The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1910-09-17
NEW BUG COMES TO TORMENT
POOR SLEEPERS IN THEIR BEDS.
Latest Addition to Nights Terrors Makes the
Flea Seem Feeble.

AUOlutI oOultC VI "
the vacation boarder has been dis
ooyered All who are now planning
10 take a vacation in some country
farmhouse should take warning and
sxamine straw mattresses before they
deep on them. If these be filled with
new straw it may be we'll for the
peace Of mind throughout the re-
mainder Of the vacation to sleep on
the floor until other mattresses are
i provided. A mite which turks in
straw that has been the home OF 9TH
er insect pests has recently been dis
covered in Philadelphia and many
other places in the East and Middle
West to be an enemy to mans COM
fort
The bite of this hitherto little
known creature is so exceedingly an
uoying that, speaking conservatively
1t may be said that the mosquito,
the gnat and the flea are hardly to be
classed as competitors. The bites of
the latter are as the grass Of the
field, which today hOurlsheth, but to-
morrow withereth away and is for
gotten. Not 50 the nip Of this micro
scopc, predaceous mite. 1t is not
recognized today, but on the morrow
begins to make itself felt, and before
the rash disappears the victim and
his physician may think he has small
pox.
When the rashlike spots appear the
temperature and the pulse go up, and
the patient feels nigh unto death
from this combination, coupled with
intense headache, loss Of appetite,
nausea and rheumatic pains. The
diagnosis Of a case having such symp-
toms should include an examination
Of the mattress. If it has lately been
filled with new straw, the probability
Is that the symptoms are not those of
smallpox, but visitation of this new
ly discovered villain of the insect
world. In such case a cure is most
quickly obtained by removing the bed
and burning it. The story Of this mite
has just been fully told for the first
time by F. M. Webster in bulletin
Of the Bureau of Entomology Of the
United States Department Of Agricul-
ture.
SIeuths on the Trail.
The discoverer of this insect villain
and the fastening of the supposed in
fictitious disease upon it was an in
teresting piece of detective work. 1t
was not brought to book until its ac-
tivity had been traced a third Of the
distance across the continent.
A Philadelphia boarding house
keeper was the first one to bring the
malady chargeable to this pest to
public attention. This was in 1895. In
that year the owner of the boarding
house In question called on a physi-
clan Of that city and told story OF
financial trouble due to some mysteri-
GUS disease which had appeared in
the boarding house. Every one Of the
70 boarders had been afflicted by a
strange, rash-like disease. They sus-
pected the mattresses and said so in
no uncertain terms. They even threat
ened the tenant who kept the board
ing house with bodily injury. Then,
with one accord, they took up their
personal belongings and as one man
went away. The discovery OF mite
Of microscopic dimensions in the
straw dust and debris did not change
the feeling Of the former boarders re-
sarding the comforts Of that particu-
lar dwelling place, and they refused
to return. Thereupon the tenant re-
fused to pay rent The real culprit es-
0ped this time, for the investigation
was not carried far enough to connect
the mite with the epidemic.
Philadelphia was to continue to SUI
TOR from this unfamiliar disease. In
1901, Dr.. Jay F. Schamberg, at that
time professor of dermatology and
infectious eruptive diseases in the
Philadelphia Polytechnic, as well as
practising physician, published
short paper calling attention to and
describing AN Epidemic Of Peculiar
and Unfamiliar Disease Of the Skin"
He described q number Of cases which
had come to his attention, but still
ne guilty cause was not discovered.
It was not until last summer that
any exact information regarding the |
cause Of these so-called epidemics was
made known This was contained IN
. paper prepared by DR.. Schamberg
and DR.. Joseph Goldberger, passed as
sistant surgeon Of the United States !,
Public Health and Marine Hospital
Service.
Last spring the peculiar disease be-
came prevalent in Philadelphia and
neighboring towns. An outbreak
among twenty sailors on private
yacht dockad in the Delaware River |