The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1923-05-31
RED CROSS HEALTH NOTES
The Menace Of the House Fly

A great deal has been written upon
this subject, but you probably said:
"Of course / don't like flies any bet
ter than anybody else, but you can't
stop few from getting in. Just Sc
long as there aren't many, l don't be-
lieve they do any harm" Most people
do take this view,--one fly seems SO
tiny, so impossible of any serious
danger. And SO does one typhoid
germ.
During the recent epidemic, would
you have allowed a person from an
infected house TO come into your
home and mingle freely with your
family? And yee the one little fly
that seems so harmless, buzzing
around your kitchen. may have come
from such house and is perfectly
able to leave enough bacteria on the
food where he lights for a minute to
inoculate your whole family. Then
people wonder how diseases are
spread, when they are so careful, and
decide that they just "go in the ART
You see, this fly who Is rude enough
to come into your pantry without any
invitation, is not at all particular
about the company he keeps outside.
Outbuildings, human and animal ex-
creta, sickrooms where contagious
diseases menace, all sorts of reeking
filth, are his bathrooms and his picnic
grounds. Then, With his six hairy
legs covered with the pollution where
he has crawled, he lights on the edge
of a baby's drinking cup-oh, for just
a minute.
Nor is the filth on the outside of his
body the worst danger. His internal
organisms combine the attributes of
the camel and the )cow; he carries
food enough in his stomach to last for
several days, and this food can be
regurgited or vorRjted UP at will. So
when he lights on the sugar bowl and
applies his suction tube to lump,
Che has no teeth, and this proboscis
Is the only way he has to take in
food), he quite likely leaves more
than he takes This would seem
most generous of him. until you stop
to think it over.
Consumption, scarlet fever, typhoid,
small pox, infantile paralysis, these
are a few of the germs he may leave
you in exchange for nibble of cake.
1t has been proved that a typhoid
germ may live in the stomach of fly
for three days.
AS to offspring,-flys multiply so
rapidly as to make the classic Pigs
is Pigs" seem like a piker. Any
place where filth is present, even
decomposing or fermentiAg vegetable
matter, makes them an ideal nursery.
One hundred to one hundred and fifty
eggs at a time, which hatch within a
few hours if conditions are favor
able, running the total for a single
fly In single season up as high as
5000, 00O, 10000 Figure out how
many days 1t would take you in late
August to get rid OF the descendants
OF the inoffenseive little insect who
can now be killed in a second.
How to get rid OF them7 1t sounds
bloodthirsty enough for Turkish
gan,--"Screen, kill and poisoni'
Tight screens covering the windows
and doors, and springs heavy enough
to close doors tightly after every
passage, assure comparative freedom.
Fly traps may he used. Good poison
preparations are procurable, or a very
simple ana home remedy is made by
mixing one part sugar, one part
formaldehyde, and ten parts water.
This is particularly good, as the flies
die near the dish holding poison.
Great care should be taken in using
any of these preparations that they
are kept out of the reach of children
and animals, and that the poisoned
flies are not left lying around.
With flies, of course. as with any
other nuisance. the best time to check
the danger is before it starts. Keep
the shed, barn. garbage pail, outbuild-
ings, clean and sanitary, and few
flies will be bred to become a problem
later. Remember that any small
heap of rotting substance, either ami
NAL or vegetable, is as menacing as
the red flag on door. And since
it has been proved that flies migrate,
see to it that health officers keep
other peoples back yards as clean as
your own.
AS a general thing, there must be
size in order to attract our considera-
tion.-Not one star, but the Milky
Way at least, and II possible comet.
Not a piano and violin, but whole
band to dance by.-Sometimes this Is
a splendid trait, and sometimes a
dangerous one. The need is to be
able to recognize which are tritles
and which the pebbles David used to
such overwhelming ends. Let's not
make the mistake any longer of class
flying the house-fy with annoying
trihest let's recognize it for what it
Is, a very real menace which must be
guarded against unless we wish such
simmer scourges as scarlet fever,