The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1917-05-04
BeUare the
Dead!yFly
Pest Causes More Death Than
Do Murderers, Storms
and Poisons
DIRT HOME OF INSECT

II the house fly ever stops long
enough In its busy career for self-pity.
1t must surely feel itself a victim Of
the oft-quoted fckleness Of public
opinion.
Until about decade ago what little
protest was heard against the fly came
In the main from those of our fathers,
husbands and isrothers who possessed
that attractive fly bait, bald head.
Otherwise 1t was so familiar a pest
In every household that it's presence
attracted little or no attention. We
used screens and sticky or liquid fly
paper to keep down the population and
save ourselves the irritation of the in
cessant buzz-buzz of a hot day, but
that the fly represented any real men
ace to the household health was not
imagined. Baby Bunting received hom-
lilies on the fiy's persevering qualities,
its marvellous wall-climbing prOwess
and its general meekness Of nature.
Then suddenly the scientific men be-
gan to find out things about the rela-
tionship of the insect world to certain
prevalent diseases, Louise Fuller
writes in the Pictorial Review. The
mosquito became more than disagree
able pest: 1t appeared as the transmit
ter of malarial germs. The tsetse fly
and sleeping sickness, particularly
deadly and incurable plague, were
found to be intimately associated in
their labors. And the house fly, instead
of mildly annoying but harmless do
nestle animal, was uncloaked as a
very enemy within our gates, puryey-
ing germs of filth and disease.
II used to be a popular custom to
discover use for every living crea.
ture, and the sanitarians tell us that
the fiy's principal value is as a danger
signal, indicating the presence of dir
In some form. Wherever you find file!
there is cleanup work to be done. ant
the community which disregards tn
warning viii not be among those boast
ing of low death rate.
Flies cannot live except in dirt; it !
their natural habitat. A really vel
brought-up fly as naturally prefers VI
clean odors as fastidious people prefe
sweet ones. They are bred in garbag
manure or similar refuse; they deriy
their daily sustenance from it; and
due course they deposit their eggs
it, thus completing the cycle. Whel
then, a Misunderstanding fly drops int
your milk or cream pitcher, scramble
about a little and slowly crawls OF
again, he has brought a minute pO
ton of the manure heap to your breal
fast table-minute, but not so minui
as the millions of germs which dive
in this same manure, and which al
transmitted with it.
Every summer. by just such mean
the house fly kills more people In th
United States of America than murde
storms, cyclones, mad dogs and poison
GUS reptiles, all combined. Not by d
rect methods, of course-the fly doe
not work that way-but by spreadin
the germs of typhoid and warrior
other intestinal diseases. The baby
the fly's most helpless victim. As
lies sleeping in his crib. the fly craw
over his head and hands, his nurSin
bottle or teething ring, leaving germ
in its wake to be absorbed into Il
child's system, not yet strong enoug
to throw off and counterfeit the diseas
If there are flies in your house
your neighbours, you are counting da
ger for yourself and your househol
If the grocer, butcher, baker al
tradesman from whom you buy yol
foodstuffs has flies in his shop, eth
withdraw your custom and deal in
shop where the food is protected und
glass and sanitary conditions make
an unattraetive gathering place f
flies. or else force him to clean up.