Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-08-13
FIGHT ON THE FLY
By Frederic j. Haskin

that the progeny of a single pair of flies
which survived the winter would amount
to several sextillions. But when II is re-
membered that one-sextillion is one
thousand million trillion. 1t will appear
that he has overshot the mark. II every
egg Matched. and every female fly lived to
lay 100 eggs, the result would be just
about what was estimated But, figuring
that only fifty females would hatch from
the eggs of each fly, the result would still
reach the inconceivable total of ass quintil-
lion flies.
How impossible it is that even such
figures obtain is shown when one comes
to figure up the bulk that such a number
of flies would make. More than a hun
dred flies could be contained in a cubic
inch of space yet piled that closely 4ss
quintillion flies would cover 10000 square
miles of territory one foot thick, and the
progeny of 302 pairs of flies would cover
every acre of United States territory one
foot tEick. But If each female fly
brought forth only ten other female flies,
the total progeny of a pair of flies
starting at the beginning of the
season would be over twenty-six
trillion. Even with ten female flies
to each generation, the resultant bulk
produced by single pair starting in at
the beginning of the season would nh
$50 million cubic feet of space, the equiv
alent of the excavations at Panama for
the best month and a half ever put in by
the canal diggers.
Seven different varieties OF flies are
found in dwelling houses, ranging from
the one which rejoices in the scientific
name of musca domestica to the plain
bluebottle. Musca domestica stands at
the top of the list, as ninety-elght out OF
every hundred flies belong to his family
. 1t is upon him that DIR. Howard would
forever affix the name typhoid n.y." Men
read with horror of the ravages Of the IT,
gers of India, and of the long list Of men
and women who fall victims to the CO.
bras deadly bite. They sympathize with
the races of men who have not been re-
leased from the thralldom of the mos
quito. And yet conservative scientists
declare that musca domestica is a more
deadly enemy of mankind than mosqui-
toes, and lions and tigers and snakes
combined. Yet for generations he has
been allowed to dwell in mans own home,
and when we have screened him out IL
has been because he was troublesome and
not because he was dangerous. The mi
croscope was the agency that revealed
his true character.
That cleanliness is next to goodness
was never better exemplified than in the
case of the fly. He must be born in filth
II the female cannot find manure in
which to deposit her eggs, she singles out
the next filthiest place she can find. Old
rags form favorable substitute for the
stable. Waste paper constitutes another
incubator. But II is always necessary that
the eggs be laid in filth of some char
acter. 1t is believed by the authorities OH
the subject that II approximate cleanli-
pes reigned everywhere, the fly pest
would disappear This is proved by ex-
perience. In the mountains OF Virginia
there is a little summer resort around
which are built some thirty cottages. II
is a deserted village from September to
June, not a soul living there during those
months. When the cottage owners move
In in June there is not a fly to be seen,
save the few that follow the horses OF
the cottagers up the mountain side for
two miles. But they never become numer-
Gus until more than six weeks after the
fly season reaches It's height In the She
nandoah valley below. The first arrivals
of the next summer find no flies there
all those of the previous summer hav-
ing persisted in the cold and for lack OF
filth. .-
The fly nuisance in the country dis
tricts is a far harder one to handle than
that in the cities; since the farmer with
a dozen head OF horses, thirty or forty
cattle, and sheep and hogs in proportion,
cannot have the sanitary conditions sur
rounding him that are possible in cities.
In 1896 DR.. Howard co-operated with the
Washington health Office in seeing that
the stables in the business section of the
city were kept clean. The result was a
remarkable falling off in the number OF
flies in that section during the sum-
mer. t.. ~. -- .E
It is thought that the automobile and
motor wagon will ultimately go far
toward solving the fly problem in the
cities 1t is reported that in those neigh
borhoods where the garage has taken the
place of the. livery stable the fly crop
has shown a corresponding decrease.
Some cities have enacted laws relating to
the care and disposition of stable ma
nure which WILL. II enforced, go far to-rI
ward eliminating the house fly. Public
sentiment may yet Danish the city horse
stable as It has already banished the pig
pen and with the coming of the horse
less age in the cities flies may disappear
from the large centers OF population
(Copyright 1909 by Frederic ]. Haskin.)
''Rastus,'' said the solicitOus employer,
''didn't warn YOU against the dangers OF IN
Temperance 20 "Yassfr." Didn't tell Won
not 10 drink anything stronger than ginger aIeT'
''Da's de word dat done bother me. / couldn't
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