The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1909-09-08

motives for coming in by motives
equally strong for going out. There
remains, however, still another mat
ter, before we call in the police: the
reason why the typhoid fly comes in
the world at all.
Flies Always the Stigma of Untidiness
Fundamentally, the fly is in the
world because there are moist and
smelly things there. Flies canno;
breed in dry places: they will not
breed in clean ones. In general, then,
utes to the plague. Among other con-
tributory negligences are stables
cow-barns, piggeries; decaying vege-
tables, meat, and cheese; dead ami
mails; rotting straw, paper, and rags;
old mattresses-the thousand and one
decayable objects that get into the
ash-barrel and the dump, when they
ought to go into the fire. If we had
no decaying organic matter. we should
have no flies.
For every living creature tends to
multiply up to the limit OF it's f)od
supply. Communities that feed
tramps, and communities that feed
flies at every. refuse-neap and barn
have flies. Now, the staple fool g:
the house-fly is horse-dung. Probably
at least two out of every ,hree that
scrape and preen themseIv.s over our
plates have been Matched in stable,
while selected samples of stable man
ure are reported to ASSAY 100000, 900
individuals to the ton. Luckily these
are sc 'ected and not av arage samples
bat they show what one neglected
Lorse may do for a neighborhood
Crude oil sprinkled over an ordinary
refuse-heap will check the growth Of
larvae in it; but, unfortunately, this
device is barred when manure is later
20 be used g., fertilizer since grow
ing crops seem to relish coal oil g..
little as do il sects. There is nothing
fer it, then, but to fall back Oh net
ting, and - screen the hy's viands as
carefully as we screen our own.
Above all, for the ordi 1ary decent
household there is the garbage nu.,-
ket. In theory, the garOage is renew
ed at least once week; and since tho
house-fly after the egg is laid takes
ten days to come to m ,-urity, no fly
should ever hatch out in the family
refuse. Practically, however, the swill
pail never gets really empticd at all
The collector tips it over, prods the
contents with. stick, gives il o coupe
of knocks. So much of tile conten.s
as does not happen to fall cut remains
t. inOculate the next we.K's refuse
with larvae already half grown. The
young mageots are pretty small; a
hundred or two will remain in a cup
full; for, unlike the winged adult, they
are negatively phototrop'c and shun
collection these tiny maggots are full
grown. Then they-wcll they make
more impression on the observer.
OF course, one ought to screen
screen gaffiifi fiioETA 40 o 90
stables and barns. Quite as much
ought one to screen receptacles for
garbage. A counsel of perfection
would be to have, in place of the usual
ancient wooden bucket, two metal
ones. to employ them alternately, and
to have the one off duty clean. The
probably see portion, at least, of her
share of flies migrate 20 the more
odOrous premises of her less tidy
neighbOrs.
The fly can be put down. The
proof is that it has been done. Speak
ing rashly, there are no flies in Eng
land; at least, there are so few that
the inhabitants do not think it worth
while to screen their dwellings. The
reason is the simplest-the tight little
island is kept clean. Fifty years ago
flies were a nuisance in England
though not the plague they are here
for no other really civilized country
was ever quite so dirty as the United
States of America. This nuisance is
pretty completely abated. In fifty
years England has been swept and
garnished and the flies have starved.
-McClure's Magazine.