The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-08-07

to Sing Sing more than once, he is a hardened offender and has the courage of his convictions.
 One man of science who devoutly be- lieved in the compensation or balance theory, pointed out the beautiful wisdom of Providence, which. when inventing the Jersey mosquito, benignly placed right within reach his agreeable antidote' to wit, applejack But ,ne facts of natural history do not substantiate this pleasing theory. Last year a man known to be full of applejack was found in a Jersey marsh bitten to deatl by mosquitoes of whom whole regiment were lying around in the grass disgracefully drunk. This year. in the Hackensaek meadows an- other man full of antidote was rescued after a night of seige by these murder ous myrmidons in condition so purple and so disfigured that his worst creditor wouldn't have recognized him. Tobacco smoke is no shield; appejack no antidote.
 What then is? Frankly, l do not know; but. according to the Galveston News there is one thing that Texas mosquitoes do not like and perhaps the Jersey spe- cies may be equally shy of it. Hark to the glad tidings from Galveston! "A gen tleman living in the city who occasionally goes into the co4ntry came back from a recent trip with brand new mosquito remedy You can talk about your screens on the cisterns and buy the best bars for your bed, but l am here to tell you that there is nothing like new mown hay to keep the little pests from you. have juct been up in the country where the mosquitoes are as thick as fleas on a com mon cur. and after vainly trying to sleep in the house. got up and went out onto pile of new hay and slept soundly the rest of the night. l was In the open without any bar covering of any kind and not one mosquito came near me. How do I account for that? Well, at first l did not know just the reason, but after trying the experiment several times l came to the conclusion that the mosqui- toes do not like the smell of new mown hay, or any hay for that matter. No. l would not advise the citizens of Calves 1 ton to buy a bale of hay apiece and spread | 1t out on their bedroom floors for a place I to sleep, but if any of them has occa- | sion to go to the country and is driven i out of the house by the pests let him make his bed in the hay and I'll guaran- l tee that he will get a refreshing night s sleep
 Explanation Seems Simple.
 This Texan gentleman professes to see
 the reason that lies back of his discovery. Yet the explanation seems simple enough, simple as the faith of an X-tian scientist. The mosquitoes will not go near the new | mown hay for fear of getting pneu-mon- li-a They prefer to let the man take the 1 chances of that. They are right or what
 the Bowery boys call "wise guys"
 | Absurd as this Texan concept appears to 1 he. 1t is possible that some odors may I be offensive to mosquitoes though prob
 able that after awhile they would become 1 odor-p proof or smoke-proof. as in the case | of tobacco. The only sure thing in the way of defence is to wear a coat of mail. schemes to prevent the propagation of the pests, however, promise more satis- ] factory results. The bling of certain marshes at certain times of the year. has been found effective temporarily but this is expensive and liable to become more so. when Standard oil ceases to be an in- fant industry. Drainage of the marsh Ia ids and filling in of the old bottoms
 would be surere and more permanent
 wy to relieve the congestion of the mos ouito population. And by the bye. speak t,,u of their population. hasn't the cham
 nion figurante of Boston any mosouito l statistics by which something or other l oould be proved, pro. or con, or both to Inc satisfaction of the bitten or of sim l Yle natural historians like that Galveston aan#leman and myself? Really. the oues- | t,or what to do withoar surplus of these
 accused Imperialistic Insects now seem to
 he right up to the Hon. Edward Atkinson. l