Evening star., 1927-09-11
NAVY PLANE, UNDER COMMAND OF CAPITAL MAN,
|ROUTS MOSQUITOES BY DUSTING IN BANBERG. S. C.
Capt. Harold c. Major Sue
ceeds in Task Over
Isolated Pond.
PARIS GREEN IS USED
Marine Corps Officer Sus-
eesss Opportunity for
Private Firms.

FrlVa.e Trims.
| Selecting what they believed to he
the most inaccessible and difficult
place on the Atlantic seaboard for
eradicating malaria mosquitoes, Of
ficials of the Public Health Service.
engaged in the difficult task of Wiping
out the cause of the disease in Bam'
berg, s. c., employed a Navy plane
6lled with mosquito-tighting Marines
from Quantico and ! 200 pounds OF
| Paris green during last week and met
| with complete success
! Learning Of the aerial warfare the
| Marines at Brown Field. Quantico,
have been waging against millions Of
the pests in the vicinity of the Marine
Corps base during the past year, rup-
| lie health officials and citizens OF
South Carolina asked the Navy De-
partment to demonstrate their success
| in what they believed to be the worst
hotbed of the malaria-germ breeders
| in the East and South,
Rear Admiral William A. Moffett,
chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics,
and a South Carolinian by birth. re-
sponded Immediately and dispatched
| the Navy's three.engined, ail-metai
! Ford moneplane stationed at the An
acostia Air Station to Bamberg.
Telegram on Results.
Yesterday he received a telegram
from l.. l.. Williams. jr., Public
Health Service officer, based at Rich
mond and in charge OF the mosquito
warfare, which said:
completed recheck of pond today.
Complete success. Demonstration per.
feet. Success OF airplane and Paris
| green control Of malaria mosquito In
| impounded water assured. Flight per-
fectiy handled. Congratulations to the
Navy Department and the Marine
| Corps flyers"
Capt. Harold c. Major. U. S. NJ. c..
on duty in the Bureau of Aeronautlcs,
who used to lead bombing raids IN
northern France and Belgium While
flying with the Marine detachment
operating with the British Royal All
Force during the war, was seleeteu 10
command the expedition.
Alone, he showed off from the Naval
| Air Station in the big Ford monoplane
| Tuesday morning and landed at Guam
| tico. where he took on Lieut.. II. u.
! Palmer. Staff Sergt. William w. Bird,
| Sergt. M. Y. Shepherd, Gunnery
| Sergt. Kinttle and Corpl. Harger ana
| the hopper device for releasing the
poison. Sergt Bird was the designer
| and builder of the hopper and 1T was
his duty to operate it during the tests,
while Lieut.. Palmer sat in the first
pilots seat and Sergt. Shepherd was
assistant pilot, The others were to
assist Sergt Bird in filling the hop
per and discharging the, poison in the
air.
Attack Is Launched.
The monoplane then took off. stop.
| ping at Fayetteville, N. c., for fuel,
and landed at Bamberg on the same
| afternoon in a field which Capt.
| Major previously had picked out on
| an advance flight to the South Caro-
| lima town..
Wednesday the plane took on sew
eral hundred pounds of the Paris
| green, which was mixed equally with
| alberene, or powdered soap stone. A
| flight was made to determine the best
load to be carried and the best alti-
| tudes to fly at. Thursday morning
snother test flight was made to de-
termine the wind drift and its velocity
and then the attack.~waS launched.
The territory, breeding place of the
| pests, was dammed-up pond, COM
| pletely covered with trees and shrub
berry, making it almost impossible for
| It was about three miles long and one
| mile wide. Owing to the growth. 1t
was a physical impossibility for in.
| dividuals, armed with squirt guns, "
| to roam about in that area shooting
mosquitoes and the cost of clearing
away the growth was almost pro-
hibitive.
Governor Watches Take-Off.
While Gov. Richards, his staff,
officials of hydro-electric power prof.
Eects. public health officers and the
Misunderstanding citizens looked on
hopefully, the big monoplane took of
with 500 pounds Of the ammunition. "
Then it dropped down to within 100
feet Of the tree tops and Sergt. Bird
opened up" on the insects. Three
runs were made up and down the ter
ritory at the low altitude, A landing
was made for 500 pounds more powder
and three more trips were made, while
the hopper swept every inch of the
ground with the deadly poison.
The entire operation was over in 80
| minutes and, according to the public
health service officers who made tests
| of the water Immediately afterwards,
not a mosquito was left living In the
| area. The re-check yesterday cop-
firmed their previous convictions.
The hopper, about four feet square
at the top, tapered down proportion
ateiy, and a ventura tube, similar to
those employed in determining air
speeds Of plane in flight, but much
larger, was attached, permitting the
air to blow the powder out. A con-
troll device was attached, allowing the
operator to regulate the intensity OF
the spray. 1t was located in the
cabin and the poison was sprayed
| through the floor of the plane.
Their work over with, the big plane
hoped off Friday morning, leaving
behind it an enthusiastic crowd of
South Carolinians. 1t battled muggy
weather all the way to Quantico,
where the expedition came to an end.
Opportunity for Commerce.
Capt. Major said the mosquito
fighters" would be willing to give an
other demonstration of the airplane
busting at any time Bamberg feels
it is needed, but he thought the way
had been paved for commercial opera
tors, many of whom are engaged in
crop busting now. but have not yet
taken up the mosquito as an enemy.
There are several projected hydro.
<H s. q ! y I q n = 3 =