The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-07-07
Letters to The Editor
REAL DANGER,
THE FLY AND THE MOSQUITO
Troy Correspondent writes of the
Great Harm These Little Pests
Inflict.

Troy, Ala, July 1, 1908.
I was considerably Interested In your
sSansins the the name 1o q the he hessefy to
yIsoid AVE bo nsys been &c giving this
have approached the subject from an
change the name Of typhoid fever to
But the suggestion to change the
name OF the fy himself 10 Just as good,
though Il would probably be better to
change the name Of both, thereby en-
tangling his detestable fyship In a
double net Of infamy and holding him
safely until he can be exterminated.
Another idea occurred to me some
o. s aFS In Fsf fo Few ssas s sRa
disease known as malaria was thought
to be- the result of miasma arising from
low lying lands. Hence the name NAL
igin of this disease has been discovered
1t should no longer be called by mis-
homer but by its real name--"mosQut-
toria."
The deadly disease known as yellow
tever Is caused, also. by the mosquito,
but, as that disease Is not so general
as malaria and 10 only caused by one
fasciata, It might be called "steso-
The human being. though Justly
termed termed, the Lord Of Creation. In "a a
the biggest fool that ever set foot on
The mental disorder known as fear"
and IL. to some extent, excusable In the
presence of real danger. But danger
does not prompt IT, usually. Let the
news get out that a lion has escaped
from ? menagerie and is running at
large in a community and witness the
excitement! Every male biped of hu-
manity Is carrying gun. while tina
are at home. behind barred doors. hour
ly hoping to hear of the death or cap
tnre OF this dangerous animal" While
Ing Cd Oh IN the dark woods. only wish
ing to be left alone.
These same people. brought into the
presence of real danger, act differently.
You see them daily going about their
plSces d ith for tReir iies and ei iittls
pools and barrels and open wells for
their deer little little IaosqIitoes And what
teges? We see the dies swarm Into
the pnscreened doors and windows.
harrassing all the occupants Of the
of flth straight into every article of
food. Then. sitter doing all the dam
age they can, they leave behind them
dhs f fHa deadly 1nS
what Of the mosouifoS After leaving
for him he flies straight. straight to
the unscreened window left open for
his welcome. goes to his benefactor's
bed and, boring into his blood veins,
he fills himself with his hearts blood!
But, not content with gorging himself
at the expense OF his generous host, he
also leaves behind him, in addition to
the pain and poison, the germs OF an
other, deadly disease: That's graft
Some persons are afraid of those
harmless myths known as ghosts,
Others are afraid to come home In the
dark" Shile We are all terror stricken
we regard the fly and mosquito with
compla cency. Yet one fly. turning a
somersault into your food or drinking
water or one little mosquito, singing
his way into your bed room, consti-
tutes q greater menace to human life
than would forty wild lions turned
loose in the heart of Alabama. While
ed. II seen at all, the other two invade
your home with a preparation guaran-
teed to sicken and kill!
Every State should OF ganize health
propaganda with ramifcations in every
neighborhood. They should send out
lecturers with moving picture ma
chimes throwing immense pictures OF
fly, mosquito and germ on a canvas
Show up the history of each from the
death of the human victim. Follow
this with another picture showing a
simple and effective remedy. and then
ace the public take hold!
Arouse the people to sense OF their
danger and show them the way out and
w. A. Gaydon.