The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-10-04
THE MOSQUITO ROUTED, FOUND TO
 BE ALLY OF HUNS
Pests Were Holding Up Work on Ships-Army
 Doctors Banish Them.

Washington, Oct. 1.-More than one ally of the German Emperor who has attempted to interfere with the Ship building program has come to defeat. The latest is the mosquito.
 Most of the shipyards have risen from marshlands bordering rivers, lakes, bays and inlets. These marshy places are the favorite breeding pla- ces of the mosquito and millions fed so avariciously on the men hammer ing out ships that, at times, they were forced to leave the ways and produc- tion was retarded. But now a great national mosquito-fighting army has been created and this force is con ducting continuous offensive against the insect hosts.
 The staff of this army is composed of mosquito fighting experts, who have fought and battered down mos quito offensives not only in this coun- | try but also in the fever-infected trop- ical zone where the pests have been
 at their worst. Among these is It Col. Philip Schuyler Doane, a mem i Der of the staff of Surgeon-General Gorgas who eliminated the pest from the Panama Canal Zone. He is or ganizing the war against the mosquito in all parts of the country.
 The cooperation of state, munici- pal and private corporate interests has been enlisted in this war. Miles of trenches have been dug in lowlands about shipbiIding plants so that the marshes may be drained and the breeding places destroyed. Where il is impossible to drain off the stag nant water, oiling is resorted to. | At the Hog Island plant near Phil adelphia, the work is being carried or with the cooperation of the State ot Pennsylvania, the City of Philadel- phia, the Westinghouse Corporation the Atlantic Oil Refining Company and other private interests. A fund of $250,000 has been contributed and
 in addition the Atlantic Oil Refining Company contributes all the oil used A 9,100 acre tract of marsh land had to be treated by sprink1ing pools, cut ting down tall weeds, dredging and
 draining and within three months af.
 ter work started, the water area had
 been reduced 95 per cent. Severa, big dumping stations have beer
 erected and employed in this work
 and more are planned.
 Three thousand or more acres o1 the land thus reclaimed, it is estinat ed will be suitable for agriculture purposes and 1t has been suggested
 that this land be turned oyer to tht
 Boy Scouts of Philadelphia for wal
 gardens, as the land is within si1
 miles of the central section of Phila
 delphia.
 The State of New Jersey is coop
 erating with Camden and Glouceste counties and the Shipping Board il
 work about the shipyards on the Nev Jersey side of the Delaware river. is planned to spend $10,oO0 in thi district this year.
 Chester Pa., an Important cente , for all kinds of war work, has com . mittee that Is working with the Stat and the Shipping Board and the Stat has agreed to appropriate $4o,oo0 $60,000 cam be obtained from othe sources. Other places at which worl , is being carried on along this lin are Wilmington, N. O., which ha raised $30, 1000; Alexandria and Hamr ton, Va; Los Angeles, Cal, and abou f the yards on the Gulf of Mexico.