The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09

0N HE time of the swarming of bugs
 Is come and the track of the insect
 vermin is seen in the landi The
 same warmth which coaxes vege-
 tation into vigorous eff1orescence and promotes the growth of all other liv- ing things makes itself felt in the ener- gies of the pests who render life burden some to the housekeeper. If she relaxes her vigilance for even little her home will be overrun and the only safe course is for her to be on the alert for the first signs of the many plaques that beset her possessions.
 Principal among these. not only in their present power to poster, but also in the danger of infection and contamination. comes the domestic fly. I hope that most housekeepers know the danger of this creature sufficiently well to take steps to fight him on his earliest appearance. With the pioneer spring day there usually arrives a forerupner of the mighty host of flies which. if not checked, will infest the entire house in which they once gain foothold. Only one fly! It doesn't seem anything. but the women who have learned to dread flies descend upon each one they see with swatter and sweep him out of existence. Sometimes more vigor than discretion is displayed in the onslaught.
 MGher, how can you?" heard a son protest when his mother poupced down upon wandering fly and dispatched him with a folded newspaper It makes me sick to have you go for flies like that when we are at the tablet"
 ,,alxos mo oOod daa1 y,,ora e3o to have them live and come crawling over the food" retorted the parent briskly.
 I don't like the slaughter of flies at the table any better than the young man in question. but I own I have even more sympathy with the point of view of his mother. When I reflect on where that fly may have alighted before he perches on my bread or bathes his feet in my tea I am moved with fierce desire to put him out of the way right then and there. The sooner the first fly is slain the less likli- hood there is of hordes of them during the rest of the season.
 Screens should be regarded not as a luxury, but as necessity. A wire safe or wire dish covers should be provided for the protection of food that is left out in the kitchen for even a few minutes. Measures of destruction as well al of pre- vention should be wased against the flies. Sticky fiypaper should be spread where 1t will not be a risk to human beings and never in the dining room during meals or anywhere else where people eat. The disgusting spectacle it presents is as de-appetizing as the live flies in all their power.
 After the kitchen is shut up for the night. the doors and windows closed, in sect powder should be scattered about from a blowgun, the air filled wikl it and the room left closed until early morning. Then. before the air is admitted, the bousekeeper should sweep up the flies that will be found lying stupehed-but not dead-about the floor, and burn them before they revive. If this course is fol- lowed three or four times week and the windows kept carefully screened between times, the number of flies will be reduced to a wonderful degree.
 Guard against attracting the files in any way. The garbage pail should be kept closely covered; no peeliugs or scraps of f cd should be scattered about; no sticky or dirty dishes left standing around The