St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-11-01
FLIES AND FLEAS.
How One Housekeeper Exterminate
the Pests.

the Pests.
E. Fl. J. Of st. JoFnsbury in Good Housekeeping.
Speaking of insect pests" said Mrs.
Spinks, impressively, "Do you know
that one summer my sitting-rOOm was
perfectly alive with heas Oh, the
horrid things ~ and Mrs. Spinks shud
dered at the recollection.
"1he children would have CATS" she
continued, "and the cats would have
kittens, and the feline families would
form undesirable acquaintance. The
result was, that one fine day, just
after the family had gone away on a
little vacation, leaving me alone in the
house, l discovered that the kittens
were in process of being eaten alive
with f1eas, and, what was far worse, my
sitting-room was full of the disgust
ing insects.
CATER l had partially recovered
from the horror of the discovery, | fell
promptly to work to exterminate the
little pests, supposing that it would be
very simple matter. But alas for the
deceived. | had the carpet taken up
and thoroughly beaten, and in the
meantime l poured boiling soapsuds
upon the floor and gave it a most thor
ough scalding and washing. Then l
relaid the carpet with much peace of
mind. But within fifteen minutes |
found that it was just as full of fieas as
ever. 1t sounds almost incredible, but
it's strictly true.
"Then," continued Mrs. Spinks, 81
mentally drummed up for the review
all the insecticides | had ever heard of,
and after considerable cogitation l de-
cided to try benzine. Surely, the flea
who could suvive benzine must have
been predestinated for centenarian
hOnOrs. To decide was to act, and l
soon had the floor thoroughly sprink
led, using two quarts of the OdOrOus
stuff. l repeated the dose the next
day, and mentally repeated Caesars
immortal words. But it is an annihil-
ating fact that in spite of any heroic
remedy the fleas were more numerous
than ever. They seemed to thrive up
on benzine.
"Then, indeed, did the iron enter my
soul.
"But l would not-indeed, / could
not-give it up SO. | began to search
the cyclopedias, and read verything |
could find about feas; and with a
great deal of scientific information,
learned that NORWOOD was 'sure DEATH
to them. | procured quantity of the
leaves, pulveri zed them, and elabO-
rately busted the floor with the pow
der. The result was to convince me
that f1eas were vegetarians. At any
rate, the NORWOOD had no visible eff
feet upon them, and their number
seemed to increase rather than dimin-
ish.
"Then 1 tried sulphur. 1 shut the
room up tight and set up an altar-tire
of sulphur, replenishing the sacred
flames until the smoke began to curl
out from the shingles of the roof and l
was afraid of visit from the fire de-
partment.
"And still the feas prospered and
multiplied.
81 was fairly at my wits end, and
really began to contemplate the posi-
bility of suicide. But just in the nick
of time | happened to think of Per-
sian insect powder. l don't know why
1 didn't think of it sooner, but so it
was. l forthwith procured small
quantity and peppered the floor with
it; and to my indispensable joy, it
killed every flea. Not one was left to
tell the tale. A single application
sufficed. And now, when any one
says 'fleas,' say PERSIAN insect pow
DER for | know that it is perfect,
thorough and harmless exterminator.
81 was so pleased with my success
with the fleas," Mrs. Spinks went on,
"that forthwith | tried the powder on
the flies. | put little of it on a sheet
of paper, mounted chair, flew the
powder toward the ceiling, repeating
the operation at each corner of the
room. The result answered my fond
est expectations. When the powder
had settled to the floor [ swept the
floor carefully, and in the sweepings
were the dead bodies of the whole col :
Ony of flies.
"For every imaginable sort and de-
scriptiOn of insects, as well as for flies
and fleas, Persian insect powder is an
infallible exterminator and the beau
ty of it is, that for human beings-or,
for that matter, for every living thing
that has lungs and breathes-it is per
fectly harmless. 1t is a safe, easy, and
effectual insecticide."
So far Mrs. Spinks; and it only re-
mains for the present writer to add
that she is most estimable and trust
worthy woman, and that her narrative
is entitled to the fullest credit and
belief.