Arizona republican., 1896-12-05


 cerning the climate of Arizona written by Dr. W. L. Woodruff of this city. The article, which is here re- produced, is calculated to attract much attention to the advantages of this re- zion as health resort:
 Summer time in the desert region of Arizona, embracing the Salt and Gila valleys, is so little understood that it is not surprising that David R. McGinnis, in very able article on The Desert Cure for Consumption, recently published in this magazine, should make the following statement. After stating that time will prove both of these regions great natural sanitariums, he goes on to say that the only objection to them is their ex- cessive temperature, often reaching above 100 degrees for many months of the year, and the physical discomforts of living in such an arid, unpromising region
 "He implies that the summers of the great American desert are unbearable, unhealthful and uncomfortable and that if not impossible, life is, to say the least, unlivable with any degree of comfort and health during the summer months in this region of country. Af- ter continuous residence of five years in Phoenix-which is situated in the center of the Salt River valley-and an exhaustive study of this climate and it's effects on the human body in health and disease, wish to say that life here is not only livable but enjoyable dur ing the summer months; and that we live more of life, as nature intended we should live it, than is lived elsewhere. Night and day are spent in the open air The sky does for a covering at night, and by day the lawn, covered by luxuriant carpet of grass and shaded by verdant trees, serves for par Tor, dining room and office. There is a keenness of enjoyment in the social life of the Arizona evening with it's balmy, dry and delicious air, which northern people know nothing about.
 "The continuous life in the open air for nine months of the year (during the other three a tent will do for cov erfng), is fast raising up the healthiest, heartiest, sturdiest race of men and women on this continent, if not in the world It gives us the lowest death rate that can be shown by any country on the globe. Our annual death rate for the last four years is but three fourths of one per cent, and for the hot summer months but one-fourth of one per cent.
 ''The reason why the heat conditions of this region are so little understood is because the relative humidity and the reading of the wet-bulb, or sensi- ble thermometer, is not taken into account. To get at the actual heat con- ditions of any given place, one must compare the reading of the wet and dry-bulb thermometers with the rela- tive humidity, and by so doing he can arrive at fairly accurate conclusions as to the real heat experienced. The facts are, that, during this last sum- mer, all over the eastern half of the United States the actual sensible heat for days and nights at time ranged higher than in Phoenix. We had, for ten days in June, the highest tempera- lures ever experienced in the valley The midday registration of the govern ment thermometer, for several days went up to 115 degrees, on the streets reaching 120 degrees, while the sensl- ble or wet bulb thermometer only reg istered Il to 73 degrees, according to the percentage of relative humidity present. This ranged from seven to thirteen per cent. We had but one day last summer when the sensible heat as indicated by the wet bulb thermom- eter, reached as high as 76 degrees and on that day the relative humidity was twenty-seven per cent, with dry or metallic-bulb temperature of 104 degrees. The relative humidity rarely goes above the twenties, and is gener- ally below fifteen per cent, and often between five and ten per cent. In this dry, hot air one perspires copiously and if clad in the lightest linen or cot ton fabric, evaporation is instant and cooling. The farmer or mechanic never thinks of stopping work on ac. count of heat; in fact, he feels the heat less than does the clerk in the office In this desert region the air is so dry that the heat does not depress, but rather stimulates.
 That the summer months are, il most cases, healthful, and the ones il which the average invalid makes his greatest gain, have demonstrated be- yond all doubt. The past summer have had number of patients who, or my earnest recommendation, have stayed through the whole of it, ant their improvement has been phenome nal. This is so with the majority O people. They feel better, enjoy more of life, and are actually in better healtf than during the remainder of the year This is particularly so during the frs half of summer.
 Tn many cases it is best to take { month OF SO of vacation and 1 thinl