Evening star., 1948-09-16
This and That
By Charles Z. TracetoeH
"CARLTON AVE. NE.

Dear Sir "-}
az was interested in your recent article about
the family bothered by heas. Let them nrlhg
their cat home and they will have no furtner
troible No flea will bite human when there
"a, q nice tender cat around. have several
cats. ,r,.r
also prefer young cats 1t seems cruel 10 WISH
the feas on the cats, but the older cats oon
take it too hard Clnless you try to batne tne
cats and pick the feas off-a useless perform
ance) and the heas can be eliminated by rub
bing q flea powder in the fur. Use po"oer
that will not make the cat sick, as they Will
lick it off.
Thanks for the suggestion about using
vacuum cleaner. This Is a flea year-more tnan
usual of them. do f1nd neas occasionally on
nv rugs and occasionally one gets on me- ou'
it is easily brushed OH.
1T see so poorly that have tried to identity
the birds by their songs.
"Can YOU tell me what is the bird we heard
so frequently in the spring and early summer
(but not recently that gives long low whistle.
followed by chu, chu, chu, chu, chu many times
and very rapidly? Only the whistle is 1t all
musical.
"Yours very sincerely, II. E. J"
This bird probably Is the flicker.
He is still around, but makes little noise
about 1t.
Most birds do not sing much In the late
summer and fall.
Old Man Flicker Is around but he makes
no more "chu, chu, chu chu," etc.
As for no feas biting q human, when q CAT
is around, it all depends upon the human.
There are some folks fleas like, even better
than cats.
Those persons who, fortunately TOR them, 40
not attract heas, always are unwilling TO oe-
lieve that f1eas do bite others.
To. them, the flea Is matter for laughter,
but never so for the sufferers.
1t has been said that taking q plentiful
supply of vitamin B-1 will keep fieas OF.
Personally, we do not believe this Is so.
The cat-and dog flea is a particular species,
The fact that it Is called cat-and-dog dea
makes some persons believe that 1t does not get
on humans Nothing could be farther from the
truth. But 1t is selective. 1t will not get on
all people-even when wearing white stockings
or socks.
Those It will select as hosts know that It
causes a very small red, itchy bite, one more
difficult to stop itching than the average
mosquito bite.
The flea egg, pearl-like under q magnifying
glass, may lie dormant for as long as two years
but usually matches out In . few days under
humid conditions.
Wherever q cat sleeps there will be feas
They are easily seen on hard wooden chair
seats, but may be presumed to be everywhere
the animal has lain for an hour or So
Scrupulous attention to brushing up such
places and destroying the eggs will do most
toward keeping house free from heas.
Here is a nice thank-you letter from Il. w. p.
Of East Capitol street:
"Your column always interesting to me, was
especially arresting in the issue Of The Star
for August as, for there before my eyes was
the letter Of my cousin, Miss NJ w. Mach.
about the egrets seen near Pine Island, N. Y,
and there also was my little poem White Bird,
followed by the refreshing comment Of that
delightful friend Of yours, Templeton Jones!
IF only we could hear the song that Temple
ton Jones composed, our happiness would be
complete.
ITO tell the truth, the author Of the poem
Is sometimes aware OF elusive bits Of song
fitting through her mind, but not recorded
She likes to imagine that In this mysterious
universe these small harmonies become . part
of the music Of the Spheres to which We may
all contribute"
Templeton Jones says he may bestir himself,
some day, to write the song down, but that
musical writing no longer comes easy for him.
Most Of my songs" he smiled, ALSO belong
to that music Of the spheres Of which the
young lady % dttingiy speaks. Some Of them
even belong to the lost-chord class"