THERE’S A ’’CATCH” IN IT FOR FLEAS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume LXVIII, Issue 3485, 6 September 1937, Page 7

THERE’S A ’’CATCH” IN IT FOR FLEAS.

A man home on leave from a trad-ing-post np-eountry in China was mystifying ns (writes a “Pearson’s Weekly” correspondent) by passing round a little wand of bamboo, pierced by narrow slots. Presently we found that it was plugged with a narrower bamboo rod, rather in the manner of the piston of a cycle pump. This rod, when withdrawn was seen to be smeared with some sticky substance, of curious odor. We tried to guess what the contraption was used for, but all our guesses were wrong.

"Well,” said our host, “it is something which is being distributed by the thousands to village hovels in our part of the country, by Chinese philanthropic associations. No, it is not a musical instrument of the flute type; nor is it a kitchen utensil.

“It is a flea trap —and a very good one, too, apparently. The poor are told to leave these traps in their beds, or propped up in dark corners of the hut. The inquisitive fleas slip in through the slots, attracted too by the aroma of the sticky stuff smeared inside, and there they stick. The rod is withdrawn now and then for cleansing and re-annointing.”