The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-04-25

may it be called a parasite: .
y peril, menace Throughout the
land war is being made on the
house fly. House fly, so-called, probably.
because II lnfests the house and de-
rosits its contagious material within
doors. OF a right il ought to be called
e-rbage fly. for there il is most numer-
Gus. and there it accumuIates the
myriad germs Of disease that are car
ried into the household economy.
Every effort VIII be made early this
wear TO stamp out the fly pest. To this
end the health authorities are actively
engaged in the warfare on the house
H. Or. T. B. Beatty. secretary OF the
state board Of health, has been laboring
for many years in an endeavor to bring
about cooperation in the matter OF
cleaning Up in the carly spFingtime to
prevent the breeding of flies. DR.. Beat
tv has in course Of preparation a sup
ulem6nt 20 the monthly bulletin of the
state board of health. which will have
70 90 with this subject
About the Fly.
a few lines of comment on the rs as
q danger may be found in the following
epitome of opinions about them and
lnsir ways;
The presence of flies is a direct evil
dence Of careless housekeeping, and the
existence Of filth in some form about
the premises.
Where absolute cleanliness prevails
there viii be no flies
Garbage cans must be covered, and
should be carefully sprinkled with lime
or kerosene.
The same rule applies to manure
heaps.
Cusp:dors in hotels. railroad stations.
boarding houses and other places where
people congregate should receive first
attention. Flies hover about spittoons
ana consequently feast on tuberculosis
suutUw. The specks Of flies contain
live tubercle baccaH after they have
eaten tuberculosis sputum, showing that
The baccili will pass through the diges-
tive tract Of the fly in an infective
state Flies carry on Their mouths
pTobOsces-and on their feet purifying
and disease germs. on which they have
recently fed, and then crawl over food,
injecting II.
The suggestion is offered 10 keep flies
from the sick. especially those in with
communicable OF conta gious diseases.
Ir tho room g not screened. the patient
should bc treated under a net.
FOR coEcnt reasons all food should be-
screened. whether prepared at home or
purchased at the market, unless IT is 10
le cooked.
Flies crawl over fruits when exposed
ro~ sale. unguarded by screens. and Tho
generality of people DO not wash frU-
before eating it. This is q startling
source OF human infection, particularly
e a. case Of typhoid fever nearby is be-
r1E carelessly handled
In Plain English.
To call a spade a spade. as Dean Swift
aTr -r he h1
given the opportunity. flies viii carry
the baccilH Of typhoid from the stools
Of the patient TO the food in the kitchen
and dining room. This is no conjecture.
The experience of the Spanish-American
war proved this fact.
Means of determination.
As 70 the most effective means Of ex-
terminating flies, the more simple, OF
course. are the more easy of adaptation.
II Is said that flies. the female ones.
lie each fall. after having laid $50 eggs.
This may or may not be true, for often
flies are seen about in the midst Of
winter but. naturally, their sex are
difficult of determination. Anyway. Just
before the flies pass away in the fall.
they, in the multiplicity Of their num-
Der, lay millions Of. eggs. These are
aid in cracks and creviCes and corners
rhe broom strikes. With the coming OF
spring the births begin. and presently
here are $50 flies where only one fly
was befOre-naybe more.
Two sane. safe and simple plans are
offered by DR.. Walter NJ. Cross, city
chemist Of Kansas City. where an or
ganized and systematic campaign has
been inaugurated. All the newspaper
n Kansas City are with the health de-
partment, apparently. for scarcely an
exchange from that city but contains
comment in respect to this question.
In Kansas City.
Dr.. Cross begins by saying that just
AZ this time soap and water is the best
treatment for every room n the house
but more particularly for the kitchen.
With a rag dipped in the soapy water
the eggs can be destroyed if the appli-
cation is made to the crevices where the
fy eggs are nesting" DR.. Cross says
that flies do not emigrate, but stay at
The place where they are born unless
the wind blows them away. In giving
the results of his experiments with fly
determination. DR.. Cross says:
The first method is to tempt their
thirsts. Flies are always thirsty and
they're not prOhibitiOnists. They like
the taste OF beer exceedingly well. AZ
night place an ounce Of beer in saucer
and drop into it a pinch-about two
grains-of arsenic soda As soon as
daylight comes the next morning the
f'eS wake up with a horrible thirst.
They quickly swoop down on that sau-
GER of beer and take long draughts of