CHAPTER XXVII 



ORGANISED EFFORT IN CONTROL MEASURES 



While individual effort and example will materially alleviate 



the fly nuisance and minimize the danger, the problem can only 



be attacked by corporate and coordinated action. In the previous 



chapter I have endeavoured to show that the problem of fly 



control is fundamentally one of good sanitation. Where cities or 



towns have adopted the necessary standards of sanitation which 



the health of the community demands, the fly problem hardly 



exists. In support of this fact I will quote one of many examples 



which might be given, namely, the report of G. N. Ifft, United 



States Consul at Nuremburg, Germany. He states^ : " There are 



so few flies in Bavaria that they can in no way be regarded as a 



pest. This is perhaps due to the extreme cleanliness of Bavarian 



cities. Courtyards, alleys, vacant lots, &c., are kept clean and the 



hallways and entrances to houses are as fresh as soap and water 



can make them. There are no quarters that could be justly 



designated as slums, not even in districts where buildings hundreds 



of years old are the rule. Garbage is collected in closed tin or 



zinc cans and regularly removed in closed waggons in such a 



manner as to be inoffensive to either sight or smell." Of how 



many cities in other parts of the world could the same be said ? 



Nevertheless, the last few years have witnessed an honest effort 



in the right direction on the part of local authorities, in spite of 



opposition from those who are interested in maintaining stables in 



thickly populated sections of cities and towns. It is a singular 



fact that prominent among such opponents to reforms relating to 



' Daily Conaular and Trade Reports, Bur. of Manufactures, U.S. T)ept. Commerce 

 and Labour, Washington. 12th March, 1912. 15th year, No. 60, p. 1031. 



