The Portland daily press., 1898-05-20
MISCELLANEOUS.
THE RAINY SEAS ON IN CUBA.
Said To Be the Most Charming of the Year
-Epidemics Due to Negligence.
(St. Louis Globe-Democrat. !

tSt. Louis Globe Democrat,
Mr.. William T. Hornaday, chief natu-
ralist OF the Smithsonian Institution.
has spent nearly ten years, in East India
Borneo and Sumatra jungles collecting
rare animals, birds, insects and ssrpents
for the Smithsonian. He is the only
white man who ever lived among the
head hunters of Borneo.
"All this talk Of danger in Cuba Of the
rainy season, yellow fever, etc., is great.
ly exaggerated. Mr.. Hornaday said to-
day. Because the Spanish army has lost
SO heavily many uniformed persons fear
that the country would be as fatal
newly arrived Americans as it was to
green Spaniards. The Spanish troops
saw were wretchedly fed and clothed.
and absolutely no heed is taken to enforce
the most obvious sanitary regulations.
Then the food, clothing, medicines, every
thing the mon should have to live upon.
Is furnished by contractors, who stand
IN with the officers, and simply starve
the poor soldiers into disease and death.
The Spanish women have q saying.
When our sons 60 to Cuba or the Philip
pines they never return Many Span
ish mother whose son is coming near the
time when he must do service in the
army Is praying that Cuba and Porto
Rico may be lost to Spain before her son
goes away.
after five years of living in the most
malartal jungles on eareh. In the midst
poff in cvryo 1y,n cvUo
water and often having to eat unaccus-
toned and badly cooked food, never
had but one touch of jungle fever, and
that only laid rue up six or seven days.
owe my excellent health to two or three
precautions never slept on the bare
ground nor in the rain, and always un-
der shelter. always wore light flannels
damp clothes. Whatever else might
have to do without, two changes of fan
mel underwear besides that T had on
were always at hand. Take from i've to
six grains of quinine every morning in q
cup of hot coffee II you have it, II not
then in hot water. Have your SHOES to
fit you, even If you must buy them your
Ing Its troops with an excellent maroh-
ing shoe. With these precautions and q
dose of some light laxative twice week,
there need be no more fear of fever in
Cuba than there is in Missouri -
Mr.. Morrillas, Cuban born, and for
some years an assistant surgeon in the
United States navy, now in the Marine
Hospital service in the tropics, said to-
day: "The rainy season, as 1t is called
out of Cuba, is to Cubans the most charm.
ing season Of the year. 1t begins gener-
lily about the middle of May and lasts
to the middle OF September. 1t usually
rains in the afternoon, and sometimes the
fall is very heavy and accompanied by
such thunder and lightning as one. never
knows outside the tropics. It generally
stops at sunset, which is simply unspeak-
ably grand in its cloud effects rarely
ever have known it to rain at night 1t
is this so called rainy season that gives
life and vigor to the growing vegetation
and makes our sugar and Tobacco CROPS
what they are. By eating we'll cooked
food and eschewing observation-disclosures in
the fruits of the country, usually SO
tempting to strangers, always sleeping
under some sort Of shelter and not on the
bare ground, the green Yankee from
New Hampshire hills may laugh at the
bogy of the rainy season and the yellow
fever. 1t is we'll for the unacclimatad
man the first three months of his stay to
take from three to six grains of quinine
every morning and a mild purgative.
say twice week. You may be "a wet
as possible if you are on the move. but
when you stop change your wet clothes
for dry ones, socks and all. You will
never have this fever if you follow these
easily relneTn harad ru1aa -