The Fly Problem

Municipal cleanliness and public health are by no means so closely related as was once thought to be the case. There is one way, however, in which filth does have a direct and sometimes a measurable effect upon the death rate,-by furnishing conditions favorable to the breeding of flies, which in turn may act as the agents for the transmission of the germs of communicable disease. Where human excreta are exposed, as in unprotected privy vaults and at such surface sewer outlets as those of New Haven, flies may easily carry the germs of typhoid fever to food, and even in sewered cities, as shown by recent studies in New York, they may play an important part in the causation of summer diarrhea of infants.

The favorite breeding place of the common house fly or filth fly is stable manure, and the proper handling of this substance is fundamental in the anti-fly campaign. In 1916 there were 1338 stables harboring 3431 horses recorded within the city limits; and one of the sanitary inspectors of the Board of Health devotes himself during the summer months to the inspection of these places and the enforcement of Section 446 of the City Ordinances which provides that "No person shall place, leave, or suffer to remain upon any premises in said city any stable manure (except for fertilizing purposes) or refuse matter in which flies may breed, unless the same is enclosed in a tight box, pit or other receptacle which shall be kept closely covered so as to exclude all flies at all times except when said manure or refuse matter is being placed therein or removed therefrom.

"During the months of May, June, July, August, September, October and November it shall be unlawful for any person to allow said stable manure or refuse matter to remain unremoved for a period of over seven days.

"The penalty for failure to comply with this rule is a fine of not less than one, nor more than one hundred dollars."

The sanitary inspector assigned to the task of the control of fly breeding places made 4356 inspections between March 1 and August 1, 1915, and found 458 stables not in good condition. Four hundred fifty-five [44] of them made satisfactory changes either upon his order or following admonition from the City Attorney, and three owners were fined.

Interest in the fly problem has been greatly stimulated during the past few years by the activity of the Committee on Sanitation of the Civic Federation under the leadership of Dr. Ferris. In 1914 $650 was subscribed for this work, five inspectors were employed, and with the cooperation of the Board of Health 1200 stables were catalogued, 8000 inspections made, and 100 stable owners brought into court for violation of the ordinance. A vigorous educational campaign was carried on through the newspapers and by means of pamphlets and placards, lectures and motion pictures. The work was continued in 1915, and in 1916 Mr. G. Russell Phillips, the Fly Inspector of the Federation, personally inspected the stables in the city proper during the summer and left cards bearing the city ordinance above quoted at each place. Mr. Phillips reports as follows in regard to his inspection:

"Most of the stables were in good condition. Many have made arrangements for farmers to come in at least every three days to take away the manure. Others provide for the removal of the manure every day in the week except Sunday. In each instance the farmers were glad to get the manure for taking it away. A few stable owners were discovered who refused to clean up their places at all until they were threatened with the prospect of facing court proceedings. Thirty-five names of people whose premises were breeding flies were handed to the Board of Health and their places were cleaned up with the exception of two or three who were brought into court. In one place a garbage pile was discovered outside the barn that was fairly alive with flies. Upon this pile were a dead cat and several dead rats and about it were half a dozen little children playing. They were handling the dead animals and other refuse in the pile. This was turned over to the Board of Health who took very prompt measures to clean up this nuisance. In most cases where the ordnance was not being, lived up to it was a case of carelessness on the part of the owners or occupants themselves, or the servants, and when approached in regard to the matter they were ready and willing to put their places in proper condition."

Conditions were also observed during the past summer by one of us (D. G.) and by Mr. O'Brien, and we too feet that conditions are reasonably satisfactory. For certain periods during July and August Mr. O'Brien studied the relation between sanitary conditions and the extent of the fly nuisance by placing traps in selected localities and measuring the catch at regular intervals. The number of flies caught in clean yards and neighborhoods was usually small. In a number of cases traps showed an almost negligible catch after a week. In fairly clean localities it took [45] four days to accumulate a pint of flies (900 flies per day). In dirty back yards, on the other hand, with ash heaps strewn with garbage, such as were found on Prince and Wallace Streets and behind a market on State Street, more than two quarts of flies could be collected in three days (4800 flies per day).

It is evident that the control of the fly nuisance will continue to require the earnest attention of the Board of Health; and constant advances in our knowledge of the habits of the insect are likely to make progress more rapid in the future than in the past. It is possible, for example, that less emphasis should be placed on the tight closing of the manure bin and more on the frequent and complete removal of all the manure. The tight, dark bin was designed to prevent the laying of eggs in the manure, but it seems probable that eggs have frequently already been deposited in the manure before it is placed in the bin, and if such be the case the larvae may easily develop and go into the pupa state unless the manure is absolutely all cleaned out of the bin. Manure bins with impervious floors or so arranged that the floors can be easily and completely cleaned, and stables with water-tight floors (as now required in Washington) are coming to be regarded as specially important factors in the anti-fly campaign.