Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1906-06-22

SO been proven that the feet and legs
of flies are frequently covered with
disease germs. But there is no need
OF archaeological proof of such a self
evident fact. If you will go into any
open closet and watch the flies crawl
. over the mass you will know that
those flies have typhoid germs on them
IL there is a typhoid stool in that
closet. We can not get rid of flies
entirely, but we can greatly reduce
them.
Horse manure is the natural hatch
ing place for flies. Horse manure is
a good thing in it's place, on the gar
den or field. but horse manure piled
up beside your barn is menace to
yourself, your family, your employe
and your neighbor. In this useless pile
of manure flies are Matched by the
thousands. They go direct from this
natural Matching ground to your clos
ct, and after having crawled over the
'ii"oS, 'ics 81 W yOuI ullIHS IOOHi
and crawl over your dread and but
ter A most disgusting picture to
be sure, but you know it is true, and
you can demonstrate it for yourself
any time you care to take the trouble
to follow a fly from your closet to your
table. II this picture takes your ap-
petite then remove that Matching
ground clean up around your barn,
supply your closet with lime and put
fly screens in your house; they are
cheap and single case of typhoid
fever in your family would pay for
screens for half dozen houses.
City Residents Responsible.
People living in towns should oe
required to keep their barn yards
clean. | do not mean that each spring
the street commissioner shall publish
notice in the paper that unless this
is done the property owners will be
prosecuted, and then go to bed with
| an easy conscience, feeling that his
work has been we'll done. l read such
notice some time since and have
carefully watched for the result.
know of several piles of manure not
only in barn yards, but piled in al
leys, city property, that were there
before this notice was published and
they are there yet. l know of at Least
one pile of manure that has been add.
ed to for over one year and :lurin 3
this time not a pretense at removal
has been made This is the condition
in every small town and many large
ones. The council passes an ordinance
requiring that the manure be remov.
ed from every barn yard every so of.
ten, and requires the street commits.
sioner to see to the enforcement OF
this ordinance. The street commits.
sioner publishes notice in the pa
per that the ordinance must be COM
piled with and that is all that is ever
done by the commissioner or ANYBODY
else. The ordinance is good one
and should require every property
holder to keep his premises in a sani-
tary condition. and when any officer
of the law shall find that any prop
srty is not in clean and sanitary
condition it should be his duty to not.
ify the property holder to place it in
clean and sanitary condition within
twenty-four hours and if not done at
the expiration of such time it should
be done by the city and the costs
charged to the property and collected
as are taxes. This is not idle talk.
If the people knew that they must keep
their premises clean they will do so,
but if it is left to their pleasure the
majority of them will not do so.
The Way to Kill the Germ.
81 have stated that typhoid fever
germs live from six to eight months
in the ground, they also live from ten
to twelve months in the dried state,
that is in dust, but if they are exposed
to direct sunlight they will die in
from twelve to twenty-four hours.
Therefore, if you will rake the filth
and litter off of your yard and let the
sunshine to the ground, two days will
find your yard free from typhoid
germs and flies will rapidly disappear,
as they will find nothing to eat in
your yard.
Another means of spreading typh.
old fever is carelessness in handling
the patient. The attendant handles
the patient and fails to wash his or
her hands, simply wiping them on a
towel. Many nurses and doctors have
contracted typhoid by this negligence.
But not only is the attendant endang-
cred. but the infected towel is sent to
the kitchen and there handled by the
cook and she handles the food serv-
ed, probably without washing her
hands. From the kitchen the infected
towel goes to the washerwoman, and
she handles it without washing her
hands, proceeds to eat her meal. In
this way many cases result from the
carelessness of this attendant. Every
person who touches a typhoid fever pa
tient or anything that comes from a
room containing such a patient should