The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-29
TINE NOW 10 KILL THE FLIES.

Al - lew uayB uOW tn0 OUSCTNST Woy
expect to see . pair Of flies summing
themselves on the window. pane. lie
may see several pairs. In fact; but II
he sees only one pair II ia up to him
to swat them without delay. seize their
carcasses and incinerate them in the
nearest flame.
In case he Fails in this duty TO civi-
lization nobody known what might
happen. To be sure. the chances are
that most OF the progeny Of q single
pair Of flies will die before the end Of
summer: but II no death intervenes, II
all the descendants Of that original pair
could live and should be compressed
into a solid mass early next October,
they would occupy a space Of more than
fourteen billion cubic feet, making .
fly pile as largo a. the Woolworth
Building.
This Is not moro guesswork. II =
the serious statement put forth by .
subcommittee Of the Merchants Assoc
citation Of New York. the chairman OF
which Is Edward Hatch. Jr.. who further
says that IL all the progeny Of single
female NY during q single season
should live and could be gathered
together they would make . road one
thousand miles wide and three miles
deep. running all the way from the
earth TO the SUM distance OF some
100000 miles. Mr.. Hatch says this.
furthermore. without getting the least
excited. He has II all figured out 80
as to be proved by any adding machine
that can handle the numbers. He him.
self reels of trillions. quadrillions. quin-
tillions, sextillons. septillions and evea
octillions regarding flies with less effort
than the average person would have In
stepping on board a subway express.
1t is rather dlsconcerting TO talk with
Mr. Hatch about the househy.
~ presume you know" he remarked
yesterday, that II all the progeny OF
a single female fly could be captured
at the end OF this coming summer and
rolled into q bali without being COM
pressed they would make q sphere
larger by far than tho earth We live
on. Figure II out for yourself Suppose
each fly occupies a space one-quarter
OF an inch long, one-quarter inch wide
and one-quarter inch thick; then there
would be sixty-four flies to n cubic inch,
200. 900 to a cubic foot or I6.277,7s1,i71.-
0s4. 900 flies To a cubic mile"
"And how many cubic miles would the
progeny OF single fiy ill II rolled
together In a BALI"
About 400, 4o5,3o0 900 cubic miles"
Mr.. Hatch replied. "or two spheres each
the size OF this earth"
(Which would mean how many de-
scendants OF that original mother fly at
the end of one season.
That's easy" said Mr.. Hatch. "A
ny usually lays In one season six
patches OF eggs and from 100 to $50 In
,lx1 tl..t .xf v,,o
and the middle OF October her descend
ants, II they all lived. would number
6,b77 .0S7 .495, ss4,32O, 900, 900 ,000;0 900. or
translating figures into words six octil-
lions five hundred and seventy-sevcn
septillions eighty-seen sextillions four
hundred and ninety-fve quintlllions
eight hundred and sixty-four quad
rillions three hundred and twenty
trillions.
"A sub committee OF the Merchants
without even stopping to take breath.
els sending out a hundred thousand or
more large cards OF warning. These are
being mailed az fast as possible to
health boards. libraries schools and
civic associations all over the country
in the unceaslng war against flies that
Is being waeed.
80 much work has been done in past
years that people generally are pre-
pared TO destroy flies when they appear
in large numbers at the first burst OF
really warm weather. But this is not
enough. The time to begin fighting this
most dangerous foe OF mankind Is right
now. when the earliest stragglers are
beginning to appear. XIII them now.
hefpYQ they begin nrDnnEDfp and
will be saved enormous expense and
much disease later on"
The warning issued by the Merchants
Association committee says that flies
cost the United States $3.50, 000, 900 each
year. Mr.. Hatch was asked about this
allegation.
ITS true" he declared Careful ex-
animation OF Government statistics was
made some little time ago by an author
ity competent to deal with the subject,
and he found that by causing disease
and death flies cost this country $780,
900, 900 annualiy--this largely in les
sened earning power OF the population
and expenses incident 10 illness. such AZ
typhoid fever and tuberculosis.
"In order TO be conservative we re-
duced the amount 10 $3.50 600, 900. our
object is to arouse the public so thor
oughly TO the danger of permitting flies
to live and breed that communities
everywhere will wage war upon them 10
determination. This can be done; Il
has been largely done in some places"
Various agencies for the prevention ~
disease are already starting an early
campaign against the fly. The Associa-
ton for Improving the Condition of tho
Poor. through It's bureau of public
health and hygiene. L. publishing re-
port made by Dr. Donald II. Armstrong
OF tests made regarding the transmits
sion Of disease by flies. Although tho
transmission Of many diseases has, -
recent years, been ascribed to the fv.
DR.. Armstrong IL inclined to eliminate a
majority OF them as negligible. and due
to causes other than flies However, he
adds, two diseases remain concerning
which the evidence against the house
fly seems to be incriminating-typh
fever and the diarrhoeal diseases OF In
fancy.
"In the matter of typhoid fever" he
adds, "Dr. Terry. Health Officer Of
Jacksonville, Fla, has greatly reduced
the death rate by cleansing vacant lots.