The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-06-15
CITIZENS Us. MOSQUITOES
Winchester Wages War Against
the PestiferOus Insects
Kerosene Generously Used and HUI
manity Enabled to Sleep at Night.
The Work of Mayor BARTON.
The MOvcment Proves Successful.

manity Enabled to Sleep at Night.
The Work of Mayor Rarton.
The Movement Proves Successful.
WINCHESTER. Va. June 15.-The peo-
pie of Winchester are at last relieved
from the mosquito plague. Kerosene is
being used must successfully in Winches-
ter's war against this pestiferous insect
The crusade against the mosquito was in
augurated in Winchester in the spring Of
1899 at the instance of Mayor Barton, who
is something OF an amateur entomologist
and who before he became mayor had in
vain urged the matter upon the attention
of the people.
After his election the Common Council,
at his suggestion. passed an ordinance
similar to the present ordinance, except
that action under it was purely voluntary,
no penalty for its violation being pTovid-
ed The present ordinance has penalty
and also provides for the appointment Of
an Inspector whose duties are to see to
the strict enforcement of the law These
provisions were inserted this year not be-
cause Of any special failure to carry out
the law last year. for in fact it was gen
/ orally o0eyed, but because with the wear
| ing away of the novelty of the scheme
and the substantial destruction of the
mosquito it was feared that the precau-
/ lions provided by the ordinance might
! not be observed this year The wisdom
of this precaution has been justified by
the event, but through the action of the
inspector the ordinance is now being quite
generally enforced.
Ten years ago there was hardly mo-
squito in Winchester, but from the i'm
portation by means Of cattle cars which
had stood all night at the stock yards in
Baltimore the number of the pests was
! very largely augmented. Just about the
Same time, also the water system was
greatly enlarged and the lavish use Of
water and the conveniences which its pos
f! session rendered possible furnished fine
| breeding pools for the insect
| The result was that nets became a ne
| cessity, sleeping without them hardly pos
/ sibie and sitting either on piazzas or in
/ lighted rooms at night became most IN
| comfortable and called for constant exer-
+ else to ward off the attacks of the little
| '-buzzer-''
! Against this condition Of things an ap-
| peal TO the public was made through an
| article written by the mayor and publish
! cd in one of the local daily papers on
/ September y, 1893 From this article is
| taken the following:
| The female member of the mosquito
family, as is not uncommonIy the case,
Is the head Of the house She does the
| buzziug and biting and she also Laws the
/ eggs to the number Of from 200 to 800 in
/ each mass As she does all this in the
night and does not seem either to omit
her ordinary round of visits, she must be
( q very Industrious little beast
The eggs are deposited in boat-shaped
masses on the face Of any fairly still pool
/ OF water The eggs may hatch in sixteen
| hours and the larvae (the first stage of
mesquite lfe) live beneath the surface Of
! the water, popping up from time to time
/ 70 breathe This state may be completed
~ seven days and the pupai state may
last tUeHty-fOur hours. so that an entire
generation II summer time may be CON-
plEted in ten DAYS I say may because
! II the weather Is cool the time between
commencing the mosquito and fully
cfIulppIng her for business may be indef-
| initeIy enlarged.
w hen cold weather comes the adult
mosquito stII on the wing. hibernateS in
cellars, outhouses, CT il any old place
and Is ready when spring comes to renew
business at the same old stand. No de-
gree OF cold will kill it.
Partial and temporary relief may be
obtained, Of course, by screens, nets, by
/ burning pyrethTum and BIZ catching the
mosquito in backing box tops smeared in
side with coal Oil But these methods are
/ very partial and only temporary
me JE-Sl ti al the wholesale remedies
IS the application Of kerosene TO the breed
pools Experiment shows that about an
: ounce "a teaCUpfuI) OF Kerosene to each
fifteen square feet of water surface on
/ small pools VIII effectually destroy al the
larvae and pupde in the pool and that the
adult female who comes 10 the pool TO
! deposit her eggs viii either turn UP the
jhinS winch passes Tor her nose and go
away, or if she lights she viii die and
! her eggs perish with her. Nor need this
/ Inexpensive application Of kerosene be re
neWed more than once a month 1t need
! not be sprinkied. but if simply poured into
! the pool the oil viii reach all parts Of the
/ water II the parts Of the water itself all
! connect
Pits or vaults under or behind water
4! closets are favorite places for the mos
quito 10 breed This has been especially
/ observed in Winchester. Rain barrels too
/ are prime places Tor them SO too are the
| pools left in the town run which are not
| included in the regular current of the
| run The rain barrels should be covered
and the water drawn from near the bot
! tom by spigots- In that case a little oil
| put on top VIII help, and the oil viii stay
| on top and never mix with the water"
As before stated. the MAYOR coming
shortly after its publication into a posi-
/ ton which enabled him to press his plan
/ with greater powers of persuasion upon
| the town authorities. he did 50, and, his
! plan being adopted, by its success very
| soon demonstrated its wisdom. The adOp-
/ ton OF the ordinance was first greeted
! with a storm of ridiCule in the papers.
/
! during the summer Of 1900 we were almost
/ wholly freed from the pests. Up TO this
/ time this summer the insect has hardy
! been seen at ali, and it is confidently
/ hoped and expected thai a continued ap-
! plication Of the preventive adopted will
| forever rid US Of II.
| The first experiments with the oil were
! carefully watched In one instance, i'm
/ mediately after its application, oGe gen
! tIeman stood by 4 rain barrel watch in
| hand. IN five minutes seYenty-five mos
/ quItoes (females) arrived, bent on laying
| their eggs OF this number seventy-tWO
/ died as soon they came within the in
| huence Of the oil.
! There can be no doubt whatever Of the
/ success of this scheme here, and since so
| much notice of it has been taken in the
| papers the mayor says ne is in constant
! receipt Of applications for information on
I the subject from all parts of the country.
| so that he has been obliged to keep printed
| copies Of the law and of the notices sent
out TO the people about its enforcement
| which he has furnished 10 those writing
/ for infoTnna ton
| Up to this time refined oil has been
! used here, but hereafter il is probable
| that the crude oil viii be used instead
| The mayor says that the real credit for
! the success Of the scheme here and for it's
| general adoption throughout the country
| is due TO Dr.. l.. s. Howard, the entomoIO-
! Eist at the head Of the Bureau Of En-
| tomology. IN the Department Of AgricuI-
! tUTe, at Washington.