival Of
the mosquitoes usually is to man. There i:
no doubt that the damage to the cattle has
been much less than WAS reported. This
msy be due to the excellent care which the
livery men of Nemph have taken of their
horses. Yesterday an APPEAL reporter Wis
tied number of the stables, but he did not
discover a single case OF fatality.
Mr.. Lockwood, of the firm of Bracket &
Co., said that his firm had not lost any horses
from the gnats at ali. Their livery horses
suffered considerably. When they came
back from a two or three hours' drive they
were usually in suffering condition. AT
the stable tar was burned all the time, and
that drove away the little pests and pro-
tected the stock. The
OIL MADE THE HORSES SICK,
but had to be used.
"The gnats have been more numerous this
year shan ever before, have they not?"
''Yes sir. We may be said never to have
had any gnats before this season"
"Do they poison the stoek|
"Some say they do and some say they
don't. | heard oil a case where a horse dying
from the snats was opened, and it's stomach
was found to be full of guats. Some claim
that the animals inhale the gnats and that is
what kills them"
Mr. Lockwood did not know of any fatal
case in the city. He had reports that a
number of
HORSES AND MULES HAD DIED
in the Mississippi bottoms The birds and
deer were known to have suffered from the
pests
At Mr.. John Dunn's stable the reporter
found that the horses were smoked and kept
oiled. Mr.. Dunn told the same tale AZ Mr..
Lockwood. He said he kept his horses in
doors as much as possible, and did not like
to hire them out at all. They were always
used up when taken out for drive. He had
not lost any stock from the flies, and did not
think the mortality among horses was any
greater than usual in Memphis, though he
had never seen the
CHATS so BAD
before. He had heard that there was con-
siderable loss OF life in the horse line in the
country. Mr. Felix Jones has suffered no
loss of life so far from gGats. lie has been
busted attending to his horses, keeping them
oiled and guarding them carefully. His
livery business has been curtailed on account
OF the pests.
OMNIBUS AND CAR STUCK.
If the gnats would get the better of any
stock it would be that of the omnibus line
and the Sreet-car Company. An APPEAL
man was informed by an dttdehe OF the City
railway yesterday that none of the mules
and horses Of the company had yet died
from the plague of the gnats. The animals
were all we'll oiled, and the greatest attention
was paid them.
Captain J. N Smith, superintendent of the
Patterson Omnibus Linz, stated 10 the repor-
ter that the company had not lost any horses
They were carefully guarded, and so far had
been lucky enough to sustain no loss.
The truth of the matter is that in Mem
phis the owners of stock have been SO ex-
tremeiy wstchful that the horse mortality
has been no greater than during other years.
Meanwhile reports of losses from the country
continue to pour in, and the farmers COM
plain of great damage. Proper care would
check the incursion of the gnats, and the ex-
ample of Memphis stablemen is respectfully
to the horse aud mule owners OF
The country.
HOW TO BE SAVED.
In this connection the following letter of
DIR. Laski will be read with interest:
To the Editors of the Appeal:
For the benefit OF the many readers of
your far-circulated journal who own stock,
will give you a substitute for the dirty
coal oil, or similar stuffs, with which horses
and mules are rubbed against the buffalo
gnats, and. which stufs are injurious TO tie
'kin of these animals. / have this recipe
l7ed for my horses, with all the benefits and
without the injuries the so-called gnat oil
produces. Here it ise Take four handsfnl
II redosk bark, boil it very slowly with five
quarts of water down 20 four quarts; strain,
md then dissolve in this fluid one half pound
oulverized alum. This wash then use as you
use snat OIL