Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1897-03-12
FIGHTS WA Ill. III. BUGS.
A MAN IN BOSTON WHO MAKES THAT
HIS BUSINESS.

Takes Contracts Of Kidding Hotels and
Residences Of Cockroaches and the Pes.
tiferous Hugs and Has Made . Thorough
Study Of the Subject.
The Pied Piper who charmed away rats
and reptiles in olden times has faded into
misty legend, but that successor of his
still lives and does a flourishing business
few people are aware. 1t Is q fact how
ever, that in Boston there lives at the pres
ent time man who gets his living by
stamping out vermin of every description.
He doesn't go about as did his early prcde-
2cssor, with curious costume and n mag
ic pipe, for his Instruments of warfare arc
all contained in u neat leather satchel.
Neither does he look bit like u magician,
for he Ia quite u young man, with blue
eyes and light mustache and hair. His
name is G. B. Do Lue, and his place of
business Is on crooked little alley known
as Avery street.
He is a first rate, all round vermin hunt
er, but his speciality is the obnoxious wa
ter bug. first got his address from the
steward of one of the hotels, from which
he had stampcded all the aforesaid "bugs. {"
So sure Is the hunter of his success that
he usually takes contract to rid the prem
Uses for u cert. lin length of time, says year
found him very pleasant, and, as
might be expected, well up in the pecul-
iarities and habits of Sho bugs in question.
"In tho first place." said he, there are
not SO very many real cockrOachcs. They
are about two inches long and differ in
many particulars from tho water bugs,
whose greatest length is only about three
quarters of TN inch. Cocllroaches breathe
from little openings all along their bodies,
ten on each side The scientific name is
Periplaneat oricntalis, and, us the name
implies, it came from the orient. 1t Is cal
culatCd that the first roach landed In Eng
land not moro than 400 years ago. Since
then the family has come to the front rap
idly. Although not on the passenger list,
they doubtless came over in the Mayflowcr.
"The water bug is a variety with . still
harder name, but is, no doubt, used to
hard names"
Mr.. Dc Lue goes cunning for them with
powder and gun. The powder is his own
invention and is as deadly as the far
famed knockout drops upon the unsus-
pecting human victim. The gun is bel
lows continuance of mammoth proportions.
He hunts the bugs by daylight, as they
are all then hidden away in crannics.
"What would be the effect Of dropping
small pinch Of powder upon Il single bug
placed upon the taller"
"The bug would be dead before he could
run to the edge. There are five or six diff
fcrent ingredients, all of which arc fatal.
They stick to the bugs feet and feelcrs,
and he poisons himself by drawing the lat
ter through his mouth to cleanse them. /
have spilled box Of powder on the floor
and seen a water bug walk into 1t and
drop in the middle of the heap.
"For great hotel, one having countless
bathrooms and miles of plumbing, some-
times use as much as 60 pounds of pow.
der. You see, the bugs are originally from
warm climates, and they therefore stay
chiefly around the kitchen, where there 10
the most heat.
IF I once thoroughly clear out private
house, not bug will be seen for rs many
as three years oftcntimes. Hotels do not
last nearly so long, because they are con-
stantly bringing them in, often in the
straw in which wine is packed, ETC."
The cockroach is tho original 16 to adj
vocate. The egg cases, which IRE laid with
purses, about half an inch long, each con-
tanning 16 little reaches, no more no less,
packed in two rows as neatly us cigarettes.
They are white when Matched, but rapidly
turn by exposure to tho uir. The little Wa
ter bug is even more prolific, for his fam-
ily increases Mt tho r,ttc of from 80 to 40 ut
q clip.
When tho good old warship Minnesota
arrived in Boston and was turned over to
tho boys of the naval brigade, they found
the vessel fairly swarming with large and
small reaches. They could To scoopctl up
by the handful. Commander Weeks almost
despaired of rendering the ship habitable,
but sent for tho bug hunter, and the roarh-
es had u bad day of it, None has been
seen since.
Mr.. Dc Lue was born in Maine, but has
lived in Boston for the last "a years. He
was for many years connected with tho
hotel and restaurant business, and it was
owing II, the difficulty Of fighting these
unpleasant pests that he first started out
to solve the problem.
He had tried all tho old fashioned reme-
dies and finally discovered this nonpoi-
sonous compound about six years ago. He
experimental with it for three years, and
Q1XbAAyS uWCOIAAH6 SoANAAAS~SA oA''o'Ao ''oNAs<~
do tho work, started in to make bug kill
ing his business He has from the first
worked for all the notable Boston hotels.
He modestly does not claim to be tho first
in tho business. "In the old days" he
said, "a man could only take care Of three
or four large houses. Now can attend to
70 or 80 with no more difficulty. People
won't believe me when I tell them that
each little egg sack really contains as
many as 40 bugs, but l held ono once In
my hand until it Matched with the heat
and then showed it to the man was talk
ing to. The first Of the little bugs were
running around looking for place to hide
before the last were out of the sack. They
were little white specks at first, but then
the little folded legs opened out, and they
commenced to travel. The eyes were tiny
black specks.
"The bug hunting season Is dullcst in
cold weather, the two months when bugs
are thickcst being in September and Octo-
Der. Where get my success is in stopping
breeding. The small bugs arc killed just
about as soon as they arc Matched, and it's
Just as important to kill 10 young ones as
one old one. They arc smart and intclli-
gent too. Oftcntimcs you will see them
no,,,., o,,% nd xx,o frI vO,y with their feel