A new article has been added at Newspaper Abstracts > United States > Delaware > Sussex http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/index.php?action=displaycat&catid=642 Also visit our new sister sites: http://www.AncestorsOnTheWeb.com http://www.Genealogy101.com Direct link to article: http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/link.php?id=46672 Submitted by: Harrison H Howeth Article Title: Daily Evening Bulletin Article Date: September 11 1879 Article Description: Clouds of Mosquitoes Article Text: September 11, 1879: The other day a group of longshoremen stood on the pier at Lewes, Delaware, waving their hatsand handkerchiefs around their heads as though filled with enthusiam awakened by some cause that was not then apparent. But when the passengers of the Old Dominion steamer landsd they too began waving their hays and handkerchiefd vigerously. The cause of these demonstrations was mosquitoes. At the railway station in Lewes there were fires of pennyroyal and other weeds burning in front of the windows to drive away the insects and the passengers were glad to get in the smoke ad enjoy a moments immunity from the annoyance. At Rehoboth Station on the Junction and Breakwater Railway, the mosquitoes were more numerous than in Lewes. The negroes in the peach orchards had their heads covered with old sheets ith holes cut through for their eyes. The men around the depot and the passengers in waiting had their heads covered with mosquitoes nets like veils. It was impossible to purchase a piece of mosquitoe netting in the neighborhood. While the stages were waiting a man was stationed at the head of each horse to hold the nearly frantic animals. At Rehoboth Beach the mosquitoes were thicker than at the station. There were at the beginning of the week over four hundred guest at the Bright House and on Friday not twentyfive remained. They had been driven away by the mosquitoes. Persons walking in the streets were almost obscure by the clouds of mosquitoes around them. The ladies light dresses were amost black, so thickly were they covered. The hotel proprietors were so pestered by the insects that t! hey seemed not to care whether their guest remained or not. Double nets on the windows and darkened rooms gave partial relief, but the mosquitoes made their way everywhere. It was only by having a negro waving a cloth over each person at a table that guest could partake of their meals. It is said that the NE winds and muggy weather brought them here from the South Jersey and Delaware swamps and that the pest would probably be ended only with a strong wind from the ocean. Sailors say they met the mosquitoes many miles out at sea, somethiing they never before experienced. Nearly all the places along the coast were similarly infested but none of them to the extent as this part of Delaware. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ DE-Old-News ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ NewspaperAbstracts.com - Finding our ancestors in the news! TM http://www.NewspaperAbstracts.com