WHIRL OF THE BROOM.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 225, 22 September 1924, Page 7

WHIRL OF THE BROOM.

USHERS IN ANOTHER SPRING.! HOUSEWIFE BUSY WITH SUDS, j w.\R ON FLIES AXD MOSQUITOES. n the spring a young man's fancy i _~V:y turns in thoughts of love, and l --c of the housewife to soapsuds and - •':.riiirr. Although they never say so, my married men look forward to the v;;r._ with as much fear as Captain 1 .t tie regarded the periodic seourings of ' : - - MacStiuger. You will remember how '-. i! Dombey's sister found the Cap'n - unsolate. marooned on his box in ■ ■- middle nf a sopping floor, like a - lipwrecked sailor cast away on an -land. Room? nre turned out, carpets .vrenched up. curtains disappear, .::. : the 1.,-ire windows £ive the place .-. house t" let" air: broom 3 make -lids on tiie tops of wardrobes and ■ iokoa*es: nnd the mistress of the - i-e in the excess of her zeal for a •ea'ly good spring clean has little or :>o time lv .-jccn.l on the menu, and the ■■■';' husband says nothing, but makes ::.' for tbe seasonal shortcomings by f. i;ing down town surreptitiously and keeping his own counsel. Why people should burden themselves with domicile- and belongings that they cannot -ep dean a' the year round no one ': ,i- boon aide to discover. Thoreau remarked mildly hut quite truly that v- ith many of us it is not a case of ming property, "but of the property .- • r.ing us: some of us live and die slaves to our beloii-ings. V.ives or not. thi- is the season when ail -cod housewives whirl the broom S'tfl the duster, and offers up the incense of extract of before the serine of sjiring. And much as the i-t.-ind loathes having his habits disturbed by tiie stripping of rooms and t.i tamiliar furniture, he also feels some nl tho splendid urge of the season ".-.wards* a really sood old clean-up. If lie be one ot" those domesticated mdi•- --•• "duals that are "so good at putting up shelves and things, you know," the man that delights in doing the odd jobs a'"-out a house, he will about this time of the year be seen bringing home mysterious pots of ready-mixed paint, iiiinting up old brushes, and then proceeding to '•brighten up things a little." He sometimes does it so effectively that eventually they have to bring the professional painter in to reduce the place to something- not quite so «onspicuous. The handy man is better at retarring and sanding the paths, and cleaning up the garden. Minor Plagues of the Home. In the course of her annual onslaught the housewife unconsciously sweeps away the breeding places of many of the minor plagues of the house, such as the moths and the silver-fish, but in a climate like that of Auckland we really ought to go much further, and now is the time to get busy. It is no use leaving the matter until the summer comes, with its swarms of filth-carrying flies and the irritating mosquito, which was such a plague last year. Places much more difficult to deal with than Auckland have been rid of the mosquito plague; true, in their case the insect was the traced carrier of certain deadly diseases, but then do we know for certain that our own mosquitos- are such harmless things after all? The mere fact' that they are not the malaria-carrier does "not completely exonerate them. Anyhow they are a* plague, and a modern city should not be so tormented with them as Aucfc- i land is for several months in the year.! A civic campaign is perhaps the only ; one that could adequately cope with this menace, but if you happen to have any stagnant water about your place pour some kerosene on the surface—you are bound to kill a few of them. Even worse from a disease-carrying point of view is the common fly. In dealing with this summer pest concc-rted action is absolutely essential, and it would be well worth some civic enthusiast to take the matter up and earn undying fame for himself as the deliverer of his city from this intolerable concomitant of the summer. It can be done, and "many Xew Zealarders have had an experience. "When Dr. Alexander Kinder, of Auckland, was in medical command of the New Zealand camp near i=niaiJia, the manner in which the flies were kept down in a country that i-s one oi. the worst in the world for the pest wrs most noticeable, and showed what enerirv directed scientifically could accomplish. There are lots of other ways in which we could do some communal springcleaning, but if we start out on the track of the flies and mosquitos it will be quite enough for a start. Pending the inauguration of a regular campaign against the fly. the individual could do a'gTeat deal towards keeping the pest within bounds. Anywhere where there is a rubbish heap spray it with kerosene. or. if this be impracticable, use chloride of lime freely. And, above all. never leave any waste food uncovered. If you cannot bury it at once, keep it in a tin that has a properly-fitting fid. The fly won't hang round if he cannot get anything to eat. so in any campaign every scrap of offal, waste matter, and food' refuse must be kept covered until burnt or buried. If you make a spring resolution to have a little campaign on your own account this spring of 1924, v ou will be doing yourself : nd your city a real service.