The Dickinson press., 1912-06-01
"sWAr the Fly" SLOGAN
SHOULD BE ADOPTED here

The following extracts are from the
paper read at a recent meeting of the
Equal Suffrage club. by Mrs. Frank
Lacey and contains much timely infolm-
alton and suggestions in regard to the
house fly:
although the fly was always consid.
cred a nuisance. it raj not until within
the last few years that it was conceded
q very serious menance. A pair Of
flies starting housekeeping in May. bar.
ring divorce or death by swattine (fol
they w die a natural death until
cold weather) will produce W one
octillion flies in one season. As each
fly usually lays four patches of eggs in
a season the unchecked development
through these generations would make
a mass of flies that would Measure 1858. .
77S, 165. 861 cubic miles or considerably
more than the total mass Of the earth.
From each pair Of flies surviving the
winter some 8, 600. GOO living insects are
p%ropaeated the next summer.
THE common house fly has six muse
ular legs. AT the end of each are ter
claws or two sticky pads to which
germs adhere and are carried from place
to place. DR.. Jackson found the germs
of typhoid and other diseases on the
feet and bodies Of practically every fly
trapped. We should guard against
leaving food or milk exposed, for as
they come direct from all sorts of filth
to our tables. they infect us with tuber.
~culosis, d%iDtheria, typhoid, scarlet feve1
and other infectious diseases.
Chloride of lime and kerosene should
be used c~opiously on contents of Out
houses or garbage cans. manure piles,
etc. Manure should be kept in a screen
ed vault if possible and removed each
week. Garbage car should be KEEP,
lightly covered and cleaned daily. No
decaying matter of any kinds should be
left on the premises.
Campaigns of various kinds have been
started against the fly and more and
more people are coming to realize the
necessity of fighting down these insects.
In a town in Kansas the Boy Scouts
gave very effective help in cleaning up
the town. They distributed fly posters
which are a great means of educating
the public to the danger of the fly. The
border design depicts the progress Of
the fly from all sorts of filthy places tt
the dinner table. the sick room and the
baby's nursing bottle. The Boy Scout
divided the city into districts and them.
selves into squads. They obtained per-
mission from the authorities to hau
away the garbage and they cleaned the
whole town. In the evening they
were served a public dinner and thu
people became aroused on the question
of the fly. They then made fly swatter'
and distributed them through the cit!
free of charge. They asked the cit!
council to enforce an ordinance requir
ing the removal of all refuse at leas
once in ten days. This is now one Of
the ~cleanest cities in America.
Effective campaigns have beef
conducted by women's organization
all wei the United States with goo.
results. In some places they are usin,
posters which read please kill tina
fly they bred in..manure and feed on ex
cretia of persons sick with typhoi,
fever, tuberculosis and diarrhoea
affectives. One fly a carry and depos
it on our food g. 900, 900 bacteria. /
fly al not develop from the ego in les
than eight days. Therefore, if we thor
oughly clean up once a week we nee'
have no flies
In one city where typhoid was al
epidemic, occurring every summer witt
the first spring crop of flies, q docto
decided to disinfect the entire town a
public expense. He used 9 cheap disin
fectant and with sprinkling cans thi
disinfectani was poured over every inc
of the city. The conservative citizen
gave their usual protests but that dil
not stop the work and the result wa
surprising. After four distinctions o
this kind there was very little typhoi'
left
THE history and habits of the fly i
anything but pleasant reading, but dis
agreeable and disgusting as it certainl,
is, no one should evade the knowledge.
Mrs. Lacey then spoke of the flies il
our own city and said this was the tim
.L~- H. Cr--A- 4