Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-09-09
MAN AND THE FLY.
Various Devices to Catch the
Wary Little Insect.
A Study of Our Household Pest and
His Habits.
why 80 Many Inventions Have Failed
to Eradicate Him.

| DeSoiiu the incubation of patience nm.
uer aiiiicting circumstances Scien-
| tiiicaliy considered he is a scayenea,
| ana so Is MS wife. The poor taste which
| 'ney employ in choosing the material
Vi lheir dlnners and the satisfaction
WIN Whlch all through the davligb,
hourS they FEAST themselves on decayed
matter are so much in their favor. In
ms niue puzzing way the fly would be
dlstlnct benefactor-if he and his
WIFE would only stick to business and
let the rest of us alone. Unfortunately
ne doesn't stick to business. Nor does
MS wife, which is perhaps NOT alto
gether unnatural. They raise a family
quite dlsproportionate to the demands
of scavenging, and the whole family
INSISTS upon visiting us in our own
houses, where, with all due respect ia
their professional instincts, there is
really no call for them. More than
that. ne not only annoys us. but he
brings us the germs of disease into
the bargain; he affects our appetites:
ne leads us easily and gladly into the
immoral satisfaction of catching him
with sticky fly-paper. In the long run,
therefore, there is little to be said in
MS favor. We may continue our
private war of determination without
fear of unexpected results. And we
can take infinite pleasure in the
thought that science is finding a way to
prevent him from ever being born at
all. Meantime he is a factor in teach
ing humanity to keep it's temper; he has
given the inventive genius of the coun-
try so much to think about that in five
years nearly fifty traps, killers and ex-
term1nators have been patented to say
nothing of screens. fly escapes-which
permit the fly to escape" from one
house and take refuge in another
and sticky" or poison" fiy-paper; the
sticky being for the hard of heart
and the poison" for the more COM
miserate. Finally he has given the
scientific mind subject matter for
acute and interesting investigation.
The house fly, indeed, is only one
kind of fly. OF the order to which he
belongs. the scientific gentlemen have
classified some 10000 species and are
looking forward hopefully to classifying
something over eight times as many
more. Among $4,000 known and sus-
pected relatives, the house fly is him.
self the busiest. He is born at the
rate of 120 at each addition to the in
dividual family. He is a grown ny.
quite able to make his own living at
five days, and a very old fly indeed at
ten. By choice the mother fly estab-
fishes the family circle in the vicinity
of livery stable; and even those who
hate the automobile might be tempted
to a change of attitude We're it more
generally known that in proportion as
the world travels and does it's mis-
cellaneous carrying in motor vehicles
there will undoubtedly be fewer
flies. This is the solution offered by
science, and it has already been proved
that hygienic treatment of the stable
is Il certain step toward the eradication
of what has ceased to be a humorous
pest and has become a very serious
one.
Meantime. or at least until city gov
ernments have adopted the results of
scientific observation. man and the fly
continue 10 carry on an individual war
fare. SO far the fly has the better of
it,, for he keeps man on the defensive.
He besieges us from the beginning of
the summer until the end thereof, and
we devote our entire energies to the
erection of screen forts and the slaugh-
ter of such of the enemy as succeed in
getting inside of them. out in the
open we attempt to fortify ourselves
against the smaller flies. the black flies,
the knats and the midges, with walls
of tobacco smoke, under which even
the opponents of the habit are some
times driven to take shelter. Indoors
we show our ignorance of the enemy by
saving that the the house fly bites be-
fore rain" The house fly. who looks
very much like her more domestic re-
Iation. does. however. become sociable
inst before rainy weather. She comes
into our house and bites us. and the
house fly so likes the window-pane and
We marvel at the conceit with which he
perches so incessantly on the looking
glass. If we analysed a bit further we
would hit upon upon way OF occa-
sionally getting rid of him. He perch
es on the window pane because ne
wants to get out: and he perches on
the looking glass because to his mar
row Intelligence it is evidently VIM
| dow-pane
Invention has utilized this liking OF
| the fiy for looking glasses-as also ms
| social instinct-as "A means OF ms de-
| struction. The inventor made a ny
| tran such as we have most OF US seen
~ one time or another: briefly. the
trap is a cage standing on 4 cable WIN
| a SPACE underneath for any number OF
flies to promenade. Above TINS space
| is a pvramid with small opening AT
the apex, and above this pyramid with
| /, small opening at the apex. and above
| This pyramid is the cage proper Inc
Nv walks under the trap, feasts on the
halt that has attracted him there. says
| q word or two to his neighbor, and then
true to his name, he flies. He files up
| ward. He flies through the little hoie
in the apex of the pyramid. He hies
into .he trap And when ne wishes II
I return. behold, he can't find the way
| ne came in. This is Il familiar form OF
fy-trap sometimes with the addltlon
of a little trough of water around tne
/ inner side of the pyramid and intended
/ equally for such flies as may iaii n
nv accident or such as may jump II
j from despair. The inventor OF the
Hooking glass improvement admitted. IL
his own statement to the patent office
4 that il lis common in the art To coz