Perth Amboy evening news., 1903-07-13
WOULD RID AMBOY
OF THE MOSQUITOES
Professor Smith Says he Scheme to Drive the Pest from
New Brunswick and both Anbow-Has Made Many tests ana
Says Such Thing rs Possible this Year.

State Entomologist John B. Smith,
whose headquarters are at New Bruins
wick, announced Saturday that he has
prepared a scheme to relieve New
Brunswick, Perth Amboy and South
Amboy of mosquitoes. Professor
Smith has been criticized by people
at the county seat because he has
taken so much interest in the Newark
and Elizabeth meadows and has given
but little attention to home. The
o ofessor has issued the following
statement to show he has not forgot
ten home troubles:
For some days past there has been
q somewhat unusual number OF mos
.uuitoes in New Brunswick, and they
are moderately bloodthirty, according
to all accounts. 1t has been suggested
in consequence, that l was not attend
iag to business; that l was favorlng
the increase of the pest, and even that
bred them myself. Now all OF these
suggestions, except the first are true.
l have been pleased to see mosquitoes
so plentiful, because they have done
more in week to arouse sentiment
against themselves than | could in a
year; / have been breeding thousands
of them in my laboratory, but they are
now all on pins or in an alcoholic
sleep.
ut must be remembered that my
a :signment is to study the habits and
methods of breeding of the mosqul-
toes, not to exterminate them and 1T
is not only conceivable, but it is a
fa It, that this unusual and widespread
invasion is positive advantage to me
in my work, because it enables me to
b tier locate the larger breeding areas.
Every hole in which mosquitoes can
breed is turning out it's hundreds,
thousands or million as the case may
be. 1t may be remembered that last
summer had the entire city surveyed
for breeding places and all OF them
we're located on a map that was fur
nished in my last report.
81 have been very careful to have
all the breeding places in the Sixth
ward periodically disinfected this
season and, in consequence, not half
o dozen specimens of the form that
normally breeds there have been found
on my porch all the season. Mean
while had the Raritan shore survey
ed to it's mouth and about a square
mile or more of badly infested marsh
area was located. II you consider
that a square foot of water surface
will easily breed 5000 mosquitoes at
one time, and that there are 27,87S, 400
square feet in mile, 10000, 900, OCO
specimens is a very conservative sesti-
mate as the output of this area.
"These began to come to the adult
stage toward the end of June, and,
beginning on the night OF the SOth,
F., they began to migrate. noticed the
advance guard at my house on the
morning of the first, and for several
nights thereafter swarm after swarm
reached this city, extended north to
Bound Brook, and east and west from
5 the river. received almost daily re-
p,rts of their progress, and from the
fact that these marsh mosquitoes are
different from those that breed local
ly, could be sure of my ground.
1.-The important point to be estab-
lished for New Brunswick is that the
origin of its mosquito pest is not en-
tiieIy or even largely local, but that
its numbers depend upon conditions
several miles away. have gone
(Oont6qued on page 6.p
Huyler's bon bons and chocolate.