The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1908-05-12

NpNo NNAN hhfhbNH ~ ANuWdtl- LUZ
ing that year they were brought to the
port Of Lahaina. on the Island Of Maui
in the ship Wellington from San
Bias. Mexico. The story, as told by
the late Rev. William Richards at
that time in charge Of the Mission ata-
tion al Lahains Is as follows Mr.
Richards was returning to Lahaina
one evening and met a native who in
formed him that there was new
fly" in the place The native de-
scribed the insect as being a very pei
cuhar ny that made its presence
known by singing in tho ear
Shortly after this, Mr.. Richards be.
ing on the outlook for the new fly,
heard the singing" in his ear and
recognized the sound as that Of the
mosquito, which up TO that time had
never been seen or heard Of in the
islands. Furthermore. up to the year
1925 there was no word in the Haw
allan language for mosquito The ma
tive term is makika, a corruption
OF the word mosquito. Lahaina was
at that time the port for incoming
and outgoing ships 1t is easy to UNI
derstand that the ships coming here
were few and far between and how
general opinion would center on the
ship Wellington as the carrier Of
the pest.
Since the mosquito introduced IN
1926 on the ship Wellington" was a
so-called might mosquito, the writer
infers that the species determined as
Culex pipiens Linn, so abundant and
widespread here. was the one intro
duced at that time The two species
of Stegomyia or day mosquitoes We're
introduced during the present genera
ton.
The mosquitoes We're long time
spreading over the islands. Two gem
eratons ago there were many dis
tricts entirely free from this pest. To
day such places are exceptional. In
the eighties there were no mosquitoes
at Makawao on the same island as
Lahaina. Makawao is some 50 miles
from Lahaina as the crow flies with
a mountain range nearly 5000 feet
in elevation intervening. The building
of roads. making settlement and com
munication possible. and the intimate
fptorfoIa,,d ,,,,l,,,s offs., e ro4n
years, has so favored the distribution
Of this pest that only a few places at
the higher elevations can offer to Wis
itors the inducement that the district
is free from mosquitoes.
The abundance Of mosquitoes in
Hawaii may be accounted for
by the facts that up to this
time there has been no effort to
do away with their breeding places,
that the number of natural breeding
places is unusually large. and that the
pest is not checked at any season OF
the year by climatic conditions, il be-
ing possible Tor them to breed uninter
ruptedly during the entire year
A tropical country is an out-of-dooI
country and The mosquito problem be-
comes at once serious question
Heretofore the only effort directed
against the mosquito nuisance in the
Hawaiian Islands has been to secure
protection from the adult by screening
the houses, the use of nets over beds
at night and the burning Of buhach ol
insect powder These methods are
more or less successful in obtainins
individual relief. but in no manner Dc
they lessen the numbers of the pes
or remove the source Of the nuisance
A conservative estimate. based on
figures furnished the writer by the
wholesale importing houses of Hon
olulu, places the sum annually spent
in these islands for insect powder
wire mosquito cloth and mosquito net
ting at s27 ,2fs Of which s7,00S Is fol
Insect powder. s9.735 for wire mosuui
10 cloth and $l0,5OO for mosquito net
ting. These figures are based on The
retail price and do not include a
great quantity Of cheaper grades Of
open-mesh cloth sold to orientals anc
the poorer classes. A landlord can
aot think Of offering house or room
for rent and expect a ready tenant un
Tess he is able to insert mosquito
proof in the announcement. and nets
are household necessity in homes
hat connot afford screening. ii the
above amount OF money was iudicious
y spent in Kidding the communities
IF this territory OF the breeding places
IF mosquitoes. permanent relief could
pc secured. In reviewing the life-hls
,ory of the mosquito it Is evident that
he fight against the adult is futile and
that the EFFORT OF control must be al
fected against the breeding places Of
he insect.
II is the common opinion here thai
he taro patches and rice fields are
nainly responsible for the abundance
Of the mosquitoes. They do breed "a
some extent in these places, but the
writer has found the source of mos
aa'iies, even IN the immediate vicinity
nf taro pstches and rice fields 70 BE-