The Hawaiian gazette., 1903-01-02
IRAVAGES OF SILVER FISH
RECEIVE OFFICIAL NOTICE
Little Wardrobe Insect Which Has Been the Bane
of tiousehoIders for Centuries invites
Governmental inspection.

binding 81 books. and will frequently
cat or the gold lettering 10 get the
paste beneath. or. as reported by Mr..
l.. II. Uhler, Of Baltimore, often gnaws
of white slips glued on the backs OF
books. Heavily glazed paper seems
very attractive to this insect, and 1t
has frequently happened that the labels
in museum collections have been dis
figured or destroyed by II. the glazed
surface having been entirely eaten off.
In some cases books printed on heavily
sized paper will have the surface of
the leaves a good deal scraped. leaving
only the portions covered by the ink.
1t viii also eat any starched clothing.
linen, or curtains. and has been known
to do very serious damage to silks
which had probably been stiffened with
sizing. Its damage in houses, in ad-
dition to its injury to books, consists
in causing the wall paper to scale off
by its feeding on the starch paste.
Remedies are suggested in the OFF,
cial report, which are said to be entire
ly feasible in the Hawaiian Islands.
The report says:
Advantage may be taken of the liking
of these insects for fabrics and other
articles containing starch to poison
them by slipping into all the crevices
where they occur-in bookshelves and
backs of mantels, under washboards,
and in the bottoms of drawers-bits of
cardboard on which a thick boiled
starch paste literally poisoned with ar
senic has been spread and dried. The
silver fish readily succumbs to pyreth-
rum, and wherever this can be applied
as on book shelves, it furnishes one OF
the best means of control. For starch
ed clothing and similar objects liable
to be injured by 1t, frequent handling
and airing and the destruction by hand
of all speciments discovered is to be
recommended, in addition to the poi
soned cardboard remedy. Little dam.
age is liable to occur in houses except
in comparatively moist situations oil
where stored objects remain undisturb
ed for year or more"
y - y X y y y - - - y y y y y y y y
Of vessels totally lost was 81. In add,
ton to the foregoing there were 361
casualties to undocumented craft-sall.
boats, rowboats, etc.-carrying 79t
persons, six Of whom persisted. The
value Of property involved in these in.
stances is estimated at $174,12O, Of
which s167,575 was saved and $6,54t
lost. The aggregate OF disasters to yes
sells OF all descriptions, with theil
value, including part Of their cargoes
| and also the number OF persons In
volved, is, therefore, as follows:
Total number of disasters, TAG; mum
Der Of vessels totally lost, 81; total mum
Der of persons involved, 1920; tota
number of persons lost. 25; total mum
Der Of shipwrecked persons succored a
stations, 712; total number of days sue
cor afforded, 1,272; total value of prop
erty involved, s14,567 100; total value o
property saved. 81, 1876; total valu
! of property lost, $2,274,335.
! The foregoing summary does not in
clude seventy persons who We're res
cued from various positions of danger
| most or all Of whom would otherwis,
have persisted, nor the seven members
lost from the Monomoy life saving crew