War on Insects

It looked as if one of the early blessings of peace would be deliverance from the fly and mosquito. With the Army & Navy releasing some of its new insecticides for civilian use, the war against winged pests was under way:

P: Michigan's Mackinac Island, the Lake Huron resort where automobiles are barred, was sprayed from stem to stern with DDT. The results were sensational: for the first time in memory, liverymen removed the summertime fly nets from their horses. Residents burned their flytraps in a big public bonfire celebrating the extinction.

P: Army planes sprayed gallons of DDT on the New Jersey salt marshes, habitat of the famed Jersey mosquito. Officials were alarmed because the DDT killed fish, and they found the mosquitoes, multiplied by heavy July rains, tough customers. But by week's end 10,000 acres had been, sprayed and millions of mosquitoes had been killed.

P: A scientific expedition headed by Yale's Dr. John R. Paul sprayed DDT on the polio-ridden city of Rockford, Ill. (147 cases, 17 deaths since July 1), to find out whether killing all the flies would prevent the spread of infantile paralysis.

Meanwhile, as bottled DDT for householders began to appear on store counters, enthusiasts reported some amazing DDT feats. Dusted on a putting green, it eliminates all insects around the green. Sprayed on the lawn around a house, it creates a barrier against mosquitoes. Painted on house screens, it keeps a house free of flies for three months.

Besides DDT, three other highly effective weapons have been developed for the Army & Navy: 1) an insect "bomb," consisting of a small can which, when opened, releases an "aerosol" gas loaded with an insecticide (such as DDT or quick-killing pyrethrum) that instantly fills a room; 2) a new mosquito repellent, "Formula 6-12," which smells like witch hazel and is reported to be six times as effective as 100% citronella; 3) N.M.R.I. 201, a still more effective repellent just developed by the Navy, said to last eleven hours.

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