Evening star., 1912-06-12
Swat the Fly

Following the suggestion made by The
Star at the time Of the Inauguration OF
the first ''iy-swatting' campaign, nearly
q year ago. another large ny propagating
refuse pile is to be discontinued.
A huge pile Of the refuse from the
Presidents and the quartermaster's sta
bles. which is located in Potomac Park,
within sight Of the Pan-American Union
building, Memorial Continental Hall and
the bureau Of industrial research, and
less than a quarter Of mile from the
hygienic laboratory of the public health
! and marine hospital service. is to
| be dispensed with, according to an
| announcement made this morning by
Col Cosby. officer in charge Of the Office
of public buildings and grounds. The pile
win not be entirely removed until next
be a hy-breeding place it is to be COW
cred with a foot of earth within the next
| few days.
The dump is at present located more
than a thousand feet from the nearest
roadway, but formerly it was close be-
side the roadway extending west from the
south end Of the Pan-American building
grounds. 1t first was established four
years ago. but as the north end OF
Potomac Park has been improved it has
been moved farther from the roadways.
Funds for Removal Lacking.
For nearly year Col. Cosbys Office
has had the discontinuance Of the dump
under consideration, but because of the
lack Of sufficient funds to provide a thor
oughiy modern compost pit the use of
the improvised one in Potomac Park has
been necessitated.
The use OF such pit is made neces-
sary by reason Of the fact that the proper
| kind of fertilizer for the plants and
shrubbery in the government reservations
cannot be procured in any other way.
The addition Of water to the refuse, in
order to hasten decomposition. only adds
to the desirability Of such pile as fly
breeding place.
Il
refuse from the government stables is
hauled, is covered over with earth it will
remain so until next fall, when the com:
post will be used in preparing the gar
i dens for the winter.
i Col. Cosby hopes that some day Con-
gress will see f1t to make an appro-
i priation that will enable the Office OF
public buildings and grounds to build
i a modern covered compost pit.
i Before deciding to discontinue the
i use Of the dump in Potomac Park
/ many experiments were made to treat
the pile In such way as to make 1T
harmless as far as fly breeding was
i concerned. 1t was found, however.
Il that the addition OF lime affected the
i compost in such a way as to make 1t
harmful to certain plants and shrubs.
4 The addition of acid solutions also
i made it harmful. Accordingly. 1t
i was decided to entirely discontinue
the dump In its present location.
i Now Almost Million.
Nine hundred and thirty thousand six
hundred represents the total number OF
flies destroyed to date in The Stars
June anti-fy campaign. according to an
nouncement today by DR.. Arthur L. Muir
ray, supervisor of the campaign
Tho destruction yesterday OF SS.40O OF
| the insects by one competitor. Lawrence
| FYtz9erald, added to the showing Of the
day previous when Fitzgerald. Marx
Trice and william Steiner Jointly were re.
sponsible for the determination Of $4,000
| OF the disease-carriers, has brought the
| record OF the months slaughter to with
| in a few thousand points of the one mil
lion mark.
Killed ss2 200 in June.
Eight hundred and eighty-two thousand
two hundred represents the total number
Of flies destroyed to date in The Stars
June anti-iy campaign. according to an
nouncement today by Dr. Murray, super
visor of the campaign. Three contestants
delivered $1,000 flies to the campaign
headquarters In the Municipal building
yesterday.
BY turning in 900 insects the record
of Mark Trice passed the 100000 mark
There are now three contestants in the
, 400 600. 100000 and 10000 classes, respec.
| lively, the distinction of being in the
higher class belonging to Layton II. Bur
J dette of the Industrial Home School
Lawrence Fitzgerald Is in the second d.
vision This competitor. by delivering
3S 400 es yesterday, increased the tota
score to $4,000
RI William Steiner was the other cam
paigner to improve his standing in the
race. as he delivered yesterday 23.2Ot
J flies Layton H. Burdette did not ap
pear at campaign headquarters yester
day. but he is expected to show up with
enough flies this afternoon to put thu
: record for the month past the millior
mark
"Swatters'' Are Ambitious.
!, One OF the features Of the campaign 81
far has been the regularity with which
, most OF the contestants have delivere,
5 flies to the campaign headquarters. EacI
i "swatter" appears to be trying to xii
{ as many flies daily as he can. evel
. though his ability In this direction ha
I not produced results sufficient to put hin
! very high up In the race.
Although Layton II. Burdette is more
E than 10000 points ahead of his neare$
competitor, Lawrence Fitzgerald, presen