Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-12-03
UNION COUNTY'S
MOSQUITO FIGHT
Chief Inspector Declares the
Pests Are Fast Disap=
pearing.
BREEDING NEAR LINE
ON NEWARK MEADOWS
Gies Declares That Section Has
Been Polluted by River and
Bay Sewage.
Especial to the Newark start

lhdl through It's Efforts numerous
breeding places for mosquitoes have
been obliterated, the Mosquito Elk
termination Commission of Union
County in its second annual report
Just ISSUED tells of the ways and work
of the pest" fighters. The report
was made to the director of the New
Jersey State experiment station and
the Board of Freeholders of Union
County.
The report says that only in the
northeastern part of Elizabeth have
mosquitoes been troublesome and
that the fault here is with the city
of Newark
Dealing with the question of inspec-
ton, the report says:
ITO get the inspection work on as
efficient a basis as possible the in
spectors were divided into two classes.
according to the kind of mosquito
breeding places that they looked after.
one man in each of the six districts
or the county was placed in charge
OF the inspection of all breeding
| places found outside of houses and
yards, places which might be roughly
classified as natural breeding places,
such as swamps pools, stagnant
brooks and open cellars, sewer catch
basins and street cutters. 1t was the
duty of this inspector to prevent mos
quito breeding IN all such places. He
had entire charge of the oiling in his
district, interviewed property-owners
in regard to drainage and filling-in
work, served all notices In his dis
trict for the abatement of breeding
places and supervised the work of any
laborers employed
End Yard Breeding Places.
'Tne second class of inspectors was
held responsible for preventing mos
quito breeding in the other kind of
| breeding places, the artificial breeding
places found in backwards and houses,
comprising barrels, tubs, pals, cans,
bottles, open cisterns, open cesspools,
sewage drains, etc. Whenever nui-
sances of this class were found the
persons responsible were notified to
make them safe by doing away with
the breeding place entirely, screening
or covering tightly or oiling In many
cases this was done before the inspec-
tor left the premises"
In reference to the use of oil in
combating the mosquito and salt
marsh drainage the report says:
Before the beginning of the mos
quito breeding season oil was sent
to Summit, Plainfield, Westfield, Rah-
way, elizabeth, Rosele and about a
dozen places on Elizabeth and Linden
meadows to stop breeding tempo
rarily until more permanent meas
ures could be taken. Oiling began
about May l and continued until
about October l. One oil wagon was
used continuously during the summer.
covering Elizabeth, Union, Linden and
Railway, and men and wagons were
hired as often as necessary in the
other sections of the county About
2, 600 sewer catch basins in the cities.
stagnant pools and ponds, cutters,
open cellars, slow-running streams,
open manure pits drains and all other
places where mosquito larvae were
found were oiled about every ten
days.
"One hundred and forty-four barrels
| of oil were used this year
1.-THE cleaning of the old bitches Of
the Union county marsh was begun
on March Is and completed about May
20. All the larger outlets of the marsh
Great ditch, Woodruff's creek and
Oyster creek on Elizabeth meadow,
and number of the small tidal out
let's of Linden meadow. together with
all the small ten-inch ditching on the
salt marsh, about 100000 feet. were
thoroughly cleaned of instructions
and the black mud deposit of the
tides. This work, however, must be
repeated every year or two, to be eff
fective.
"In addition, about 25 900 feet of new
ditching mostly ten inches WIDE was
cut by the laborers employed by the
commission. This was mostly In small
parcels. helping to drain isolated
pockets of marsh into the existing
drainage scheme.
Wind and Rain Aid Breeding.
1.-The success of mosquito prevention
on the salt marsh depends very large.
ly on favorable weather conditions.
In an ordinary season, the existing
ditching will drain off the pools of
water left after the high tides sub
side, or after rain storms, before
breeding can take place. but occa-
sionally, as happened twice this
spring, there will come a combination
of very high tides, steady east winds
and heavy rainfall for week or ten
days. Then the water piles up on the
meadow. and there is absolutely no
chance of IL running off against the
wind and tide, and. despite all the oil
ing that can be done temporarily, part
of brood will mature
However, the Union county salt
marsh is in a much better condition
than last year and UNNECESSARILY bet
ter than ii was ten years ago The
ing greater every year. The two in
spectors were easily able to kill off
any breeding found during the sum-
mer with oil, and hardly a single spec
linen of the salt marsh mosquito was
seen in places where in previous years
1T was a pest.
"As to the results of the work in this
county," says Chief Inspector Russell
w. Giles. the universal testimony OF
the citizens and the daily press has
been that the mosquitoes have been
fewer than in previous years. In no
section, with the exception of north
eastern Elizabeth, has any annoyance
been felt. The conditions in north
eastern Elizabeth were largely beyond
the control of Union county, from the
reports made by the inspectors of the
State experiment station, and the
prevalence of mosquitoes there, while
the remainder of the county was COM
paratively free, was due chiefly to the
sewage pollution of the Dead Creek
section of the neighboring Newark
meadow. This pollution is now being
remedied by the city of Newark, and
conditions should improve next year
in the small area of Elizabeth
affacfad -