The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-04-29
The Dirty Houseiy.

Improve each shining minute
And where he finds an apple pie
Plant micro millions in it.
It wasn't Dr. Watts who wrote tina
one; it was DIR. Koch. or one of hi
disciples. But it's the hymn of tn,
new medical faith, all right. As I;
producer. Mr.. Househy has Br'er Bee
beaten four city blocks. He love:
filth as a Yankee loves a postofice
appointment. He wallows in it. He
glories in it. He plasters it over his
anatomy and fills up his alimentary
canal with it-and then he finds him
self ready for business. B-z-z-z-z-z-
ness.
He dabs his reeking corporosity
into the middle of batch of dough,
and the profane cook eases him over
the edge of the pan with a spoon. She
doesn't kill him. Cooks seem to have
an innate reluctance against sacrific-
ing the life of the housefiy. So he
crawls off among the cooking uten-
sis leaving a trail of microbes by the
way, and proceeds to rub the dough
from his ugly legs and scrape it off
his wings. Dough makes an excellent
culture medium. He isn't losing any
time. Tomorrow there will be a
thousand microbes for every one he
sheds into the sticky mass. You
can almost hear that hOusef1y chuckle
as he makes himself ready for anoth-
er dash. This time he alights on the
edge of a cup of milk. A dainty,
pink-and-white child is slipping that
milk. Like all other filthy creatures.
Mr. Housefy dotes on daintiness-
as a prey. He gloats over the chance
to infect that milk with typhoid ba
cilli He knows enough to refrain
from OVERRIDING the thing, too; so he
doesn't fall in and cause the nurse to
throw that milk aside and provide a
fresh glass. He stands upon the rim
of the glass. balancing himself upon
four legs, and rubs the microbes of
his dirty body with the other two.
Cute. A Chicago lawyer couldn't hold
a candle to him.
Then ne takes a flight across the
lot, calling at garbage heap on the
way and replenishing his stock of Mi
crobes. and sails in through the
butchers window. There's a nice
quarter of beef-not too fresh, Just
right for his purpose. He alights
carefully at the lower southwest
quarter of section 5, range west
and surveys line that was never run
on sea or land, zigzag, Katy-cornered,
eriss-cross, up the center and all
hands round, hop-skip-and-jump, go
as you please, planting bacilli to the
right of him, microbes to the left of
him. germs behind him in volleys and
hundreds. He's doing land-office
business now. Whoopee, If some
body doesn't get typhoid or some
other filth-bred disease from this job
he'll miss his guess.
He dotes on candy stands. He'd
be tempted any day to crawl over
candy. And ice cream. He gets right
up out of the stable refuse and
hurtles off hungrily at the mere men
tion of it. It's so nice and clean
well, if he really gets there that's
another story possibly a black-bor-
dered one.
Filthy, If you really grasped the
extent of his nauseating filthiness, it
would undoubtedly SATISFY you about
his dangerousneSs as puryeyor of
disease Let it be understood,
once for all: The house1y is filthy
beyond the uttermost reaches of i'm
agination. Whenever you see him,
hear him. think of him. cry I'm
clean Unclean!"
The medical profession has declared
war upon him-war OF extermina-
ton 1t should be taken up by ev-
cry householder. There are just two
phases of it,
The first of these pertains to his
determination from the house and
particularly from where food is kept
For this purpose screens are very
effective where they are kept shut
agar him And when he makes |
his way within-doors in spite of them |
get fans, brooms, papers, anything |
you please. and drive him forth as
you would pestilence.
The second phase deals with his /
breeding places. These are heaps of I
stable and other refuse. Spray them /
with coal oil, or burn them. Leave |
no filth for him to breed in and his |
numbers must dwindle.
But whatever you do, if you have I
not already done so, wake up to his
abominable uncleanliness.
Shut him out,-Monterey News