Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1909-07-22
WAR UPON HOUSE FLY.
The Press Committee Of Alma'S Civic
Improvement League.
CAN SEE DANCER IN THE FLY
Screens Are Indispensable Household Assets
in Summer Season.

The press committee of the Civic
Improvement League have requested
the publication of the following from
the press of DR. F Biehn of the Num-
cial Laboratory of Chicago The Dr.
,ays: Education of the masses is the
surest mean of bringing the public
to a full realization of the death and
disease carried bv the apparently insig
nitcant. common house fly. 1t Is
death-d ealing pest, exactipg annually
a toll OF hundreds of fatalities. Once
begin to understand. particularly
where disease germs are most numer-
ons and there is less fresh air and sun
shine = the place where the most active
fight should be waged against the hly
that it is responsible for the death
of their children. and that it is the
mysterious cause of the infection OF
those of mature age. the miserable fly
will become so nearly extinct as to be
no longer a source of great danger.
commonly called the fly, is such as to
make it an object of repugnance to
cleanly people 1t is bred in all man.
ner of filth, usually table sweepings.
or the offal and garbage in our alleys
and streets. 1t feeds upon the de-
cayed substances of garbage heaps. 1t
is natural disseminator of disease and
purvey or filth.
1t is matter of regret that the flies
do not get typhoid themselves and die
from it. but instead, they are the most
active agent for the dissemination of
the disease that is known. fly Will
wade about ia the germs from typhoid
patients. and then swim around in
milk or walk over jelly or ice cream or
sugar or meat or butter, with its
mouth and legs smearod with disease
germs and filth. Then true to its
familiar habits, it will walk over the
face of the nearest human being. 1t
will wade in milk that may have come
a few moments before with a .certif
cate of absolute purity, and, inside of
two hours. there will be enough disease
germs iD tie milk to kill family.
Suppose there is case of diptheria
in large building A child may be
infected without the family being
aware of the fact The empty milk
bottle from which the child has been
fed 10 placed outside the door. The
result is the flies come around and
take the germs of the disease into
every fiat in the building where they
can gain entrance
Not long ago the health department
traced the spread of typhoid directly
to dies. The disease was brought in
milk from a certain farm near
Chicago. Investigation was made of
the farm, and it became evident that
the germs could not have been propa-
gated there, for there was well $50
feet down. and the water was aDsO
lutely pure the dairv was perfectly
clean. But in the next farm IT was
discovered there was a case of typhoid
Germs of the disease had been carried
by flies from this farm TO the clean
dairv and lodged in the milk and a
great many children died in conse-
quence
A Ag viii travel for blocks and the
danger il carries is an unseen one. for
no one can tell whether a particular
fl, is loaded with germs. although the
chances are that it is
According to Prof L. c. Howard
the entomologist of the United States
Department Of Agriculture. the prin-
cipal agent IN the spread OF typhoid
fever is the house dv Ten davs will
complete a generation OF flies in the
summer. The rumber of eggs laid
by each female will average 100.
Estimating one-half Of flys output
of eggs survives. and that the. same
thing happens to the eggs of its de-
cendants. the defendants of a female
house flv will within forty days reach
the almost Incredible number of
1850 900 Allowing 900 flies to the
ounce. we have 10000 to the pound
So. in fortv davs, the product o. one
fly would weigh SIC hounds. or more
than five times the weigh of one l60-
pound man. However flies are kept
down bv their natural enemies, by ac-
cident. and by the cleaning operations
of man. or they would render the earth
uninhabitable in one season
Screen all food and keen flies away
from it.
Confined on page two.