Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1915-06-11

have been instituted in many places. But it has
been found by experiment that cannot hope
to kill sufficient 1es to reduce seriously their total
numbers. This is because flies breed at very
great rate when the weather is warm, and the
total numbers which kill is so small, when
compared to the total numbers born that the re-
suit of the 'swatting' campaigns has been disap-
Dointing
All our efforts should be directed at preventing
house 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 will vanish. This was the policy pursued
on the Suez and Panama canals to prevent ma
laria 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 enough, lays
about $50 eggs collections of manure, decom-
posing garbage, street rubbish or house refuse,
and the eggs hatch into tiny maggots After five
days have passed. each maggot becomes rolled
up, bean-shaped chrysalis, and after another five
days each chrysals gives birth to a two-winged.
six-legged, whiskered, bristly flying insect known
to us as the house fly. Bluebottles breed
similarly, but they prefer to lay their eggs
rottlng carcasses or decaying animal matter.
The house fly and the lesser house fly convey
disease by bathing their legs in germ-laden ma
terial, which they find during their feeding forays
The 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 multiply inside them,
and afterwards the concentrated disease focus is
again deposited wherever the fly settles
We can be rid of flies if observe the ord
nary common sense rules of cleanliness and SAM
tation No fly lairs, breeding places must be
permitted near human habtations. All unclean
places must be made clean regularly a week
by the sanitary municipal authorities, and then
the fly maggots will be unable to come to ma
turity, and the pest will be exterminated Re-
Gently a war on flies has been taken up assidu
ously by the press, and the medical officers of
health are exerting themselves to start antify
campaigns.
Thus the municipal authorities have made
start, and it remains for the individual house
holders to help them Each of us can do our
share of fly prevention. We can prevent flies
in our own homes On morning, every week
we must inspect our own premises Begin in the
kitchen. Observe every nook of the sculery. the
pantry, the cellar, even the dining room and see
that every and Granny is scrupulously
clean. Next must examine the dustbin to
see if it is completely cleaned out. Let there be
small collections of tea leaves spilled out of
it, or rotting Feelings scraps of bread, or any
other places where flies breed. Let the
cheese be we'll covered, and the bread be in it's
pan, and all food within the larder in it's 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 house flies. and
to ask them to cooperate in preventing them
Then there will be organized campaign against
these insects. The more we talk about it the
sooner will the thing be done. The education
of children in the matter is also most essential
Then new generation will grow up knowing
the dangers of flies and how to prevent them.
Schoolmasters 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 childrens 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 iy-borne diseases the
remedy is simple. Let apply it.
AS a result of experiments the specialists
of the United States department of agriculture
have discovered that small amount of ordinary
borax sprinked daily 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 markets, will prevent fly eggs
from Matching. Borax will not kill the adult
fly nor prevent it from laying eggs, but its
thorough use will 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 fertilizer for use by the
farmer. 1t felt that if some means of pre-
venting the breeding of flies near human habi-
tation could be devised, the diseases spread by
these filthy germ carriers could be greatly
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 realized however that measure
for preventing the breeding of flies would come
into common use unless it was such that the
farmer could use it his manure pile without
destroying it's usefulness for growing plants and
without introducing into the soil any substance
that would interfere with his crops.
AS result of experiments carried on at the Ar
lington farm, in Virginia. and New Orleans, La,