August, ’23] simmons: house fly plague, American exp'd forces 
361 
including the fly-proofing of mess halls. More or less thorough atten¬ 
tion was paid the matter by the district health officer whose opinion 
that the flies bred in the dry sand was voiced in the writer’s hearing. 
Mr. Dodds and the writer made a number of inspections of the camp and 
concluded that the main source of flies was the hog pen. The sand of 
the pen being impregnated with moist filth offered ideal breeding con¬ 
ditions and produced a constant and very large supply of flies. Thou¬ 
sands of newly-emerged individuals could be found drying their wings 
upon the moss outside the pen and the prevailing winds made the direc¬ 
tion of the mess hall the course of least resistance. The district health 
officer was surprised to learn of the existence of the hog pen, but took no 
action. By showing puparia to the company commander and by loan¬ 
ing fly-control literature to the officers of the company the removal of the 
pen was accomplished—to another corner of the mule corral. The com¬ 
mander had the area of the old pen burned over, but examination showed 
this to be effective apparently to a depth of three inches only. 
During the hot weeks visiting inspectors called occasionally at the 
camp, made hurried inspections, gave a little advice and usually con¬ 
siderable praise, and departed. Late in July the first case of Spanish 
influenza broke out in camp; on August 5th the disease was epidemic 
and on the 10th reached its climax, on which date 188 men of the 207 
present strength of the 11th Company were sick. Only 3 or 4 of the 
company escaped the disease, and nine died, but of a detachment of 55 
of the 45th Company, 20th Engineers, attached to the 11th Company, 
not a man had the influenza. This detachment worked and ate with the 
11th Company and had tents close by, but they had been subjected to 
an insufficient diet for a period five months less than had the 11th Com¬ 
pany. 
During the epidemic of influenza the flies were almost intolerable. 
Men without mosquito netting had to sleep entirely covered with a 
blanket notwithstanding a high fever. The sides of the tents were 
rolled up to admit air and the sick men lay in their bunks and expec¬ 
torated onto the sand, the sputum attracting the flies. A few of the 
men developed well-pronounced cases of pneumonia before their re¬ 
moval to the infirmary was accomplished, and the flies clustered upon 
their lips while sleeping uncovered. 
The regiment of which the 11th Company was a small part was the 
largest in the Army, consisting of over 18,000 men separated in about 80 
different camps throughout France and operating, when at maximum 
activity, 107 sawmills. From the data secured by the writer in con- 
