Arizona republican., 1910-07-31
LOUISIANA BILL SMITH
SAW REAL MOSQUITOES
The Development of the Short Bill
Breed.

The statement in the Tempe depart
ment of a Phoenix evening paper re-
Gently to the effect that the mosquito
pest was an obstacle to peaceful life
in that town, and also a rumor or two
from over night visitors in the capital
town 10 the effect that the cousin
song of the sleep-disturbing insect
could occasionally be heard in Phoenix,
has led Bill smith, who arrived in Mesa
a few months ago from Louisiana, TO
make a few comparisons on the i'm
aginary fly said to be found in certain
parts of the Salt river valley and the
real mosquitoes found in unlimited
quantities in the former home of Mr..
Smith.
i've heard some complaint about
mosquitoes" began Bill yesterday,
since I've been in the valley. but there
is so much difference between the kind
found here and those controlling every
parish in my state that one cannot be-
Iieve they belong to the same family.
Just 10 give you an idea of the develop
ment of the animals in my country, l
will give YOU an incident that hap
pened only a few miles from my home
You know Louisiana is well supplied
with swamps and lOWlands-what is
not swamps is saw mills. | am telling
YOU this because both have something
to do with the incident a friend OF
mine was working at saw mill which
was located near swamp. 1t was
about this time of year and the mos
quitoes were getting the best of the
wire netting and other local remedies
to keep off the nightly invaders, my
brother was overtaken by an original
idea, which included the crawling into
an old boiler which had been in use
at the mill but had long since been
thrown aside. After closing the door
of the fire box and latchinS 1t from
the inside he was of the opinion that
at last he had solved one of the prob
| lens that has been paramount issue
| in the south for years. However, his
contentment and satisfaction was not
| to remain, for near daylight after the
| first night he detected the gimlet- like
| bills Of the mosquitoes slowly nut sure
| ~ drilling their way through the boiler
walls. The invasion was enough TO dis
| turb the equilibrium of any well-bal-
anced individual and my acquaintance
was no exception. However, he was
not dismayed but again set To work
| to continue the battle through another
night The next evening upon retiring
| to his bedroom nearly surrounded by
steel walls. he carried a hammer. pre-
sumably for the purpose of protection.
He waited patiently for the first ap-
| pearance of a mosquito proboscis and
with well aimed blows promptly
clinched that important weapon of de-
Tense on the inside Throughout the
night he continued TO fasten the pests
| to the boiler by this unique method. He
estimated that by this procedure he
would not only win his first battle
against an old enemy, but that he
| would leave many to die of starvation
A few he estimated would be able to
| pull themselves free, but these he be-
| lieved would go through life with
shortened and inferior implements and
| would be totally unable to support
themselves when forced to exc out
their living amidst such sharp compe-
titiOn furnished by their untramelled
brothers and sisters. At any rate the
| work of clinching every beak that
| showed up on the inside of the boiler
| continued until the light began to show
| in the east. The man in the boiler
| had not allowed himself to sleep; if
necessary he believed he could willing
| " die a martyr to a just cause. How
| ever an unexpected thing happened.
| The buzzing noise made by the sever
al hundred mosquitoes became deafen-
| ing and then the man inside felt the
| boiler move All the stories Of haunts
| passed in CHASTITY review before the
( man inside the firebox. but being a
| practical sort Of an individual, he rea-
soned that what appeared to be a
| tremble was nothing more than his i'm
| agination, which was probably over