The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-08-25
A Destroyer of Mosquitoes.

| Newark, n. j., is the real home of
the mosquito. There the pesky in
sects thrive and multiply amazingly
The Inhabitants Of the city are seek
! ing all the while for mean of getting
rid of them, and there have been many
kinds of means recommended for that
I purpose. So far, however, there has
been no discovery that promises relief
from the trouble. There is just a ray
OF hope in an announcement made q
day or two ago by a Newark doctor,
who thinks that in the A-ray he has
discovered something that may be
| turned to account in fighting the mos
quito.
He noticed in his laboratory the other
night that whenever a mosquito passed
through the path of the pale green
glow from the X-ray lamp its earthly
career came to and end. The following
morning the hOuSemaid swept up pref
ty nearly a dust pan full of mosquitoes
that evidently We're the victims of the
A-ray lamp. The Newark doctor, While
not ready to announce to the world
that the N-ray is q destroyer of the
mosquito, is satisfied from his obser-
Vations thus far that it can be made
OF immense value in fighting the an
noying insect.
1t would be interesting to know how
the doctor opo to use the X-ray
lamp in a war On mosquitoes. 1t is Il
fact that the insects are attracted by
the light of the lamp, n that all that
it is necessary to do in order to
slaughter them is to put the lamp out
of doors n let them come within the
sphere of influence Of the rays?
Besides. it is not everybody that has
an X-ray machine. Perhaps it is the
purpose of the doctor to recommend
that w buy a machine and put 1T
at work in some open place for the
benefit of the public. After all, it is
probable that the best way to fight
mosquitoes is to keep the surround
ings well drained. If plenty of breed
ing places are provided mosquitoes
will put in an ~ppearance in sufficient
quantities to max life miserable no
matter how many machines for their
destruction are used.-Savannah News.
The Old White Meeting House.
The New England are
lamenting the gradual disappearance of
the old white meeting houses that were
once the distinguishing feature Of the
towns n villages of that region. They
die pSlIlS OIl uONH dllu IeDldCeu ny
more modern structures built after
some Gothic design or maybe pattern
ed after some early English model. But
with all the ambitious features of the
latter they awaken non Of the thought
and sentiment that the old white meet
ing house with its spire rising from
a grove of trees created.
This is true not only of New Eng
land. but of the rest of the country
as we'll. The old church buildings are
rapidly disappearing from the land
scape. 1t is true that many of them
were unsuccessful efforts at architec-
ture. They often justified the criticism
of the Irishman who said of American
church architects that 'they puts up
q front to the street like Ould West
Minister Abbey. but thin they thinks
TO chate the Lord and makes the back
part shabby" And the railroads and
new turnpikes have brought many of
these backs into greater prominence
than the fronts. to the modification Of
a later generation. But there are some
of these old white church buildings
still standing as mementoes to the hap
py choice of an architect or to the fact
that there was at least n man with
taste and culture On the building COM
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Press.