Mr. Thomas Cowan Tells How}
His Serum Does It A charming old gentleman of over sixty whose sons had sent him off for a well-earned holiday trip in the Far East early last year, has found it impossible {0 forget iis business because of the demands upon him to continue it in the illes of South China, the Philippines, Malaya and India, Mr, 'Thomas Cowan, an AAustrallan from Sydney, who arrived here from Hongkong' in the s. Ranchi. Mis business is the most peculiar one of exterminating insect pests. At present however, he ly concentrating on the white unt or termite, Mr, Cowan left Sydney in February and everywhere he went he found stich a demand for an expert to fuelele the menace to buildings from while ants that he shad hardly any alternative than to establish branches of his family coneeen,-Recently, when landed "in, Nagasaki, he thought for a moment that he was under arrest, $0 buyer were newspapermen {fo Iteae ull about his methods, the end of March Me. Cowan expects to bevin work in the United, States that no less than USS60 million damage Is done by {termites while millions are spent on reseureh in California with little enough effect. His methods, he claims, are quite unique, culating Ants with Disease While he does not disparage other methods or special fluids used and advocated, Mr, Cowan pointed out their futility. © 11s method was to study and understand the peculiarl= Ges of while ants and their habits ind aeordingly he has devised. a of exterminating them by of a virus, This is possible, he tolt a "North-China Herald Interviewer, because the white ants, which there were many varieties, all ived in communities centred ound the throne of the queen, The queen, while still virgin during the swarming period, was but slightly lurger than the soldiers and these were about halt "u centimetre tong. The swarm took flight but as soon as they came up against anything in their way which bruised their wings, they took off their wings and bogan to settle down, A large chamber Is bored into the wood and. sometimes even concrete of buildings or wherever they Tanded, anid the queen ly installed, "Mere she is imprisoned, fed, guarded and Kept while het abdomen grew many mes its origin al size and shape until it way about. half an inch Tong and a quarter thick. The queen's output of exes was as, much us one w second, sixty a min ile or 80,000 and upward a day. The soldiers were next in, importance. They, constructed the "roads" and kept guard and the damage they did to woodwork can be estimated in the fact that their roads were sometimes ay long as 100 yards. The nurses were next in the selle of importance, their business being the attendance of the pregnant queen, care of the me culated eggs und the young. The Workers came next, their lives being occupied very much as a coolie class lab the beck and call of everyone for the needs of the communal life,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.