FLIES.

Temuka Leader, Issue 10054, 15 February 1927, Page 1

FLIES.

HOST OF SCAVENGERS. C O-M TAM 1 NAT ING HUMAN FOO D. A correspondent writes ms follows: — “To be kept waiting for a belated train on a hot clay, such as we had on 'Saturday last, when the flies, were so tierce that one could do no other than vigilently resist their attacks and' vow an endless. campaign against such a common nuisance, when, in the midst of these thoughts and ads the signals tell denoting that the train was coming and for the lime being at least, the combined annoyance—a late train and hiting flies—would ho over. Passing ou my way along Denmark Street my attention wiw arrested by seeing a dead horse tying in the middle ot the road in Wilkin Street. 1 could not but see that the poor brute- was the subject of a heveer attack by the flies than I bad 'been quite recently. My steps bad hcen arrested and 1, involuntarily, louiid myself 'wondering whether my purpose tor the extinction of the fly was justified, for here was a scavengering woik set about by hundreds of flics for (lie removal of which must become a menace to public health unless it were quickly removed'. Estimating that I saw, at least, five hundred flies on - the dead horse, each of those busy creatures would in about two days become Hie parent of 20,000 more fifes, if was- easy to see that in an incredibly short time an innumerable host of scavengers would be employed in consuming the dead' horse. Immediately there came to my mind that the writer Limmaeus’ has said that ‘tnree flies will consume a dead horse quicker than a lien ,could.’ il was about to withdraw 'from my hostility to the fly, because here was evidence post--five that in the system of nature the fly does 'perform a very special service to man when I reflected that by way of recreation from their busy task, innumerable numbers -of the flies would' temporarily find their way into adjacent -dwellings and without cleansing their -feet, contaminate human food, before they returned' to their (filthy task. Ugh! 1 exclaimed, -and shuddered as I thought of the manner in which disease breeding' germs would be conveyed into homes nearby aftej. the horse has been removed by other means, and so I stood cS my resolve to be firm for the extinction of all flies (musca .domestical the common housefly, (musca vonitorial) the blue bottle fly and their near cousins in an erable-number.”