The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-23
ELECTRICITY IS DEATH
To Millions of Foolish Bugs, Beetles
and Birds
From The Net0 York Advertiser.

From the Net0 York Advertiser.
There Is no coDtrivance OF modern in
vention so destructive as the electric appa-
ratus as 1t is now used in the great variety
of ways. The electric light ranks first as a
destroyer OF animal life, aud accurate sta
tisEics would show the most appalling fig
ures OF death to multitude Of species Of
animals, from the insect form to man.
/ When person meets death from contact
with an electric current the news is her
aided far and near, but Of the millions of
the lower forms of animal life which
are daily sacrificed, we rarely hear a word
The employe OF the electric light company
who goes about supplying the lamps with
fresh carbon sticks each morning learns
more of the damage to animal life than is
even dreamed OF by others, but he is not an
entomologist generally, and only cares to
trim the lamps and remove the Gccumula-
ton of dead insects which are found in
every globe in the summer months He car
ries brush with which he quickly whisks
out from a gill to pint of charred bodies
and &tsinged wings. Now and then a
struggling insect is found in the mass,
minus a wing, a pair Of legs or SO, and
occasionally lace wing or moth takes wing
and escapes from the generally dead collec-
ton As these fall to the ground they are
| scattered to the points of the compass, and
in half an hour not vestige of a bug or
fly can be found, SO quickly are the light
bodies blown about, or ground into the
road by passing men and teams
In O round made by the carbon supplyer
In the month OF July or August, it is safe
| to count on 500 insects to be found in each
globe visited, and sometimes as high as
1880, but of course an accurate estimate
cannot be made as many bodies, wings and
legs are sadly mixed in the mass. This COLI
| lection includes members of all the orders
Of insect life, and about every well-known
| fly and beetle may be collected during a
| mornings search, and many rare ones, sell
dom found in other situations ore taken.
Even grasshoppers, tree crickets, wasps
and bees are in the accumulation, aud
| though the large majority of the lot is COM
posed OF the smaller insects, especially two-
winged species, as the flies. gnats and mos
quitoes, still numbers of larger insects are
seen, and even the largest moths, as the
luna, cecropia and polyphemus, are not
rarely taken, sometimes alive and perfect,
more generally in badly demoralIzed con-
ditiou- The smaller moths are lin great
abundance, and IL is not unusual to find
twenty or more varieties in mornings
search. From one globe In the heart Of
the city were taken eighteen five-spotted
sphinges, all dead. This haWk-moth, OF
sphinx, the mature form or adult of the
| common tomato caterpillar, is four inches
| in extent, with five yellow spots on its
Sides Butterflies Of several kinds are &C
casionally found, though these, like the
grassboppers, undoubtedly wander into the
globe during the day.
OF the beetles, the well-known pinch bug
and the yellow, black-spotted June bug are
among the most common, while the hand
some goldsmith and snap beetles are not
rare. There are, too, couple Of dozens of
nondescripts.
Plenty5of pretty, green kRtydids lie mixed
up with the gauzy lace wings, while dragon
flies and sven potato bugs and spiders are
found. All these insets fly into the globe at
its top opening, and Of course hundreds fall
through the lower opening and escape, more
or less signed. After a time the opening
| below the light in the globe gets clogged
| with bodies, and afterward all the insects
which are caught must fly out as they came
in, from above. Many undou btedly do es-
cape, but they more often fly al out within
the globe till they come in contact with the
combustion OF carbon points, when they
fall.
On favorable night, when it is very
dark, and there is no wind to drive the
giddy insects away from their death at
traction, a great many may be seen flying
close to the globe, where their ranks are
often invaded by shadowhke bats, who
dash dangerously near the globe in chasing
their prey. The bats are never injured by
the lights, and avoid 1t most adroitly in
their evolutions.
| NO Que WHO Is al OD5eTV6F mas tailed TO
note the change about our residences in the
summer evenings. Once the rooms were
filed with several varieties of moths, bugs
tso-called) and beetles, and if windows were
lowered to prevent their entrance, numbers
Of them could be heard humping against
the panes and hummlng about All of
this is now done away with, for if the
electric light is burning near your home
the bugs and moths visit it and leave you in
peace. The difference In the prosecutions
of the mosquitoes is favorable theme for
discussion, and all are willing to give tae
electric light the credit of performing an
agreeable change.
However, if we are so free to ignore the
destruction Of the insects we are constrained
to resent the devastation upon our birds
for there are fortunately very few who are
possessed of so little sentiment as to abide
i'll to our feathered friends. 1t is impossible
to secure statistics on the extent of the
danger, but enough is known to convince all
that elevated lights of any kind are a sad
menace to the birds during migration
Some years ago the government investigated
in relation to the destruction by light
houses, and the damage was found to be
very heavy, and a list Of 100 species was
received. many being valued game birds
and nearly all others well-known insect
destroyers
Thousands of birds are killed each season
by the light in the Goddess of Liberty in
the harbor, as they migrate to or from the
north, and all tower lights throughout the
country are more or less destructive, ac-
cording to their location. But these greater
dangers IN few cases are as nothing COM
pared to the generally dispersed, combined
lesser dangers Of the innunerable city cleo
trio lights.
Ordinarily we do not have the destruction
brought to our notice, as it is of slight i'm
portance TO most persons and the compare
lively few dead or wounded birds found
during the spring fight are barely oonsid-
cred by those who do not think deeply, al
though in the aggregate 1t means vast
destruction. 1t is only occasionally, when
the dead and fiuttering birds lie thickly
that newspaper notice brings the people
to momentary realization of the severity.
ALONE IN A PEST HOUSE.