The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1914-10-23
HOW BATS
KILL MALARIA
Texas Scientists Prove Sue
ceSSful Scheme.
Roosts Built Where Winged Ami
[, mails Increase and Decrease
VanisheS.



closed season on its bats has been
declared in Texas as a result of re-
cent experiments conducted by DR..
Charles A. II. Campbell of San An
tonic. II has ben demonstrated quite
.unclusively that bats are the worst
enemies of mosquitoes and that by
propagating bats the menace of ma
laria may be greatly diminished.
From time immemorial the COM
mon bat has been despised as Il
denizen of the graveyard, a bird OF
III omen, a bird-animar that gets en-
tangled in milady's hair. serving alb
solutely no useful purpose. II has
been hunted down and destroyed
without mercy.
IL is now realized, however, that
the bat is one OF mans best friends
and ought to be carefully cultivated.
The eradication of malaria is prom
ised If bats be multiplied in suffi-
cient numbers, and Texas scientific
bodies are so much impressed that
secured the passage of law max
ing il penal offense to destroy a
bat under any circumstances.
The experiments which resulted in
the Qualification of the bat were be-
gun some time ago at San Antonio
by DR.. Campbell
After much research and number
less experiments and disheartening
DR. Campbell finally succeeded in
constructing bat roosts," which. aft
er being prepared with certain
chemical fluids, seem to be actually
bat caves.
One OF these bat roosts," which
is located at Michell's Lake. ten
miles south Of the city of San An
tonic Tex, has proved itself to be
such complete success that its eff
fects almost border on the miracu-
lous. Housing and protecting as 1t
does, bats by the tens of thousands,
its advantages over natural bat caves
are self-evident.
Citizens of the region declare
that since the erection of the bat
roosts there they can sleep comfcrta-
bly, out of doors at night without
a mosquito bar or any other kind
of projections: while before this
roost was located there it was ut
terly impossible for them to sleep
even in the houses, except with
screens and mosquitoes bars. These
citizens also testify to the entire
absence of any malaria in their fam
lilies. They also state that before
the erection of this roOst they were
all sick at one time or another with
malaria, and that mosquitoes came
in such hordes that they were driv-
en- from their work of irrigating
their crops at night and were forced
to Sc their crops go TO ruin.
The bat roost" at Michell's Lake
stands 10 feet above the ground.
and the ure-inclosed-is 30
feet above this; is & feet wide at
its apex and is 12x12 feet wide at
its base. While this roost has per-
formed such wonders. il was design
ed merely as a model; the intention
being to construct the roosts three or
four times as large as this model.
The roost is given this steeple
shape and placed above the ground
for several reasons. Its shape makes
IL resistant to high winds, and also
allows the supporting posts to be fit
ted with contrivances which prevent
the bats enemies from gaining access
to the inside of the roost. 1t also per-
mits "A wagon to be driven under
meath il, in order to receive the ac-
cumulated guano from the hopper
having an opening on hinges, which
opens downward, thus permitting the
guano in the hopper to be easily col
lected.
The advantages of this artificial
roost yer the natural ones-bat cav
es-are self evident. In the natural
bat caves, during the breeding sea-
son. the bat suffers most from its
natural enemies, for shortly after the
baby bats are born they cling me-
chemically to the mothers body
Very frequently they loosen their
hold and fall TO the bottom of the
cave. Here these baby bats fall a
prey to wild animals, which are al
ways in and around these caves at
this particular season.
If one of these baby bats falls to
vthe floor of the caves the mother bat
will dart to the same place to try to
protect her young, and also falls a
victim TO the wild animals. All this
danger is completely avoided and
ZONE of the roosts, as no animal eX-
a hot aan gnfar Ona Of fhQO1 If