The Wire-Netting Fly-Killer: A Flap With Folded Corners

"This invention relates to fly-killers made of wire-netting. Its object is to provide a cheap device of unusual elasticity and durability". "The fringe is useful in providing a softer end to the flap, whereby injury to articles subjected to sharp blows of the killer is reduced to a minimum; but it is not indispensable." "The device is used to strike flies or other insects, and its utility is increased by its elasticity, while its strength and durability are augmented by doubling the thickness where elasticity is required and trebling it at the handle end."

Cut a rectangle of window screen about 12 cm by 22 cm. Fold the two corners of one short end over onto the body along slanting lines, so they cross each other and make a point, as in the patent drawing. Fold a narrow hem along the two long sides and tape it. At the other short end, pull out two or three cross threads so the long threads stick out as a fringe. Saw a slot 5 cm deep into one end of the dowel. Slide it over the folded point and fix it with two tacks through the netting. Hang a strip of tissue from a thread. Swing the fly-killer past it at a hand's width, then a card of the same size, and watch which one moves the tissue.

**Robert R. Montgomery** of Decatur, Illinois, filed US 640,790 on 13 October 1899; it is dated 9 January 1900. His claims cover the folded corners, the handle fixed to the folds, and the fringed striking end. **Honest limits.** The notebook counts only the area of the holes; real air flow through netting also depends on speed and on the wire's shape. Mesh sizes are examples. Your tissue test is the measurement.