The Daily Missoulian., 1912-04-18

autobiography OF n Housefly." writ
ten by Miss Chloris Powell of vir-
ginia City The essay won first prize
in q contest conducted by the state
department of public health. The
essay:
one chilly October morning I
entered the schoolroom very early and
sat down at my desk was in the act
OF taking up book when my eye
lighted on a small housefly crlmped
between crcvlce Of the desk, His
| stiffened wings and legs had OK
changed their glossy sheen for a dull
metallic black His lack luster eyes
reflecting his stoicnl soul ga2ed at me
| without fear. | invited confidence and
he began thus:
Il am an aged housefy. Sixty days
and nights have passed over my head.
Now that have found you To write
my memoirs. shall dictate them and
die content.
"The first thing ] can remember IL
awakening one morning and finding
myself In q manure pile with many of
my kindred We were al very dirty.
when ] saw my comrades flying
away thought that ! should be left
alone, but found. 20 my amazement,
that could follow them.
After flying for some distance we
came to a backyard which was almost
| as dirty as my first home. After
searching for some time. we found n
large garbagn can which held a recep-
ton for NY. Finally. the can became
80 crowded that ! left ana went To
pile of decaylng fish heads In another
corner of the yard.
After leaving this yard. where we
had crawled all over the dirt and
filth. we entered n bakery where we
| feasted on cakes pies, cookies, etc. As
there were no screens on the windows
or doors ar over the food, we had no
difficulty In satisfying our hunger
ON one of the tables, amidst the cakes
and pies, was large paper covered
with yellow, sticky substance, in the
center of which was piece of lovely
red Jelly I was just about 10 help
myself when one of my companions
said:
Don't go near that paper. II would
he certain DEATH
"This instrument of fly torture was
the only thing that rendered this shop
an inconvenient home for us. Each
day brought its adventure. In the
course of the next few weeks. with
my companions. ! visited many de-
lightfilly dirty grocery stores, alley
garbage cans and kitchens. ! learned
to avoid, as the death. all clean places.
for even II ! did gain n difficult en-
trance through some tiny hole I'm n
well screened window or door | found
! little to reward my efforts For some
weeks ! led n happy care-frce life.
II was delightful. With the coming of
hot weather. however, my life was
made miserable by the traps laid for
my destruction In cleanly kitchens and
: bakeries. NY remote ancestors were
n free and happy race. People did not
then realize that we are n menace to
health. Now life has become nnbear-
able because Of the inventions Of peo-
pie to destroy us. One day | fell into
n glass OF lemonade which a waiter
was carrying to the dining room.
When the gentleman saw me In the
lemonade he ordered the waiter TO
carry that lemonade away. The waiter
carried II into the kitchen. | had just
decided that my end had come. when
to my great JOY, he put his fingers
into the glass and took me out ! felt
very light because so many of the
germs on my body were left In the
glass of lemonade which, the waiter
after getting rid of me. carried back
to his customer
"Our worst enemies are people
spiders and centipcdes. We are pnr-
sued with poison. folded newspapers
traps and wire swatters. We are re-
garded as undesirable and lead hard
and exciting life. The once -despisef
spider is now friend of the house
hold because Of his appetite for flies
Most people screen their windows an6
doors so that we cannot enter theil
homes. even when we are starving ol
freezing: then Keep their premises 3,
clean that we can find no food. The,
try to keep ils away from the sick
room. where we could find many o
our friends. the germs. They are try
ing to get the children interested II
us 80 that they. too. will start n crii
sade against VS.. However, we still
have friends. Their homes are filthy
They have no screens on their win
doWs and doors and we may come AM
go at will without fear of some enem,
waiting to destroy us. Their premises
which are never cleaned, are germ
breeding places. Such places ar
visited daily by us.
I'VE flies boast of being the mos
dangerous insect, for we carry sucl
deadly diseases as Asiatic cholera, ma
laria, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, an,
even smallpox We are even accuse
of carrying infantile paralysis w
visit the home of patient, IN wit
some contagious disease. we becom
covered with germs. Then we yisi
some well person until we are fire
from them. We crawl over decayin
vegetable matter dirty garbage can
and through all kinds of dirt and filth
Then we aNght ON the s..-vu which peo
IalS II xaaaIal. de. IL