The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-11-07
AN UNHEALTHY STATE.

received more gratuitous information than an
other, it is in regard to the desirability of
Kansas as place of residence. Other instruc
ton he has in abundance, but it is intermit
tent in character. The political teacher who
advises him on the sinfulness of the other par
ty wearies of his voluntary labors occasionally
aud retres for rest. Even the preacher takes
= vacation now and then. The drummer
Tor Kansas, however, never ceases to extol the
merits Of his State He does it by letter, by
circular, by enticingly-il illuminated pamphlet
aud, last but not least, by word of mouth.
Kansas is land flowing with milk and honey;
milk, indeed, is pretty much the only bever-
age that does flow, he tells them, the COM
mon wealth being under the millennial rule of
prohibition; the soil of Kansas is fertile be-
yond compare; the climate is glorious; above
anG beyond all, Kansas, he declares, is health
ful. People may die there from
old age OF accident, but the ills
which other people are heir to
the inhabitant of that charmed region does
not know. So well has the champion of the
State performed his task that it is currently
reported in certain quarters that invalid
HOLSTERS who cannot emigrate during life hope
to 60 to Kansas when they die To destroy
a pleasant illusion is always a disagreeable
undertaking, and it is. therefore, with regret
that the Journal presents some statistics
which show that Kansas so far from being
the paradise it has been represented, is
center of malaria, and its inhabitants afflicted
with disease to an extent unparalleled in this
part Of the country. The figures given are
taken from record of the business done by
druggists in Usage county Kansas, in a sin
gle month-that of June of the present year.
Usage county does not, of course. comprise
the entire State; but inasmuch as it is one of
the counties most highly extolled hitherto for
its salubrious character, the facts concerning
it may serve as an indication of the terrible
condition of affairs in less healthful regions.
If there is one thing, more than another,
from which we have been assured the people
of Kansas We're free, 1T is the class of diseases
arising from masmatic state of the atmos-
phere. In direct refutation of this it is found
in the druggists schedule that III prescrip-
tons were filled in one month for the cure Of
''ague;' for 'agne and malaria" Is; for
''cold," 1856; for ''bad cold" 15 for "chills,"
Is: for malaria, l63; for fever 18, and for
'chils and fever" II. A monthly total of
$50 cases of nnalarial disease in county hav-
ing population of less than 26, 900 is a show
ing calculated to appall the stoutest-hearted of
intending immigrants. When in addition to
this are noted 237 cases of biliousness, Is of
oliver complaint" Ala cases Of dysentery and
kindred ailments, including 45 attacks of
collie and 81 of cramps, the alarm must deepen.
AS if these Affections were not enough the
unhappy residents of Usage county suffered in
June from the scourge of dyspepsia. Of plain
dyspepsia 142 cases required treatment but
there were 81 instances of debility 112 of
general debility" 27O of indigestion" and
n of weakness" Prescriptions were filled
Cor 81 persons suffering from rheumatism, 81
from kidney troubles and 43 from lung dis
ease.
Singularly enough it does not appear from
any figures which we are able to secure
that the mortality was great in Usage county,
Notwithstanding the existence of the various
epidemics. This may have been owing to the
discovery that panacea existed for each and
all of the several maladies, and that the same
was obtainable of the druggists doing business
in the county The numerous prescriptions
filled by the accommodating apothecaries in
variably called for alcoholic liquor in some of
its forms. In the Indiana climate whisky is
not an invariable success as a cure for bilious
ness, bowel complaints or kidney diseases, and
the sufferer from dyspepsia is frequently
obliged to avoid it as a poison. Luckily, in
Kansas the effect is different. There it seems
TO act like a charm, and is, in fact in demand
for great many purposes other than those
mentioned. From the druggists record re-
ferred to, we find that it is highly popular as
"horse medicine" is much used for snake
bite, for liniments, for nervousness for
chair oil, for ''side-ache." for experiments,
for "sick babies and sick wives" There is.
also, considerable demand for the drug to
be used for bathing purposes 1t seems, like
wise, to be useful in cases of broken bones.
in mixing paint and in making candy.
and preserves. So popular is this favorite
medicine that we find record of 100 sales
when no particular purpose was mentioned,