The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1915-06-12

I4 10 reduce their numbers In the com
III II munity, that the diseases they convey
may be reduced also, or even abolished.
One method of dealing with disease
Ia bearing insects is to trap and kill as
many as we can. For this reason kill
- that fly" or swat that fly crusades
nave been instituted in many places. But it has
been found by experiment that we cannot hope
TO XIII sufficient fes to reduce seriously their total
numbers. This is because flies breed at a very
great rate when the weather is warm, and the
totai numbers which we can kill is so small, when
compared to the total numbers born. that the re-
suit OF the "swatting" campaigns has been disap-
pointing.
All our efforts should be directed at preventing
mouse flies from breeding-for prevention is bet
ter than cure. The best way to do this is to OBJ
serve strict cleanliness-municipal cleanliness
and home cleanliness. Then these insects will
desert the neighborhood, and the diseases they
convey VIII vanish. This was the policy pursued
on the Suez and Panama canals to prevent ma
larla and yellow fever, which are conveyed from
one person to another by mosquitoes. The method
was most successful.
The house fly breeds in filth. Each female fly,
as soon as the weather is warm enough, laws
about $50 eggs on collections Of manure, decom-
posing garbage, street rubbish or house refuse.
ana the eggs hatch into tiny maggots. After five
days have passed, each maggot becomes a rolled
up oean-shaped ~chrysalis, and after another five
Gays each ~chrysalis gives birth to a two-winged,
slXlegged whiskered, bristly flying insect known
70 US as the house fly. Bluebottles breed
similarly, but they prefer to lay their eggs on
rottlng carcasses or decaying animal matter.
The house fly and the lesser house fly convey
disease by bathing their legs in germ-laden ma
terlal, which they find during their feeding forays.
Inc germs stick to their legs and to the lips of
their telescope proboscides, and then are carried
TO the milk jug. the teacup, to the cut loaf, and
TO the culinary utensils. Sometimes the flies
swallow the germs which nu1tin1v ipeido tboa.
and afterwards the concentrated disease focus is
again deposited wherever the fly settles.
We can be rid of flies If we observe the ordi.
nary common sense rules of cleanliness and SAM.
taton. No fly lairs, or breeding places, must be
permitted near human habitations. All unclean
places must be made clean regularly once a week
by the sanitary or municipal authorities. and then
the fly maggots will be unable to come to ma
turity, and SO the pest will be exterminated. Re-
Gently a war on flies has been taken I'm assidu-
ously by the press, and the medical officers OF
health are exerting themselves to start antiay
campaigns.
Thus the municipal authorities have mada a
start, and it remains for the individual house.
holders to help them. Each one of us can do our
share of fly prevention. We can prevent flies
IN our own homes. On one morning, every week.
we must inspect our own premises. Begin in the
kitchen. Observe every nook of the scullery. the
pantry, the cellar, even the dining room and SEQ
that every corner and Granny is scrupulouslv
clean. Next, we must examine the dustbin to
see if it is completely cleaned out. Let there he
no small collections of tea leaves spilled out of
1t, or rotting Feelings or scraps of bread, or any
other places where flies can breed. Let the
cheese be well covered, and the bread be in it's
pan, and all food within the larder in its proper
place. And let everything be clean and whole.
some.
1t is most important, also, to inform our neigh.
bors on every convenient occasion of the disgust
ing and dangerous character of hOuaa 6iao and
to ask them to cooperate in preventing them.
Then there will be an organized campaign against
these insects. The more we talk about 1t the
sooner will the thing be done. The education
of children in the matter is also most essential
Then a new generation will grow up knowing
the dangers of flies and how to prevent them.
SchooImasters and schoolmistresses should be In
vited to teach their charges about flies, and should
set the example by instructing them In the tenets
of school cleanliness. This will help us greatly.
If we all keep our own homes sweet and clean.
our children's lives will be spared the horrors of
summer sickness, typhoid will be lessened, doc
tors bill will be reduced, and the health Of the
community will be improved enormously. With
regard to house flies and ~fy-borne diseases the
remedy is simple. Let us apply it.
AS a result OF experiments, the specialists
of the United States department of agriculture
have discovered that a small amount of ordinary
borax s~prilkled daily on manure will effectively
prevent the breeding of the typhoid or house fly.
Similarly, the same substance applied to garbage,
refuse, open toilets, damp floors and crevices in
stables, cellars or markets. will prevent fly eggs
from Matching. Borax will not kill the adult
fly nor prevent 1t from laying eggs, but it's
thorough use win prevent any further breeding.
The Investigation, which included experiments
with many substances, was undertaken to dis
cover some means Of preventing the breeding
Of flies in horse manure without lessening the
value of this manure as a fertilizer for use by the
farmer. 1t was felt that IL some means of pre-
venting the breeding of flies near a human habi-
tation could be devised, the diseases spread by
these filthy germ carriers could be greatly re-
duced. While the swat the fly campaign" traps
and other devices for reducing the number of
typhoid-carrying flies are Of value. they are of
less Importance than the prevention of the breed
ing. 1t was realized. however. that no measure
for preventing the breeding of flies would come
into common use unless 1t was such that the
farmer could use 1t on his manure pile without
destroying its usefulness for growing plants. and
without introducing into the soil any substance
that would interfere with his crops.
As a result of experiments carried on at the Ar
lington farm. in Virginia, and New Orleans, La.