Fly swatting is the civic duty of every man, woman, and child, at least according to Dr. Fowler, a Washington D.C. health officer back in 1921.
Swat 1,000 Flies Each Day, Urges Health Officer
That’s Minimum Requirement to Make Capital Flyless City, Says Dr. Fowler
Are you swatting a thousand flies a day?
If not, Dr. W.C. Fowler, District Health Officer, will be disappointed because he has set ten hundred flies per capita as the minimum requirement to make Washington a flyless city.
In his intensive drive to make the pestiferous and menacing fly only a memory in the National Capital, Dr. Fowler has requested the most enthusiastic and sustained co-operation on the part of every man, woman and child in Washington. As a result of his appeal for recruits in the “Make Washington a Flyless City” campaign he has enlisted the aid of hundred and hundreds of persons who never gave a thought to the fly menace before.
To focus attention on the constant jeopardy to human beings caused by the breeding of flies, Dr. Fowler, in cooperation with Sidney Lust, local film distributor, and The Washington Times, is exhibiting in the Theaters of Washington a striking and convincing motion picture entitled “The Fearful Fly,” which is attracting a great deal of attention. Last night the film was shown on the screen at Keith’s Theater and held the wrapt attention of the capacity audience. It will be repeated at Keith’s tonight. Beginning tomorrow “The Fearful Fly” will be exhibited for three days at the Cosmos Theater.
In connection with the showing of this educational film, Dr. Fowler is also distributing pamphlets and posters on the necessity for fly extermination in the lobbies of all theaters where the picture is exhibited. This literature, prepared by the United States Public Health Service, details a thousand reasons why flies should be swatted and gives many helpful hints for fly prevention.
Source: The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]), 02 Aug. 1921.
