Evening star., 1896-10-06
THE AR MY'S HEALT H
Annual Report,Of Surgeon General stenburs
hsde Public.
Colored Soldiers More Healthy-Mfuch
".l.r'. At tT".h'n<'on Barracks
and Fort Myer.

With much y qualification. Surg. Gen.
Sternberg. in his annual report. states that
the health Of the army during che last
fiscal year was excellent. All The rates
that are Usually considered by statistfcians
as throwing light on the physical condi-
ton OF community have been lower than
in any previous year Of the recorded his
tory Of the army. The n.ortality rate from
all causes was 5.l6 per LOCO of strength as
compared with 669 in 1894, and deductins
the rate for injuries the death rate for dis
ease was only 3.55 per 1000, the lowest on
record.
A notable fact was that the colored
troops were healthier than their white
comrades. Fort Myer, Va, had the largest
rate of admission to hospital and nom
efficiency of any post in the department Of
the east. The sick rate at this post has
been markedly increasing during the past
four years.
OF every thousand recruits 727.1S were
natives of the United States, and of the
foreign born. Germany and Ireland fur
nished the largest numbers The foreign
born recruits had the advantage in weight
over the native born whites, but the negro
exceeded both. averaging 1885 poInds.
Malaria About Washington.
In special chapter on malarial diseases
calling attention to increased rates at
| eastern posts, the surgeon general tells
many things Of special interest to the resi-
dents Of this city.
He says:
Although some of the posts in New
YORK, such as Fort Hamilton, Fort Wads-
worth, Willets Point and West Point con-
tributed to the increased rates. the two
posts on the Potomac river at the national
capital Fort Myer, Va, and Washington
hA ~, 0f
the increased rates, not only of the De-
partment of the East, but of the army as a
whole. the former having 1,O9253 admis-
sion and 14.07 non-efficiency per thousand
! OF strength, and the latter 1,0'9S9 and
1871. These rates indicate that the cavalry
force at Fort Myer suffered more than the
| artillery at Washington barracks. but this
| was by no means the case, for the latter
| Iost Is not credited with the whole of the
record of sickness that belongs to it.
! During the summer some of the batterle:
| were camped temporarily at Fort Monroe,
va. Tor artillery practice, and the recurring
| gave Fort Monroe an admission rate of
| 162. 16 for malarial diseases that were not
indigenous.
Washington Barracks and Fort Myer
| Ma. Walter Reed, surgeon. United States
| army, has investigated the character, pre-
| alence and probable causation of the ma
| larial fevers at the posts of Washington
barracks and Fort Myer. He finds that
| intermittents and aesuvo-autumnal feyers
prevailed at both posts. the proportion OF
| the latter manifestations, as shown by mi.
| croscopical examination of the blood being
| greater at Washington barracks. The lec.
| ords from 1871 to the present time show
that malarial diseases prevailed with vary
ing Intensity during the whole Of this
period, and that as a rule, while the per
centage was higher at the barracks than a
Fort Myer. there was a remarkable agree
ment in the rise and fall of the annua
rates at both posts.
| He attributes the prevalence at the bar
| racks to the low grounds surrounding tn
| site Of the post-the bottom lands Of tn
| AnacoSta river on the east, the Potoma
! flats and the low. grounds of the Fngini
shore on :he west, the marshes across tn
| Anacostia on the south and The Jane
Creek canal in the immediate vicinity @
the post on the no. theast. He conclude
that the water supply is not concerned i
the propagation of these fevers at thi
post as it is drawn from the mains of tn
city Of Washington. and while the citizen
in the vicinity of the post who are expose
to the Influences or the neighboring marsh
es suffer considerably from malarial dis
eeses, those who live in other parts of tn
city are unaffected, although using tn
! same Potomac river supply.
| From close study of the conditions a
Fort Myer, he concludes that the fever
there are to be attributed to the mars
| lands of the Potomac valley. as in the cas-
Of Washington barracks. The water suI
ply Is shown to have had no influence i
modifying the prevalence of the fevers. a
they continue to occur during severe
| changes Of the supply and even during
period when the supply was boiled and fl
tered. He draws attention to point of ir
terest developed by comparative study c
the meteorological conditions and the prev
a.ence of malarial fevers; that the year
having the highest average temperature fo
July, August, September and October, wit
lowest humidity for the same months, ar
those in which malarial diseases were mos
! prevalent. DR.. Reeds report is dated Al
| gust "a lS9f'