CONVICT LABOR FOR ROAD WORK. 113 



ing, as recommended elsewhere, is the surest means of preventing the 

 introduction of vermin, but even at camps where every precaution is 

 taken infestation may occur. It has been said that the guards some- 

 times bring vermin to a camp after returning from leave of absence. 



The bedbug, or "chinch," is the commonest of the camp vermin, 

 although the body louse is encountered sometimes. Bedbugs are par- 

 ticularly difficult to control in the wooden convict cages and in those 

 camps in which the bunks are made of wood. They thrive under 

 filthy conditions. They secrete themselves in cracks and crevices in 

 the wood and have been dug out of holes made by nail heads deeply 

 driven. At convict camps where folding Army cots had been in use 

 it was stated that the bugs were found frequently between the canvas 

 and the wooden frames. 



Bugs may be eradicated by spraying or painting the crevices and 

 cracks of woodwork with kerosene, gasoline, oil of turpentine, or 

 corrosive sublimate solution in 1 to 1,000 dilution. The superficial 

 spraying or sprinkling of floors and bedclothes with formalin or 

 other disinfecting solutions is absolutely useless, although it is a 

 favorite camp method for combating almost every evil resulting from 

 dirt and neglect. 



Sulphur fumigation is a very cheap and effective method of de- 

 stroying vermin and insects of all kinds. When this is to be used, 

 every crack and opening in the building must be closed by strips 

 of newspaper smeared with flour paste. Chimney openings and key- 

 holes should not be overlooked. Sulphur, in the proportion of 2 

 pounds for every 1,000 cubic feet of air space in the building, should 

 be broken into smaU pieces and placed in a shallow vessel, prefer- 

 ably of iron. The dish should have a wide opening so that as large 

 a surface of sulphur as possible may be exposed to the air in order to 

 favor combustion. In a large building it is well to distribute the 

 sulphur about the space in several pots. To avoid danger of fire, the 

 pot containing the sulphur should be placed in a large metal recep- 

 tacle, such as a metal washtub, with a few inches of water in the 

 bottom of the latter. The whole should then be supported 3 or 4 

 inches above the floor by means of two pieces of wood, pipe, or other 

 convenient material. When the sulphur pots and pans are all in 

 place and all openings are pasted up securely except the one exit for 

 the man who is to fire the sulphur, the operator, beginning with the 

 pot farthest from the door, should pour into each sulphur pot about 

 half a cup of wood alcohol or denatured alcohol from a closed can 

 (the ordinary kerosene oil can is safest), and then throw in a lighted 

 match. After he has lighted all the pots and withdrawn, the exit 

 should be closcc] tightly and strips of paper pasted outside over the 

 cracks between the door and the frame. The building should remain 



