Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 100, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 September 1909 — THE FLY IS AT THE BOTTOM OF IT. [ARTICLE]

THE FLY IS AT THE BOTTOM OF IT.

Accused of Being the Cause of Much of Our Sickness By Carrying Germs On His Feet. The following article about'*fiies is published by the New York Merchants’ Association Committee on thjs Pollution of the Waters of New York. J. Pierpont Morgan is a member of the committee, so are Edward Hatch and Daniel D. Jackson. It will pay all to heed the warning and to help dispose' of the flies by destroying their breeding and feeding places: Flies are the most dangerous insects we have. They are much more dangerous than bees or hornets; these may sting you, and the sting is painful, but you soon get over the pain. Flies do much more harm than this. They walk over filthy places like sewers and garbage cans, and after eating the filthy food which they find there, they come into your house and walk on the food you eat, carrying on their feet the tiny germs which live in filth just as you live in a house. These germs are not only filthy and disgusting, but many of them cause such diseases as typhoid fever, cholera.infantum and summer complaint. Wheh the flies bring them from some dirty place to your food or leave some of them when they crawl on your face or hands, you may swallow these germs without knowing it and be taken ill with one of .these diseases. So the fly that seems so harmless may do you much more harm than a bee or a hornet. Your parents should place screens at their doors and windows during the warm weather, to keep the flies out of the house. If they cannot screen all the rooms, they should screen those in which food is kept; and if anyone is sick in the house, flies should he kept from the sickroom, so they may not carry germs from the sick person to the rest of the family. Children may help to keep flies from swarming in and around houses, and from carrying germs of sickness from one person to another. In the first place, they should not buy candy, fruit or other food which is left in front of stores or anywhere else where flies may feed and walk on it. Flies lay their eggs chifly in stable manure, and if this is left without screens or other covers to keep the Hies away, great numbers will be hatched in every stable. If you know of stores where food is not covered from flies, or of stables that have swarms of them around, get your father or mother to write to the Board of Health about them, and the Board will make the store-keepers or stablemen obey its rules. But before you report other people for being careless and dirty and so making it possible for flies to become a nuisance, be sure that your own house is clean, and that no garbage-cans or boxes are left uncovered to attract flies. If you and all the people you know will follow this advice, there will not be nearly so many flies to you in hot weather, and there will not be nearly so much sickness and death, especially among children, as now. Rules for Dealing With the Fly Nuisance. Keep the flies away from the sick, especially those ill with contagious diseases. Kill every fly that strays into the sick room. His body is covered with disease germs. Do not allow decaying material of any'sort to accumulate on or near pour premises. - All refuse which tends in any way to fermentation, _ such as bedding, straw, paper waste and vegetable matter should be disposed of or covered with lime or kerosene oil. Screen all food. Keep all receptacles for garbage carefully covered and the cans cleaned or sprinkled with oil or lime. Keep all stable manure In vault or pit, screened or sprinkled with lime, oil or other cheap preparation. Cover food after a meal; burn or bury all table refuse. Screen all food exposed for sale. Screen all windows and doors, especially the kitchen and dining room. Don’t forget, if you see flies, their breeding place is in nearby fllth. It may be behind the door, under the table or In the cuspidor. If there is no dirt and fllth there will be no flies.