Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1909-05-21
THE WAR ON FLIES.
Startling Movements to Get Rid OF
the Death Dealing Pests.

The time of soft buzzing and inter
rupted maps is at hand. The house fly
is stirring himself in his winter home
and dressing his wings for fight. He
is the first victim of spring fever. He
comes early, bringing his whole family
with him and he says farewell in the
late fall with every evidence of keen
regret. You can kill him off thousand
day, but you make no impression up
on the countless hosts. He laughs at
your efforts and is unterrified by your
cunningest strategy. He loves you
dearly and will walk caressingly over
your exposed sleeping countenance.
He is of a forgiving disposition and
though you beat him off he returns
with patent assiduity trying to win
mis- way to your better feelings. He is
The most unparticular of guests. He
will eat anything you happen to leave
uncovered and hasn't the slightest OBJ
lection to helping himself He draws
the line at only one point; he refuses
to sleep on the floor, but will rest COM
fortably on your newly decorated cell
ing. He has cheerful song which he
pipes into your ear with tireless energy.
Yet with all his delightful character
istics scientists have sealed his doom.
They call him filthy, thoughtless and a
disease spreader. They say he can and
must be exterminated.
NOT CAREFUL IN HABITS.
Flies are not careful in their habits,
and consequently their persons are far
from savory; yet there is no law to
keep them out of the molasses Jug.
TIE diseases to which man is heir are to
them the iuxuries of life. They clothe
themselves with disease and adopt
germs as pastime. Being generous
they don't mind leaving a germ here
and there as they pass through the fam
lily menu. and they are particularly
generous with typhoid germs.
IL. as was done in Birmingham, Ala.
the local Health Department, with the
aid of the physicians, were to set about
it, they could get damaging evidence
enough against any one house-fy to ex.
cite a lynching. Birmingham got so
! stirred up that the appearance of fly
at the breakfast table was sufficient
to create a panic. AS a result some
effective laws were passed which put
the Castro ki-bosh on half the fly pop,
ulation.
LIVES IN STABLE MANURE.
One of the most striking facts which
the Health Department brought fortl
was that the larvae of the house-fiy live
best in stable manure, and that ths
most efficacious way to fight flies wa.
to begin at the beginning and fight tn.
larvae. An ordinance was therefor,
passed requiring all stable refuse to b,
placed in closed receptacles, so thai
when the larvae Matched the flies coult
not get away.
THE TIME To WAR ON FLIES.
Its impossible to get rid of tbat
most nauseating pest, the commo,
house fly. ss long as we have horses anc
stables and put garbage cans witt
their refuse close to human habitations. >
sain DIR. Joseph G. Atterbury, of Phil
adelphia, at the Belvedere.
1.-The best we can do is to keep thei
Numbers down to the lowest possibl
minimum, and this is by no means
hard job, requiring only little worl
and attention on the part of the madam
If the good wife will at this season O
the year soak a rag in the suds of
strong soap and then apply it to ever
Granny or crevice, every nook and corne
and isolated place in each room of he
house and especially the kitchen, sh
\ will prevent the Matching of millions O
fly eggs that have been lying there fo
lweeks waiting for the warmth of sprin
Ito imbue with life. The adult fly shut
fies off the mortal coil in the winter bu
Ia forever on the job of propagating il
species, and so lays untold eggs in til
antumn. to plague mankind later on,
J, purpose that can be thwarted to gres
extent If the housewife will do he
spring cleaning with sufficient thorough
. tness."