The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1913-05-08
SCREENS NOT NEEDED THERE
City is Kept so Clean That Pests of
Flies are Unknown and People Take
Real Pride in Keeping the City in
Clearly and Healthful Condition.
(By Dr.. n. A. Pennoyerl


hands y to join in the annual q clean
up in our city, brings to mind some
impressions gathered while in Zurich,
Switzerland, several years ago. took
early morning strolis about the city
within radius of a mile in various
directions from my hotel
Ny first observation was that | had
arrived the day after their annual
cleaning festival. Morning after morn
ing disclosed the same degree of clean
illness in alleys and courts as we'll as in
the principal thoroughfares, and it is
safe to say that in ten days time all
the waste paper | saw in the streets
would not, if put together, exceed in
bulk sheet of the Evening News. 1T
was evident that every day in Zurich
was "clean up" day, or rather no citi-
zen threw or swept rubbish or paper
into the streets for the municipality
to pick up. Is there economy in such
method? Turning down Bahnhof
strasse, the principal avenue from the
railway station to the lake, what was
my surprise one morning to see both
sides from curb to sidewalk, literally
covered with every kind of fresh fruit,
flowers and vegetable, these displayed
by sturdy peasants, men and women,
who were rapidly disposing of the
products of the soil to their customers
who, with baskets and Melted bags,
quickly solved the middleman S profit
question, which was like the short
lecture on "Snakes in Ireland =
"there are none. !"
This is not the point. By ten
O'Clock there was not a sign of the
horticultural invasion on the avenue,
the grass plots being as clean razed as
the best lawn in Kenosha. Wouldn t
we Smile and think the millennium near
if Sunday school or neighboring
VO"h PINHlp pa ~ ohOulu lllSh up EVERY
scrap of paper or refuse after a happy
day spent on our lake front park?
Observation .: The day before sail
ing from Boston, | read that train
load of fy-paper had been sent to some
western mining town for the insidious
swatting process. This sounds like a
newspaper fairy tale and may not have
been strictly true but the fy-paper
manufacturers in the United States
have been accommodating dollars in
about the same proportion as flies null
tiply in the barn yard. The people of
the United States are prisoners Of war
The fly and mosquito war. Our
houses are built with balanced win
dow sash to lift or lower, great care
being taken not to interfere with the
barricade against the common enemy.
Burroughs probably pays tens of thous-
ands of dollars to advertise screens for
our prison houses and still many of
the invaders steal in bearing poisoned
darts on their filthy feet.
In Zurich as in most of the continent
tai cities visited, screens on doors and
windows are not seen. Easement and
French windows prevail; these favor
the outdoor life. One breakfasts on a
loggia or porch or under the shadow
of an arbor or trees, the only intruder
being bee or two which would share
a mite of the honey or marmalade
served with the coffee and>rolls. With
doors and windows wide open in con-
fectioners' Shops where the most
toothsome and delicious cakes and edi-
bles are served and sold, not screen
or cover was needed to guard against
flies. The few bees did not count.
Why this difference? To my inquiry
l was told: no refuse from horses re-
manned in the city; peat or turf used
for bedding absorbed excretions which
vain gu AlCICi N"o UdliN CdII1eU OUT
onto the land, thus solving an eco
nonlie as well as sanitary problem.
Observation g. The noisiest man in
Zurich drove the garbage wagon. Lo-
comotives have toy whistles, not the
kind which awaken sleepers mile
away, but the approach of the garbage
man in the early morn sounded more
like a short fire alarm, his bell giving
timely notice to householders of his
coming to collect refuse and ashes.
Here all the householders aided the
garbage man.
Observation f. Every mothers son
in the city being on the committee
of the whole !" for general welfare mo
waste paper or refuse being thrown
into the streets, there was not much
left for white wings" to do except
to sweep up the litter from horses.
Did "white wings" blind you with
dust? OF once! Beside brush, pan
and container, he had large hand
sprinkler such as florists use, sufficient