South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1920-08-09
A Fe7C Facts About Mosquitoes
By James j. Montague.

The yellow fever mosquito buries
his bcak in one OF your carIlIarics.
leaves a few germs there, and in 4
week or two you are out Of your
misery.
The typhoid mosquito will do the
same thing for you, unless You hap
pen to have a strong constitution,
and can live on a diluted milk diet
for two months without getting
hungry and robbing the ice box.
These mosquitoes bear the same
relation to the domestic mosquito
that the enthusiast does TO the late
Mr. TOrquemada- And yet there
are those who allege that the do
nestle mosquito is perfectly harm
I less.
OF course the average cummuter
will tell you that there are no mos
QuitOCs ir his suburb. Pinned down
! and put an oath he will admit THAI
/ season before last a few were seen
/ on one Of the back streets. While
he Is telling YOU this, if YOU happen
10 be visiting him, he Will probably
/ be mailing screens around his porch
! The screens. he will tell you, are 20
I keep the flies out. But that doesn't
/ explain why all the beds that arc
! occupied by members of his family
are Swathed in mosquito bar. Flies
! apparently all belong 10 union
/ whose rules forbid niSht work in
4 any OF is forms. Mosquitoes don't.
/ OF course mosquitoes are more
/ plentiful III some suburbs than in
! others In the state OF New Jersey,
\ for example, they frequently stall
/ the local trains, as did the bu0alOCs
] Of oil & h1r
| ne has 10 walk any distance between
/ the station and house Is so thor
/ oughly mosduito-plated by the time
| he reaches his gate rs To be unrec-
\ ognizablc save by the dog. who en-
\ pluys his scent as a means of idcuu
\ hcation.
IN Wcstchcstcr county we have
! Tower mosquitoes, but they are far
more intelligent. one could I'm fact
I call them supcr-mos1UitocS without
\ nattCrinC them in the least.
They are rot as large as the Cape
/ cod MOSQUITO, whose bulk approx
/ mates that Of a small pekincsc dog.
l nor as fer0cious ~ the California
I mosquito. which keeps the bob cats
\ and mountain lions mastheadcd
/ above the snow line on the SierraS
+ throughout the summer months.
But they are a living proof Of the
! presence Of reasoning power and
even genius in the lower animals.
I Ard IL any animal is lower in the
/ matter of character and criminal
/ tendencies than a WCstchesteT
I county mosquito, 1 have not met
\ with him in my very considerable
/ wandering over this continent
Craft Laughs AT Screen.
Our house, OF course, Is thorough
/ IS screened. We have no pose about
I mCSqJitOes IL we had we couldn't
I keep it 10 minutes after a guest ar
/ rived.
There are springs on all the screen
/ doors so powerful that they shut
| like rat traps when opened and y
/ requires practice for a human be
ing 10 get through one Of them
without injury 10 his person or
I clothing.
Each member Of he family on
I reaching the house j. isolated in Il
! screened room while his clCthins
\ IS searched for mosquitoes
You would think that these pre-
cautions would be Sufficient Rut
7 YOU would be thinking without ade-
quate knowledge Of the craft and
/ determination OF the Westchester
/ county mosquito.
] don't know how they get in
SOME times suspect that they bite
I through the screens, although On
tomClCCiStS asSure me that they
have no teeth II Is also possible
I that they are conducting "a hatchery
/ somewhere in the cellar, though We
I never have found H.
/ can testify, however. that they
/ DO get in-not in liocks or even
! gangs but i'm sufficient mum bers To-
/ forge tho family 10 sleep watch and
\ watch. or net 10 sleep at ALL
| When we retire for the night.
there are usually six or sever wait