64 Proceedings of Ninth Annual Meeting 



These railways are encouraging the communities along 

 their lines to undertake and maintain mosquito elimination 

 campaigns and the industries and the citizens as well as 

 the railroads profit thereby. Those of us who are engaged in 

 mosquito control operations have seen a vast change in public 

 opinion in recent years. The public is becoming more convinced 

 that the mosquito nuisance is preventable and unnecessary. The 

 manager of a large iirm manufacturing mosquito screening 

 states that the industry is growing rapidly and that to-day the 

 public is paying v$2 5, 000,000 a year for screen in the roll. Un- 

 questionably this indicates a strong desire on the part of citizens 

 to keep the mosquito out O'f houses. 



Assuming that half of this screening is for fly nuisance and 

 the other half for mosquito nuisance, with money at 4 per cent., 

 the public is paying interest on $312,000,000 annually for a 

 partial relief from pestiferous mosquitoes. This figure does not 

 include the cost of installation of the screen wire. As far as 

 Anopheles are concerned, it is safe to say that over 50 per cent, 

 of the present screening against Anopheles is ineffective. 



Wire that will keep out Aedes soMicitans will not keep out 

 Anopheles. The screen work must be good to be effective. 



There is no question about the public being willing to- pay. The 

 big- question before us all is how to make the people desire more 

 satisfactory and more permanent results at a lower cost to show 

 them how to get more for their money. 



In some towns and villages we have two problems : The 

 Anopheles problem and the mosquito pest problem. Some years 

 ago we thought that people in communities having a high malaria 

 sick rate would be willing to undertake a strictly Anopheles con- 

 trol campaign because of its lower cost. Experience has indi- 

 cated, however, that when malaria work is undertaken the public 

 demands that considerable mosquito elimination accompany it, 

 and unless the mosquito pest control is satisfactory, they lose 

 interest in malaria reduction. The public pays the bill and is enti- 

 tled to what it demands and is ready to pay for it. 



AVe have had the same difficulties you have had in obtaining 

 public consent and approval for supplying funds for this work. 



Although the financial loss from malaria in the states of the 

 . malaria belt was known to be millions of dollars for each state 

 annually, yet previous to 191 4 all those states were taking no 

 action. No state health department was attacking the malaria 

 problem, although in some counties over 25 per cent, of the popu- 

 lation was infected with malaria. You have your bad mosquito 

 pest years, and to the south of your state they have their high 



