Perth Amboy evening news., 1904-12-20
SMITH TELLS
ABOUT MOSQUITOES.
Delivered a Lecture Before a Brook
Iyn Audiences on that In
portaut Topic.

J.
Brooklyn Institute, 500 Fulton street. |
Brooklyn, was addressed by Dr.. John
B. Smith, of Nav Brunswick, who
told all he knew about the methods
and plans which had been used in
New Jresey to EXTERN mate all of the
pesky little pests that have gained
this State such an unenviable reputa-
tion. DIR. Smith has been interested
in this subject for a number of years
and has devoted the greater part of
his time to making q scientific study
of the habits and lives of the mos.
quito. He was successful in getting
the legislature to pass q measure call
ing for the approximation Of. $40. 900 to
be used in research alone and in the
spending of this money much was
learned.
DR.. Smith stated to those at the
M setting yesterday that as n result Of
his experiments he was satisfied that
no good results could be obtained un-
less a concerted action was made by
the different municipalities and town
ships of a large portion of the State.
Numerous towns had spent much
money in endeavoring to be rid of the
mosquito but even though they would
be killed off in these towns they
would soon reappear in large nun
| ers, coming from other towns nea :
by, he saba that until a united
movement was made throughout the
State nothing much could be done,
According to DIR. Smith, Newark
has spent $40, 600 in cleaning up and
filing in 3, 500 acres of mosquito
breeding marsh land lying within and
on the outskirts Of the city, and yet
here are manv mosquitoes still IN
Newark. which come from the mea
dows OF Elizabeth, KearDy and Jer.
8 y City, DIR. Smith stated the beet
means OF getting rid Of the pest was
by drainage. He suggested that in
New Jersey where all local boards of
health had the power 70 declare mos
quito breedings swamps nuisances this
should be done and the swamps
drained, thus preventing the mosdui-
toes from breeding.
In all instances where ditc',as has
been ding leading from .swamrs TO o
tidal stream he claimed that the mo-
q~uitoes had disappeared from these
swamps in q short time, aud tla'
while the bitches yere,kept opsn the
mosquitoes never returned. The small
fish known as "killies'i are excellent
help in the matter of getting rid of
the mosquito larvae which floats on
top of the marsh lands,
These little fish run up the bitches
in great numbers and devnur all of
the mosquito larvae in the marshes
Cat-tails, while they do not kill the
mosquitoes. DR.. Smith claims, are
for some reason a preventative to tho
mosquito breeding in swamps where
they grow. This has been proved by
exhaustive experiments, and expert
ments have also been made which
have proven the cat-tail c~ultivataDle.
DIR. Smith concluded by saying that
in his opinion the getting rid of the
mosquito was more q matter for tho
engineers than the entym llogists, and
that the State Legislature would have
to be called uDon to make an appro
pristion sufficient to carry on the
work of draining all of the marsh
lands in the State. He sal I that he
ibid not think there was money enough
in the State to fill in all of the marsh
lands. but said that with the draining
of the marshes rivate individuals
would loon spend the necessary money
to reclaim the lands.
Considerable attention was paid to
the discussion of whether or not mos
quitoes were the only means of carry
in yellow fever and malaria, and it
was the opinion Of the majority that
they were.
DR.. M. j. Roseneau, director of
the hygenio laboratory at Washington,
ID. c., read a paper in which he went
into this matter very thoroughly and
cited q number of experiments that
had been made to show conclusive
proof unless a person was hitten by a
mosquito that person would never
get malaria or yellow fever.
In speaking of the enormous expense
incurred by e~ndeavoring to reclaim
marsh lands, DR.. Smith cited the a
of the Kearny meadows, here, he said,
two steam dredges had been engaged
for more than two years and would
likely be engaged two years more, an
~deayoEing 10 pump enough sand on to
the marshes to fill them up and make
them suitable for establishing manu-
facturing plants upon them, In favor
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