Some areas get flood with flies, such as camping cabins, and the only thing you can do is put up some fly tape and hope for the best. One young man went the extra mile and built an ingenious fly trap. Here is the article, published in 1912, on his invention.
Fly Trap That Works
A quiet, gentle, persuasive method of doing away with flies has been discovered by a young man in Washington, D.C., who was given the title of champion fly catcher last year because he was the cause of the untimely demise of more than a million of them.
He secured results with a little trap he made himself of a couple of pieces of wire netting. He twisted one of these into a cylinder about five inches in diameter and the second he made into a cone with which he capped the first. The places where the netting joined were carefully stopped by fastening the web of the wire firmly together.
A plug of wood was placed in the bottom and also securely fastened, but not with permanent fastenings, as it was highly desirable to take the bottom out when the trap was full. Three or four slits about half an inch or an inch in length were cut in the netting just about the wooden base. The bait, a piece of sugar or anything flies are supposed to have a fondness for, was placed on the inside of the trap and a black cloth was wrapped about the entire cylinder, with the exception of the cone shaped top.
Mr. Fly walks into the trap at the bottom and when he has gorged himself, flies to the top to get out, as that is the only place he can see light. He does not get out and hasn’t sense enough to try the way he came in. When the trap was crowded the young inventor plunged it into boiling water, cleaned it out and set it again.
Source: The Day Book (Chicago, Illinois newspaper). June 28, 1912.
