The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-02
ACIlY MUCH PLAGUED BY ANTS
EVEN HOI SEES DESTROYED BY
THEN IN NEW ORLEANS.
Food Destroyed and Life Generally Made
Uncomfortable by Black Ants Other
Insects Driven OU-The Pest At
tributcd TO the New Drainage system.

question, which recently came 10 the front
here, has given place to another insect
problem of greater importance--the ant
question.
There have always been ants in New
| Orleans and houSekeep"rs have been kept
busy fighting them for generations, but in
| the last few years the pest has grown so
| much worse as to become a serious matter,
| not to householderS alone, but also to
| grocers, refiners and dealers in all kinds of
| food products. This year. and particularly
| during the last two months, the ants have
become so troublesome as to make even the
mosquito seem innocent by comparison.
MOI food alone is destroyed by the ants,
! but also the posts, balconies, fences of
| houses and even the houses themselves
| The wood is perforated and honeycombed
| by tho ants, necesIitatiug expensive re-
pairs. Then, what il to some persons
sill greater evil, Is that they pursue you TO
| your bed and you awake with creepy
| sensation to feel swarm of the insects
| crawling over your face and neck. The
! ants are ready to sting if you attempt to
brush them of.
A stranger. even before he feels the little
| insect. will b. made aware that there Is
| an ant problem here by the advertisements
| of ant destroyers in the shop windows. II
| he takes house, he will find his bell as often
| rung by the ant man as the vegetable or
| fruit man. for there is a house-to-house
canvass of peders selling ant poisons
| People who have studied the subject
are generally of the opinion that the drain
| age of New Orleans is responsible for the
| increase of the ant. With a damp soil,
| with water found two metres under the
| surface, the ants were unable OF old TO
| construct their subterranean nests and
tunnels. With the water drained of, the
| sandy soil of New Orleans affords an ideal
home for them.
| Agassiz has told Of the insect wealth of
| the tropics and what is true OF that zone
around the equator is also true OF the sub
| tropics. in which New Orleans is situated.
| Southern Louisiana boasts Of eight more
varieties of mosquitoes than any other
State in the Union, and boosted formerly
| OF greater variety of ants.
| Fifteen or twenty years ago, il was fire.
| qiently afflicted with visitations of sand
| cas-, such as are to be found in Central
| American countries, and it was formerly as
badly afflicted with reaches az other towns
| on the Gulf or the Caribbean. These reaches
we're brought here from the West Indian
| ports by ships.
But the reaches have, to a large extent,
| disappeared They are seldom seen on
the wharves and are minor and decreasing
nuisance in the household. Nor is the
roach the only disappearing insect Sand
teas are no more and have not been heard
| of for years
The so-called flying ants are scaroer than
| formerly; so are most of the ant tribe.
including the "cow-killer" ant, for which
| the negro had such respect and fear. Leav-
ing flying bugs out of consideration, nearly
| all other insects have disappeared or are
disappearing. and the little black or sugar
ant is master of the situation. There are
few yellow or red ants but they are by no
| means abundant.
The oldest nhabitant insists that the
black ant has driven the other insects cut;
and for once he Is In accord with the en-
| tomologists and other scientists. The black
ant, which is a forager of the worst type,
| dotes on the eggs OF other insects, or on
| their DUDE and larvae. He ravages the
nests of the reaches, and other insects,
carries off their eggs and young, and Is
| thus DISCRIMINATING them. So far, he has
| been public blessing, but unfortunately,
| he does not stop at this war on insects,
| but is attacking man just now, and Is ravag-
| ing the household.
OF the increase in the number of these
| ants so a. to be a great nuisance, there
| can be no question The explanation OF
| the oldest nhabitant, that this is due to
the drainage of the city is also, strange to
| say, correct.
| The climate of the city and other condi-
| lions here are favorable to the ant but
| formerly when the soil was supersaturated
| owing to a lack of drainage, and the ants
| could not build nests underground, any
very great increase in their numbers was
| impossible.
These unfavorable conditions have re-
Gently been changed. The soil has been
dried out. Then, too, the grades of the
streets and houses have been raised two
or even three feet, the filing being done
with river sand, Nothing could have
been selected better suited to the ant than
| this sand.
BY this process Of filling every lot in
New Orleans has been provided with build
ing material for the ants. This alone would
| account for the increase in the ant popula-
ton; but there are other favorable condi-
| tions at work. The immense amount OF
sugar at New Orleans encourages the sugar
| ant; and the fact that most OF the houses
are built of wood is another encourage
| ment, for next to burrowing in the sand
| the black ant loves TO burrow i'll soft or old
wood
II is this fact which has brought the
insect into disfavor with the housewife.
1t il borer or destroyer of wood, not 40
bad as the South American white ant, which
ii is said will carry away an entire house
| in a day, but still a nuisance, destroying
fences, posts and the galleries or porches
most Louisiana houses boast or me
| amount of damage done in this way mas
| been considerable and repairs have be-
| come a serious item of expenditure TO the
householder. A gentleman in Carrollton,
| in the upper part of New Orleans, was COM
PEELED TO abandon his house altogether
some time ago. The ants had bored into
and eaten the wood until mere shell was
left. 1t is becoming every day more neces-
| sary TO prepare the wood against these ant
| ravages. A favorite treatment is bath
| Of creosote, the chemical driving out the
sap and taking its place and serving az
protection both against insects and rot
| from damp. There are several OF these
| creosotng works in or around New Orleans,
Tar, pitch and other inscct-proof materials
| arc also bairg used in the lay ing OF nOOrS