MOSQUITO-KILLING

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 53, 26 November 1917, Page 6

MOSQUITO-KILLING

CLEVER ELECTRICAL CONTRIVANCE.

Mosquitoes and other insects are so prolific in many localities--that tho tranquillity of the summer night is spoiled; oft-times it is impossible to sit outside at night unless protected. The state of affairs has become such that whole communities have clubbed together to eradicate the insect scourge by every means possible. In one of the many popular tourist resorts the mosquito and other insects of the night had made night life unltearable; had, ia fact, so infested the locality that the guests at the Hotel were unable to sit out on the verandah' at night except where screens had been installed. The proprietor of cue of the hotels, alive to the seriousness of the situation, decided if steps were not taken to overcome the scourge of insects .his trade would dwindle. He was a wide-awake man, and bad noticed—in fact, he could unfortunately not help having noticed—that the insects were attracted by the lights of the hotel, and the brighter the light the greater seemed the attraction for the insects.

He had heard it was best to do things electrically, so ho decided to try catching the insects electrically. Procuring a 100 watt tungsten .lamp and projector, he set them up so that tho rays went into the night at a comparatively low elevation, such ;is the insects of the night ordinarily frequent. Close te the lamp and projector Mil at their base a motor-driven blower was installed, and at the outlet end of which a cage or bag of metallic gauze such as is used for fly-screens was fastened. The motor driving the blower or exhaust fan and the lamp were connected to the same switch, so that turning on the ono also turned on the other.

When nightfall came tho insectcatcher was turned on and left on until after the guests had retired. Next morning an ixa initiation of the container showed that about ono gallon of insects of all sorts, and siz«s bar) been caught. The succe'ss of thoinceutcatcher was undeniable; the hotel proprietor thought it phenomenal because it enabled his gr-csts to be Mt in peace. Of course its success depended upor, the light of the projector or catcher being moro intense than that or the remainder of the'verandah, so that the insects were cfr-cUvoly Ui>"ed to their doom.—R. L. Montgomery, in the "Electrical Review."