Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-09
TREATISE ON HOME BUGS
The Bane Of HOusekeepers Dealt with il
Scientific Fashion.
EFFECTIVE REMEDY FOR DESPERATE CASES
Tests OF Hydrocyanio Acid Gas
Proves a bel for Pests
How the Job is
Done.

for the Advancement Of Science, contrib
utes to the Chicago Tribune a paper Of par
ticular interest to housekeepers. The
summer season, now rapidly approaching,
will have it's customary train Of household
pests. How to get rid Of them, effectively
and scientifically. forms the text Of the
professors remarks.
Good housekeepers throughout the whole
United States have frequent occasion to
consult entomologists as to the best means
Of Kidding their houses of insects, which,
through the fact that they have succeeded
In accommodating themselves to the con-
ditions Of civilization, have become rather
distinctively as insects Of the household.
The problem is a much more serious one
in the south than in the north, yet NEST
Of these insects occur in the northern
states as we'll as in the southern. In the
latter, however, they are apt to be more
abundant. Their occurrence In the north
Is due to the fact that houses are artihcially
heated in the winter time. thus affordlng
opportunity to breed throughout the entire
season. F1eas, cockroaches, house cent?
pedes. ants Especially the little red anti.
silver fish" or '~'slickers,' book lice,
clothes moths, the buffalo carpet beetle. the
black carpet beetle and the hosts Of in
sects which affect stored products and
| othoIb AOuuu bHctuluH II blOTcIOVnlS " pan
tries which are carelessly kept by indiffer-
emit housekeepers comprise the principal in
sects known as household insects.
HOusecIeaning Not Sumcient.
The remedies applied In the past against
all these different insects have none Of
them been thoroughly effective In the alb
sence Of constant watchtulness, perfect
cleanliness, and frequent upsettings OF the
whole establishment and the consequent
disturbances Of family comfort in the oper-
alton Of house cleaning" Even with all
this care and all this trouble certain in
sects stiIl exist. Bedbugs penetrating into
the remotest and most Insignificant cracks
in the wall are, in houses in which they
once become thoroughly established, most
diflcult to exterminate by any Of the old
fashioned methods. Cockroaches swarming
in a house may be enormously reduced In
number by the use Of some OF the best Of
the insect powders. but their egg cases are
not affected by these remedies. Fleas in
damp summers will persist in spite Of the
use Of insect powders and even in spite Of
frequent %sprayings with benEine. Clothes
moths aud the buffalo carpet beetle have
long been terrors to good housekeepers all
over the country, although methods Of sum-
mer packing OF garments and plastering
floor cracks and laying Town OF tarred
roofing paper under the carpets are well
known to most people. In fact, cold stor-
age Of valuable furs and rugs have come
to be looked upon as practically the only
perfect way Of avoiding damage from these
insects, and the abolition Of the carpet
habit has been recommended by the writer
and by others as the best way Of prevent
ing undue multiplication of the so-celled
buffalo moth.
carpets n Menace to Health.
1t may be said as an aside that carpets
are nuisances from any point Of view, and
that the reason why the so-called buffalo
moth, although an insect Of European or
isin, cuts mall figure in Europe, is the fact
that over there, and especially In south
Europe, carpets are rare things. A car
peted noor with only an annual house.
cleaning Is a menace to health aside from
the fact that 1t affords opportunities for
uninterrupted development OF these insects.
Little red ants have been fought by meth
DDS which required much trouble and a
great expenditure of time, and principally
by the trapping method. but although a
thousand or more may frequently be killed
in this way every day the supply from a
large colony seems practically unlimited,
and frequently the work is given up in de-
spair. The search for the colony or for the
particular crack IN the wall from which
most Of the ants come is laborious and re-
quires keen sight and an chronological in
stinct, and therefore, especially in the south,
people put up with the nuisance rather
than spend their nights and days In the
fight.
During the last years the efforts at fumi-
CATION have been confined to the use Of sui
phur fumes. Houses have been vacated and
sulphur has been burned at length with the
result that many bedbugs and other insects
have been killed. but frequently there have
been survivors to perpetuate new genera
lions, and the deposit from the fumes has
damaged choice articles Of furniture, and the
discoloration Of silver and other little arti-
Giles has discouraged future work OF this
kind. More recently bisulphide OF carbon
has been used with better effect and with
out many Of the drawbacks Of the burning
Of sulphur. but the vapor Of bisulphide OF
carbon is highly ~inHammable and explosive
and the great danger Of q conhagratiOn Is
always present.
Use HydrOcyanic Gas.
The demand for something better in many
ways and for something simpler has been
great. Nearly twenty years ago 1t was dis
, covered that hydrocyanic acid gas is an ef-
fective remedy against certain insects, and
that It may be made cheaply and easily. At
nrst It was used in California to fumigate
orange trees affected with scale insects.
Large canvas tents painted with linseed oil
to make hem alright were made in differ
ent ways to be placed or pulled over trees,
and then the gas was liberated beneath
these tents by placing a certain quantity OF
cyanide OF potassium into metal vessels
containing sulphuric acid. This process was
rather expensive as q method OF orchard
treatment, but has come into rather COM
mon use in certain portions Of the country.
Later 1t was found to be one Of the best. II
not the best. methods OF treating small
trees and nursery stock before shipment
from large nurseries in order to be sure
that they would not carry injurious insect
life from the nurseries to portions OF the
country where such Injurious insects did
not previously exist. stu later the use Of
this gas became more OF less common
among the greenhouse men. Il was found
that b. one operation q tightly closed green
house could be rid Of plant lice and certain
other insects much more perfectly and cas-
uv than nv EpravtnR with the old tobacco