The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1912-04-11
DANGER OF THE HOUSE FLY.

the nations housekeeping, and be-
fore Doctor Wiley assumed the Of
flee of overseer OF our bills Of fare,
there was a juvenile classic by which
mothers were wont to sing their in
fants to sleep which ran
Baby bye, here's fy,
We will watch him,
You and l.
How he crawls up the walls
Vet he never falls
and so on. The song is probably IA
miliar To each of us. Today, II
mother should do such pernicious
act as To sing her baby to sleep, she
would undoubtedly sing somewhat
after this fashion
Baby bye, swat that hy
We must kill him
You aud |.
When he crawls mp the wall
Germs by hundreds fail.
And in that other classic,
will you walk into my parlor,
Said the spider to the fly
the sympathy of the audience was
all with the 'poor tly." Today all
that is changed, and instead Of be-
ing warned against wild beasts and
snakes, the child is warned never to
allow fly within his immediate vi
entity.
But seriously, the indictment
against the fly is Il very heavy one.
According to II report issued 10y the
University of California, the Ordi-
nary house fly annually costs 5000
lives and an economic value OF
SIS ,0OO. 900 In that state alone, Not
until 1873 was II first suggested that
the house fly carries disease, and
only very recently was the accusa-
| ton proven.
The recruiting powers of the fly
are wonderful The average female
| fly lays between 100 and $50 eggs,
| but many are more prolific. 1t takes
| from twelve To fifteen days for the
eggs 10 develop into flies, so that
dozen generations may be born in u
! season. This means that single
| fly may be the immediate maternal
ancestor OF 10000, 900 bushels of
! flies in Que summer, allowing ,WW,-
000 flies to the bushel. There is a
parody on the Ten little pea pod"
| rhyme that well expresses this fe-
! cuudity Of the fly. 1t begins
Ten little flies.
All III Il line,
one got swat,
lien there were u,nr,"
aud goes through the numerals and
winds up with
Two little flies
Dodgcd the civilian.
.arN nest day
There were million"
Fortunately, all these millions do
not survive: A shortage in the food
supply finishes some, aud Il fungous
disease to which they are subject
does for others, and the spider, the
naughty spider that lures the poor,
innocent fly into his parlor, does his
share in the work of destruction.
But an enormous number survive
to carry death and destruction to
the uuwary aud to propagate their
kind.
What are some of the charges laid
at the door of the fly? Every time
they put down their feet taud re-
member, there are six feet to every
germs, aud how varied in kindly
phoid, dyseHtery, tuberculosis, pink
eye and sometimes ieprosy, small
pox, plague, trichona, asiatic chol-
era sleeping sickness and plenty
more.
During the Spanish war, when ty-
Iphoid fever broke out among our
soldiers, the source of the coutagion
~, l., az
supplies were found creditable, the
water supply was unquestionable.
Then the Surgeon General, suspect
ing the flies, made Il careful invcSti-
cation which revealed that flies were
carrying bacteria from the refuse
pits to the mess tents which were
not screened In this war, flies
Killed four Of our men I" every one
that fe'I hy Spanish bullet. Now,
when II nation goes To war, tho first
enemy it attacks is the fly.
The fly il It Kind ut parc"lS-pu~t
for hacteria \ fly with Il thousand
lrrtns may consider itself clean.
Due of the Government inVcStlga-
ton stations examined IA flies to
ascertain, If pos lille, th" number of
c"rms carried 10y tn" aI"rHg" fly,
Four hundred uf this number ear
rrd more than ! 20, 900 germs each,
while one had over 1000 900. THESE
flies had been IN no way especially
Exposed, but had been picked M
from the common herd ut n mo-
ment's notice.
Is it any wonder that the fly Is
considered the greatest criminal on
record and that everything possible
Is being done to rNterminatc bin,
when we read the charges brought
against him, when "" know that as
he washes his hands he shakes oil
thousands of germs, and that germs
have been found aliv" IN fly sp"ck
after fifteen days,
For generations the fly on tn" bald
. head has been n standard jok" tol
, the comic papers, but it is not a Joke,
. Tor every fly is an advance agent
and willing worker for til" under
taker.
? Flies do not just happen; th"r" l.
2 II reason for every one OF them. anC
: the reason is not far to seek. once
. YOU have them it is difficult mat
| ter to get rid of them. The only
/ remedy il not to have them. In
10.