Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-08-01
THE MOSQUITO PEST.
Methods o9 New Jersey Town to
Get Rid of n Nuisance.


The Village Improvement society Of
South Orange, y. j., has started in sys-
tcmaticaliy to abolish the mosquito. In
a recent interview the chairman Of the
committee explained the method adopt
cd He said:
Our work is only preliminary as yet
Dr. @. O..Uoward, chief entomologist
of the United States agricultural de-
partncnt, issued a pamphlet in which
he said that any community might rid
itself or mosquitoes If it took the right
means and was energetic and persist
ent.
"Thc improvement society had some
correspondence with DR.. Howard on
the subject, and finally, realizing that
tie individual cooperation of every
householder Was required, we arranged
for lecture by DR.. Howard.
"In the first place, you cant have
mosquitoes unless you have water
Without standing water there will be
no mosquitoes.
The question of drainage is impor-
tant, and if a lOWland is drained a per
manent Improvement is effected Three
fourths Of the property owners having
lowlands have started TO drain them,
and the others are about to follow the
example.
Then, we have bought some oil, which
two men. going about the village with
cart, have used to cover all the stand
ing water. In about five days they
emptied ten barrels of oil. This opera
tion will he repeated in about a week
and again at intervals thereafter of
about three weeks
"Oil itself will kill the mosquitoes
which alight on the water and will kill
the wrigglcrs, which have to come up
to the surface of the water every few
minutes to obtain mir. We have been
fortunate in finding an enthusiastic
ally IN the local inspector Of the board
of health, and he has practically taken
charge of the work for us
After taking care of the standing
water we have begun impressing the
. importance of the work upon indlvid-
uals. CesSpoOls are responsible for
millions of mosquitoes. 1t is the same
with cistcrns, but there is no necessity
/ for c;sterns now that there is a public
| water supply. 4 pint of oil is all that
Is necessary in a ceSSpOOl to kill off
whole communities and generations Of
mosquitoes.
I'VE have interested people in the
poorer sections of the town by giving
the oil away. We select some one in
central section and make him the Gus
todan. As the fluid used is not fllu-
minating oil, We are not afraid that il
will be diverted to uses other than that
to which it is intended. We use what
is called fuel oil.
'Rainwater barrels are a prolific
source of propagation, and we have
found that four broods of mosquitoes,
averaging 5000 brood, is the result
of one rainwater barrel
"Of course mosquitoes can breed in
water tanks, flush tanks and even in
the traps in plumbing We advise peo-
pie to protect themselves from the mos
quitOes by inclOsing water tanks with
netting.
"We are confident Of local relief and
perhaps of immunity from mosquitoes,
and we are encouraged, not only with
the slight results we have had, but
with the cordial cooperation on the
part of the public.
''In ponds where it is not deemed ad-
visable to spread oil it is best to stock
with fish. The ordinary sunffsh is very
fond of mosquitoes and will clear out
pond in excellent shape"