Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 1920)
THE OREGON SUNDAY .JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 15, 1920. 3 EARWIG PEST HAS HISTORY REACHING FAR INTO THE PAST . . . ; - J Insect Which Has Attacked Nortfi Portland District Is Pernicious Bug . With Big Appetite. - Urt festive mood the family forflc-j utfdae Is on Portland. The noctur-i nail, roaming, avoraclous orthoptra.! formidable and bloodthirsty looking with his cercopodlcappendages, is sajagely onslaughtlng with all his! welll known : ability. His ranks are. In millions and residents of North; Portland regard him as no less a scourge to vegetation than Attlla,i the first of the Huns, was to the hti'-J main race in the dark ages. ( . ; Otoe forficullda is none other than, the: earwig, -wlio has become a bosom, though unwelcome, guest around the horjies of the Walnut Park district The Bclentlfics above came from & Journal frlejnd who sought to tell all he knew abo)u the ugly .bug that threatens to takp the bloom from every flower in North Portland. f BISTORT If AMES BUG There is no lack of earwig lore in scientific publications. He seems to have been known ever since the human race began studying any of the species ,of life! besides their own. He has been pro lific! in England for many years, and the folks over there know how to make his struggle for existence a stiff one. tiers in Portland, where the earwig waj unknown until two or three years aeoL he is the one who is giving the stiff fight and the results of the battle arei still far from certain., - Most people in Portland do not realize how serious is this plague of insects. One driving or walking through the WainuUpark section might not gain the ideal that anything was wrong through a superficial survey of conditions. But let the investigator stop at al most any of the beautiful flower gar den; and lift a petal or two, especially on the dahlias. One will be astounded byiivhat he sees. For nestling in the darM recesses of the blossom, close to the jstatk he will find anywhere from one 1 to half a dozen of the earwigs. The I bugs will not be under just one petal, but all of the petals. 1 INSECTS ROUTED Ori watch some resident with, a spray gurt" ferreting the pests out of their restihg places. 'He will put the gun to one (of the weathered cracks of a tele graph pole, or a clothes pole perhaps, . shoot in the juice and await results. Thejif come instantly. The bugs tumble j out jn solid streams, just as many as can (crowd, panic stricken, out of the cracks,, and they will continue io come for Several minutes. One knows that crack was solidly packed with bugs. WS-tch " tie resident shooting the cracks Ichig his porch roof, under the shingles of those bungalows with shin gledlsides, an old stump, or that dark, moist opening where the.- sod of the lawn meets the sidewalks. -The result will always be the same. For the ear wigs; are there in millions, in solid swarrhs as though all the members "Of the family in the world had tried tr concentrate themselves in the few blocks most seriously affected. 1 ' ' . The plague first became pestiferous aboutj two months ago. The bfgs were found two years ago in a load of wood and some of the residents at that time took steps toward their eradication. More wood came and, with it, more bugs, ,i " AH tlJtS ATTACKED Thiji summer, when the hot weather began, the earwigs became active. The dahlia plants became affected and the majority of the beautiful specimens of whicli Walnut Park residents are most proud had to be cut down. Some of the " rarest Specimens of dahlias are raised in Walnut Park. but they will not be seen this summer. The earwigs also went after the rhubarb, for some of the green garden vegetables and In some in stancies the roses. The sunflowers have hot yiet been touched. ? " . Abiut three -weeks ago residents asked the city for aidi Commissioners Barbur and Jann went out to the district one night) and : investigated. They found enough to convince them that the situa tlon was most serious. J. W. Jones, sanitary Inspector of the city, jwas detailed to wage war on the pesCfbut his first- investigation quickly convinced him that one man was help less 1n the fight. He is now enlisting INVADING -EARWIG ENTOMOLOGIST'S GAME ' " ' 1 ' - . - . - - 1 -- . ; ' . l" , ;v . - .-.4 j 4 -i m ni'' zj i if 1 '1 - .- r v J 1 S-s tiffin rwiniiimii nBf, 'jJ t t wm r. .t j: " " ) '- I - 1 4 l fi- iAi- . X 3 j&r4mSr-Z-. !.tit-ito Journal photographer finds interesting pictures of insects' ttHat are over jt running lawns and gardens of Walnut Park district. Above Earthen : pot and straw trap. Bclov--Cap tives in jar showing relative size of pests.. At right Dahlia harboring dozens of creatoress Underneath Magnified specimen of hog showing "horns" on tail! portion and long feelers on head. At right Another sort of trap made of gar den hose. I ' - f every -resident 1 the district to help In the fight, and has found ready support CAMPAIGN IS 1 ON In the meantime Superintendent C P. Keyser of the park bureau has been given charge of; the fight and an or fiS. B. E. WBIUUT j DENTAL WORK THAT STANDS THE TEST OF , TIME There are many different kinds of dental work jrood. pad and indifferent. : -ii i ! You eenerallv have to oavias much for the bad as for (the good, with the added disadvantage of botch work that possibly cannot be repaired by the most skilled dentist. My work is yme-tried and! always highly satisfactory. My plates always fit perfectly and. all work that leaves this office must be perfect to the slightest ! detail. i . . MY PRICES ARE ! VERY REASONABLE P'R. B. E. WRIGHT Northwest . Corner Sixth and WasBingtoa Streets Ifhoae MalasJils Baleisa Uldg. Painless of Teeth Ektr&ti t: on Twenty Years in Active. Service Office Hosrst 8 A.M. tolP. M, Sunday . IS to it A. M. Opes Evenings ky Appointment - . ContBltatloa Free survey, the re announced; last ganized campaign is now being .worked out. When the outbreak w as !flrst brought to the notice iof the city of ficials, Key8er appealed to the Oregon Agricultural college experiment station and entomologists were ' sent here who made a comprehensive suits of which were : week. ' They recognized .the most serious menace in the plague : as being to the berry patches. Should the bugs ever spread into the agricultural districts and beset the vines,- they would do great damage. In Portland, so far, the report said, their inroads had been confined 'to the damaging of ornamental plants at tacking Especially the dahlias, zinnias, roses and Shasta daisies; The bugs also caused much "mental irritation," the in vestigators reported, : through Invading houses and getting : into bread boxes, clothes closets and chests.' Coal oil was recognized as. an effective Insecticide, but of limited use because of its destruc tive effect on Vegetation. I FIGHT 13 WAGED j . The investigators also said that the fight against the earwig was - one to be conducted by a trained entomologist, and that such a worker could not ac complish results In - less than a month of closest application. It was recom mended that an, -entomologist be pro cured by the crty, and the suggestion was made that the experiment station might assign a man tor the work. - The earwigs found here are similar to the well known Kuropean variety, the report said, and are probably identical In species. Conditions abroad, such as weather, and natural enemies, are so ef ficacious that the earwig is negligible as a destructive pest, the report said, but here the earwig has no naturaj enemies and the climate is all to his liking. r Jones has found - kerosene tha best Insecticide so far. It .not only kills, but as long as the odor remains, the ear wigs do not return. But a great number of insecticides are being used, the pat ented varieties, as well, as home brews, and the slaughter of bugs, with the aid of the pump guns, has been terrific. The well known nocturnal habits of the pest are proving his undoing. I Peo ple knov that he -seeks a dark hole in the day time. ; j xxvadebs scalded; . j : ' After night's ravages Ihe earwigs will climb into a short length of hose that has been planted 'for his conven ience, and a stream of hot water next merning sounds his knell. Tin cans or flower pots filled with, excelsior or grass and inverted on a stake also at tract hundreds of the bugs, and" the fol lowing morning' the - assemblage Is ex- terminated with a dose of hot water. But the old insectic3e gun af tes, all is the most popular weapon. The carry ing of this arm is not limited to males between the ages of 18 and 45. The old vets and the youngsters of both sexes shoulder their guns i each morning and go forth to the day's battle with glee, and the bigger the mortality the more they chortle. It s a r battle of no-" Quar ter. There are no Hague convention rules - limiting the armament and no Red Cross for the wounded, v If you have a little earwig or two around your home, don't fall to let the city know about it. i Break, the news to the city health bureau -or to Commis sioner Barbur and Jones, or some of his assistants will go. out- and -tell -What is to be done.. The bugs are believed to be spreading. The worst area Js about six blocks in Walnut park but the army seems to- be moving northward. The earwigs "have been found in Xrvingtoti and Alberta. i BUG DESCRIBED i. Here is what he looks tike. Length about to an inch, black or dark brown, ; typical insect body with three sections and a segmented abdomen. On his stern are the cercopodic appendages above Veferred to which are nothing else than a pair ofvery business like pincers, "horns," the' Walnut park chil dren call them; two! big feelers on his head and a general appearance of ugli ness. People say it gives you the "creeps" to watch them, f This may not be a very scientific ! description, but if you see such a creature, It's a worth while bet to - tell jtha city officials about it i Bitten by Fish , Randolph. Vt.. July 31. (I. N. S- Orta Flint of South Royalston is at the Randolph sanitarium in this city, suffer ing a severe case of blood poisoning, contracted when he was bitten by a fish which he landed several . days ' ago. Though one finger has been amputated, physicians have been unable to check the spread of the infection. His condi tion is regarded as serious. . j - q- - IIP TO SEASIDE AND BACK MERE AFTERNOON UN T 4Journal Man" Lunches m Port land, Flits to Beach, Eats t o'Clock , Supper in Portland. By Fred JjockTfey - "W. F. Hessian, financial editor of The Journal, and myself ate, lunch together on Tuesday noon here in Portland. At 6 o'clock that eve ning I was eating supper at my home near JJaurelhurst. ; Between ; lunch ahd Supper I had gone to Seaside by airplane; where I upent an hour, and returned to Portland, covering 225 miles in less than three hours and a half of traveling, which, if you -will figure it out, will show that we averaged more than a mile a mfjute. At 12:45 o'clock, I boarded The Journal truck for the O., W. & I. Airplane company's flying field on the. -site of 'the Lewis & Clark, ex position grounds. 5 With Richard Becker at the wheel and Marion Kowaleski In charge of the cargo of journals Just off the press, we made fast time to the Seagull, one, of The Journal's seaplane express fleet. Victor Vernon, manager of the company, intro duced me to Captain Fred DuPuyr the aviator with whom I was to make the flight. It was five minutes to 1 o'clock and we were due to leave at 1 o'clock, so, while the big bundles of Journals for Astoria and Seaside were being put aboard, I hurried into my fleece lined aviation coat, put on the helmet, and goggles and took my seat beside Captain DuPuy. . 1 '- . The rope and anchor Were stowed at my feet,- tie of the "ground fmea" pushed the Seagull into the water and a moment later the propeller was in action like a nest of machine guns and we were taxylng along the water like a winning race horse on- the home stretch. Glanc ing back I saw a brilliant rainbow in the high-flung, silver-white spume in our wake. It is hard to describe the thrill of the swift motion throughthe water and harder still to describe one's feeling as the churned up water subsides and you see smooth, untroubled water to the rear and realise that ' you are skimming along the surface ofthe river like a swallow. Even as you look the river seems to be dropping swiftly away and on both sides the buildings suddenly assume a peculiar foreshortened appear ance, EARTH FALLS AWAY A moment later you are looking down on the roofs of the waterfront buildings and on the decks of the ships along the docks. Strangely enough it does not seem as though you are Using, but as though you were poised in flight and the world were dropping away from you. The hands Of the clock on the dashboard point to one minute'' after 1, the needle of the altitude indicator is swinging slowly around as we rise, till it stops at 1000 feet. We sail over the bridges and look down on the circling gulls be low. " The oil tanks of the Shell Oil com- POy look like squat wmte cneeaee. xo ths right lie tne rea Dricn ouiiamgs oi the Portland Woolen mills. A moment later directly below us is Municipal ter minal No. 4. On bpth sides of the Wil lamette, like children's toy boats, are seen moored tramp steamers. Until one has taken a birdseye view of Portland onfe has no real conception of the' ex tent of the city. , . ' It is 12 minutes after 1 and we are passing; over the point where the Wil lamette mingles its waters with those of the broad and sun-reflecting waters of the Columbia. We have been travel ing at the rate of a mile a minute and if we keep this rate of speed we" should be in Astoria, . 100 miles away, in 100 minutes, or at 2:40 o'clock. FIELDS LIKE CHECKEEBOAED We have-been' In the air 20 minutes. We are 25 mUes from Portland, for we have speeded up. In place of fields like a checkerboard the fields over which we are passing are cut into all sorts of odd shapes,' and small streams flowing into the Columbia wander over the landscape as though seeing how far they could mo before merging their waters with the sea-seeking Columbia. They twist In many ,a sinuous curve, forming figure eights, letter "Ss" and seeming to con vey the impression that before they lose their identity they will, with many a graceful curve, show what real Spen cerlan handwriting should be. The shadow ef our seaplane flits below us across the surface of fields and lakes i . , , , . , ... i ,. i i j IN JOURNAL SEAPLANE EXPRESS The Comfortable Way i of going to Grays Mairlboir ! (Aberdeen or Hoquiam) -.;-.'f-- .. I is u the ' ..I i Throjugh Sleeping Car ! operated by the Union Pafcif ic , System 1 i ' " CD.-WR. R. & N. Co.) . : FROM PORTLAND DAILY 11:00 P. M. '.Sleeping car ready for occupancy at Uoion Station at 9:30 P. M.', -. i-- - - Apply to any of our representatives to make your -; - ' - i - ! - - reservations. '-.--.- r- ZLR. 03n!B, City Passenger. Agent, 701 Wells Fargo Building. 1 CONSOLIDATED TICKET OFFICE, Third and Washington streeta ; Phope Main 8530. t . - . . - , J. L. UILLEBj Ticket Agent Union Station. Phone Broadway 02. J- ; Wilt McMURRAY. General Passenger Agent ' ; ': '!. Portland. Oregon " ... Phone 0 a g.s 4 ,rv - mf ! V-, - . ti - -; fe V ,-": l V " s f 9 X h If ; T -v -v u If w S : r. ... i II J and on the river's surface like a twin ship. A colt kicking up its heels in an emerald green meadow looks' with amazement at the huge soaring seagull overhead.' The crackling- explosion of our engine sends him scurrying to his mother for protection. The clouds part and there before us in all its majesty and , beauty stands the graceful outline of Mount St. Helena Captain DuPuy motions for my notebook in which I have been busily writing. Resting the notebook on his knee while he steers with one hand and knee he writes : "Sometimes St. Helens looks so close it almost seems as though I would hit it. We pass over the town of , St Helens at an elevation of 1700 feet. On the opposite shore of the Columbia a snow-bound and glacier-fed stream Joins thepohrmbia. its milky waters blending ilfaTragged uneven line with the gjay brown waters of the Columbia. . . 'j-- HTKTS BETTEB WEATHEB The hands of pur clock point to 1:30. On the right hand side of the Columbia the hills are .covered with aheavy growth of timber while on , the opposite side of the river is' an extensive level plain through which a canal runs on both sides of which are fertile fields and gardens. Motioning' for my notebook and pencil the steersman - writes : "We are bucking a heavy head wind. I am going to climb up, and see if we cannot find better weather." Up 1 we go and the needle on the altitude indicator travels, swiftly till it marks 2800- feet. Below us lies Kelso on the Cowlits river. A hase to the right marks where an extensive forest fire is raging in the : ; i '"-I-' ' i 1 t " r: i V)lw'.lin.tiijV"7iyW:iiiwyr'" . ir-nij wiiridffcfiriMMnrtnn'itfiiri-r iri ' " im iii ,1 Fred Ixckley Of Tbe Journal In sea plane togs (above) and Fred Da . Pny, pilot, on flight to Astoria and : ';. Seaside. . (. mountalna We keep. on climbing till ths altitude dial shows we are 3300 feet.. The cattle in the fields below look like mice on a green silk handkerchief. The roads look like brown . ribbons or, with their branching trails and footpaths, like arteries and veins. ' We have been on the wing an even hour. We are 8300 feet above the earth. or to be more exact where I suppose the earth must be. for the earth is no longer in sight. We are looking down en a rolling field of clouds as white and as fleecy as newly washed wool. The sunshine is brilliant all about us. The shadow of our plane flits along oh the billowy .surface of the cumuloua cloud3 below like a living thing. The pilot motions for my notebook and writes : "We will have to ge. under the clouds to locate ourselvea" Down we drop In a long slanting glide for -1500 feet, rassing through wisps and masses of clouds that make my face moist and dampen the pages of my notebook. Trw next few minutes have plenty of thrill, for we climb and drop to find better going, sometimes being in warm bright, air arid a -second later being wrapped in cold moist air so that the fleece-lined coat feels Ilka afrlend in need. The needle dances from 1100 feet to 8300 as we wend our way through the enshroud ing clouds. Now we catch a glimpse of the shadow of the clouds on the river below. OVER ASTORIA As though it were slage scenery sud dealy the clouds are . rolled back -and Tongue point lies directly below us. Along the river's edgateams are pulling In the salmon nets. Clustered about Tongue point like tiny ducks about their mother are a fleet of houseboats. We sweep onward and a moment or so later I can recognise the streets of Astoria below us. With a graceful swoop wo alight In the river and the Journal asent rows out to get the bundles of papers for Astoria. We take the air at 2 :30, having made Astoria in a trifle less than an hour and a half. -We take a short cut to the ocean and fly oh above the surf line, where the green waters curl up in a line of lace like foam on the yellow sand. Bathers vlook up and wave their hands in friendly greeting. Three o'clock and we are riding easily on the Necanlcum while the Journal agent hurries the papers .to the eager newsboys who in 10 minutes" will be all over Seaside crying their wares. Two hours in time from Portland to the sea. What would the old pioneers of John Jacob Astor's day have thought of such a performance? What would they have thought of hurrying overland in a fly ing boat? It is a panorama. of such surpassing loveliness that no pen can do justice to It. I had planned to stay at Seaside but the glamour of the high spaces laid hold of me, bo I flew back to Portland. Wo took aboard a pasaen igerV M. M. Mikkelson of Lewiuton. and In an hour and 20 minutes we stepped ashore at Portland. AVIATOR PORTLAND MAX Captain Fred DuPuy, our navigator, was born In Portland 23 years ago. While attending the Washington high school he was a Journal carrier. -He' enlisted from the O. A. C, going -to the ground school at Berkeley and thence to San Diego. He won hla commission there as a pur suit pilot. Later he became instructor and test pilot. "I had to put in 700 hours In the air before I signed on here," said Captain DuPuy... "I have flown 110 hours here. I believe in straight safe flying. -1 am not very strong for stunts. I have never gone out for altitude records, though I have flown to an altitude of 13,000 feet Just before resigning on May 5, this year, I served as adjutant, morale officer and ' intelligence officer. Yea, it- is fascinat ing. No groundling knows the joy of , life till he has felt the thrill of winging his way like an unembodled spirit over the mountains and plains and sea. I feel safer up in the air than, in an auto for I am not In danger of running over the edge of a cliff nor being run Into by some careless or inexperienced chauffeur. We have just started our conquest of the air. - Try to look forward a score of years and imagine the progress we will make .in aerial navigation. Vso Taper Shirts London, July 31. (U. P.) By JlaH.) In an effort to bring down laundry prices, entire outfits . of paper clothns are being placed in London markets. Shirts of a wonderful texture, looking almost like linen, vie with the dark-hue 1 suits. The latter, however, are con spicuously shiny and so far the BrlUaher is fighting shy of them. Ail the men are talking about the paper suits they are going to wear, and in the meantime are waiting until the other fellows do so. rami M .dlll8 Sua ffapla Now the Period Model In Ffhono . graph construction, executed with : finest conception and absolute per fection of architecture, period and detail, is an accomplished fact, a tan gi ble, exquisite reality. ) ? The design shown here . . . i. --W Hurt.; DBS BEAUX AITS, $1 is meeting the enthusiastic ap proval of the most critical of art 5OL0O lovers. It is Brunswick In, its beauty' of tone, -in the fact that it plays at their very best the records of all artists, no matterf for what phonograph made, and that without changenothing to put on or take off and its faultlessness of design and : its beauty will delight. ciecxncaiiy operaieu. , u 4- - l Your name here will bring catalogs of many art models. i - 1 - - ' - t .... . i i MORRISCri CT. AT D ROADWAY Name .. . , t FftANOS MUSIC cico, oaklamo. i iiaewe TALKING; MACHIKESj -j mAMummm TMH! t'HiiniHjHiiHiiiHiimimi iiiriiiJiiiiiiiiiHiiiiuiiniiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiillllj - i t: