The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1916-11-16
ANT IS
A HARDY
CRLT'TER
They Can Withstand Fumi,
cation Siege While Germs
Die by Millions
SO SAY FARGO PHYSICIANS
Pretty Tough Customer
Abroad in the Land, De-
clares DR.. Mallarian
The ant-he's a hardy customer.

The ant-he's hardy customer.
That's the verdict of Fargo physi-
cians-men learned in the law Of self
preservation.
They declare the ants death defying
Iproclivities are tremendous.
| OF course, they do conCede that the
l. heel of a boot, properly applied, will
snuff out the life of almost any ant they
know of. In fact, none ever met an ant
who has survived such experience.
| But, when it comes to dealing with
such death producing elements as fun
| ligating candles, the ant is a class horse.
| All Of which leads up to the fact that
Fargo physicians, as a whole, do not
agree with w. J. Lane. Fargo real es-
tate dealer, who protested to the city
commission yesterday that IS charge
flor fumigating his Office wasn't prop
erly founded, because the fumigating
candles didn't even make the ants
dizzy
Dr. K. M, Mallarian takes the view
that the particular breed of ant infest-
| ing certain Fargo offices this year is a
hardy critter.
A Tough Customer.
| II have read with much interest, in
your issue Of Wednesday. the remark
of Mr.. Lane, that the fumigating of his
Office did not make the ants dizzy,
the general subject. Really, we have
been pestered this year in our office
rooms with a certain kind Of ant, the
| like of which / have seen only in CAL
| ifornia, and never have seen here for
the past sixteen years. 1t looks very
reasonable to call fumigation a farce"
if it did not kill these ants to which
Mr.. Lane refers. In this instance, /
presume, Mr.. Lane speaks by compar-
Il inhf nrfn nd
taking it for granted that the ant is
much easier to kill by fumigation than
the diphtheria germ. He should re-
member, however, that various insects
have various resisting powers to pois-
onous gases and what will kill one kind
will not kill the other"
DR.. Mallarian also declares that 1T
was a. real case of diphtheria in the
Lane ONCE that started all the trouble
Not the Same Breed.
DIR. Paul Sorkness, city health OFF,
Ger. sides in with DR.. Mallarian.
"Why, a germ isn't an insect-and
when we use fumigation in killing
germs, there is no reason to anticipate
the destruction Of insect life along with
1t.
I'm fact, insects could be having the
time Of their lives while poisonous
gases around about them were slay-
ing the germs py the mililonS.
Sees Chance for Escape.
DIR. r. c.. Newell, bacteriologist in
charge of the North Dakota branch
laboratory, declares the average ant
would have a chance of escape with his
life through a formaldehyde fumigation
siege.
1T would depend. said DR.. Newell,
"on the exposure. If the ant was out
in the open and properly exposed to the
poisonous gases used in fumigating. 1T
would be reasonable to expect its
death. Ordinarily, fumigations cause
the destruction of organic life.
"But, if the ant was concealed-and
the gasses reaching him We're compar-
ativelv thin. he could live through it in
fine STYLE"
The city commission will take up
study of the question-when should an
ant die?-to determine just what to do
with the protested charge.