Graham guardian., 1913-03-21
THE WOMAN'S CLUB
Interesting Paper on th'
Deadly Fly Read Before
the Club


which was read before the Woman's
Club at its meeting last Saturday:
In opening up this subject, ! ac-
knowledge my indebtedness to an
article written by Prof. Clifton F.
Hodge of Clark University published
for two successive years in La Fol-
lette's Magazine, and to several
other magazine articles from which
| shall quote literally, and shall ask
my hearers not to be too critical, IL !
should at times use more OF the
language Of the authors than my
own.
War upon the house fly has as
sumed enormous proportions throuh-
out the country during the last few
years, and it has been only within the
last few years that organized effort
hasbeen made along this line. Aslong
as the fly was knswn merely as an an
moving nuisance, there was little
chance of enlisting concerted effort
for its suppression. By the best
authorities we have. men who have
given the subject careful attention.
and made scientific Investigations, it
has been shown that the fly is the
common carrier of bacteria. It may
carry typhoid fever. tuberculosis,
Asiatic cholera. dysentery, cholera
morbus, and other intestinal dis
eases, and lately infantile paralysis
has been added to the list. Now
that it is convicted Of being the
bearer of all manner of germs Of
disease, its determination has be-
come the most urgent step toward
c.eanly living. How to do this is
the problem.
The main featue of our solution
Of this problem in the past has been
the invention of fly screen with
which to shut ourselves in prison.
while we yield to the enemy undis-
puted possession of the out-of-doors.
Then we have devised other disagree
able accessories, like tanglefoot pa
per and fly swattess v ith which to kill
those that slip into our prisons. 'fe
cap the climax of stupidity Quota
toni we have supplied food at our
kitchen doors and unlimited breeding
places In our stables and corra's.
In recent years our success In
dealing with mosquitoes by attention
to their breeding places has sug-
gested similar solution of the fly
problem. Mosquitoes breed in stag
nant water, and it is easy to drain.
fill. stock with fish or oil the pools
of the peighb9rhood and relieve it
completely Of the mosquito nuisance.
The fly breeds chiefly in stable man
ure but will breed also Ia almost
any decaying filth, animal or vege-
table, and only ten days are required
for eggs to hatch and mature. We
can not too strongly advocate int, /
ligeas cleanliness. but if all stable
and barnyard aesumu'atjons were
plowed into the fields weekly, there
would still remain in town the
ditches, the closets and the garbage
dumps. All this means that the
breeding places can be TO u eeftaiH
extent removed, but when it comes
to complete determination by this
method, it is an impossible field OF
attack.
The fly nuisance touches every
homs. and since one household can
breed enough flies to s0Ver at least
half mile square, In order thai any
method Of determination may be
effective, positively every family
must cooperate. This means that
we must, first of all, have a plan
which shall appeal to every one as
both fair and effective, and by its
own merits enlist universal support.
A pair Of Aies heginnipg in April,
if there be no deaths in the proytas
will be the progenitors of billions by
August. Is it not common sense to
catch the pair in April? With in.
sects capable of breeding up into
the millions or even billions in a few
weeks, II Is profoundly aniaterestine
to say that this or that laborious
method will reduce their numbers
considerably. A fly may lay six
patches of eggs from 120 to l50
each, that is from TOO to 900 eggs,
These may hatch and come out as
adult flies in ten days. After com.
ing out from the pupa, however, ac-
cording to recent observations made
by Hewett in England. a fly must
feed for fourteen days before il
natures its first laying of eggs.
If every household in town had
even one outdoor fly trap well
baited, it does not seem improbable
that every fly would catch itself in
this two weeks before it began to
lay. This would mean extermina-
tion. The frst thing necessary is
that every member of this comrnnn:
ity should realize the danger to life
and health that is ever present with
the filthy house fly. Then we may
hope for united effort upon the part
of all the people not only of Stafford,
but Of the entire valley in war of
determination upon this dreadful
pest. Next, everyone should realize
how many flies may breed from a
single pair. Let me give you the