The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-04-04
the best. 1t is about time that the
retailer should take a hand in the
matter.--London Grocers' Monthly.
THE EPIDEMIC IN sKAGWAY.
Physician in Oregon Says Cerebro-
Spinal Meningitis There is Swift and
Deadly

"A prominent physician OF Portland,
who does not desire his name to be
used, said, concerning spinal meningitis;
THE disease runs in epidemics and is
due mainly to bad sanitary conditions.
1t is an Inflammation of the membran-
es of the spinal cord and of the brain,
and Is accompanied by terrible head
aches and pains in different parts OF
the body. Young, healthy persons are
more liable to it than any other class,
and 1t attacks male and female alike
The disease is accompanied by a
breaking out of purple blotches all over
the body, and for this reason is some
times called purpuric fever. There is
no known cure for the disease and nine
out of ten people attacked die inside of
twenty-four hours, and sometimes in
third of that time. If one does hap
pen to recover, he Is left deaf or blind,
or afflicted in such way that it would
have been better if he had died.
1.-THE sanitary conditions in Skagway
are very bad. There is no drainage
whatever, all slops, &C., being thrown
on the ground. The water is very bad,
as the creeks are full Of dead horses by
compels the inhabitants to keep all the
windows tightly closed, shutting out all
ventilation and adding to the general
bad health. 1t is very terrible thing,
and nothing on earth could induce me
to attempt to do any business in the
town. While it is probably not conta-
gious, the conditions that give it to
one person will give it to another just
as WELL"
There is no doubt that the cold of the
Alaska climate renders men easier prey
to the disease.
Up to the latter part of January the
winter, from the Arctic Ocean to the
Mexican line, had been exceedingly
mild. Since then the Alaska coast has
been constantly swept by icy gales,
which have been destructive alike to
life and property. During this brief pc
Rod the Clara Nevada has been driven
to her destruction in the Lynn Canal,
the Oregon has been blown ashore, 9TH
err vessels have had minor accidents,
and many people have died at Skagway
and Dyea and on the mountain passes
leading out of those towns to the Klon-
dixie gold fields.
Strong indeed is the constitution that
escapes ills in the northern regions at
this season of the year. Few of the
many thousands who have left Port
land San Francisco, and Seattle for
the north since the first of the year
can truthfully say that they arrived at
Skagway in perfect health. All COM
planned of some ailment cold in the
head, stiffness of the limbs, sore throat,
backache, &c. The long steamer trip
is not conclusive to bodily comfort
Seasickness is anything but pleasant
and lack of exercise causes languor and
failure of the excretory organs to dc
their duty. Scrupulous attention to the
functions of these organs is an essen
tial in the treatment of cerebro-spinal
meningitis, but whether it avails as q
precautionary measure is for doctors
to say.
AS the majority of the north bound
people come from south of the 50th
parallel, they do not have any great
difficulty in acquiring cold after the
steamer passes the northern point OF
Vancouver Island and pokes her nose
into the waters of Queen Charlotte
sound. In Alaska it is not considered
good form to "kill' cold with whisky
The main reason is that whisky in the
northern regions does more harm than
good. Another reason is that the
whisky of commerce, considered as
stimulant or as a medicine, is pure rot
and is of no value One drink of Alas
ka whisky will make man yearn fol-
80 !, Re-, Ia n
will cause him to tell all he knows tc
any one having time and patience tc
listen to him, and the third will cause
him to arm himself with tomahawh
and go on a murderous hunt for his
wife's relations.
The sanitary condition of Skagway
is as bad as it possibly could be- but
meningitis Is just as prevalent and just
as fatal in the mountain passes, where
there is no end Of fresh air and unriv-
allied scenery, as it is in the mud flat
called Skagway.
Exposure to cold in Alaska, especial
ly when men know what the result will
be, is due largely to carelessness. Men
will hug red-hot stove for hours AND
toast their shns to perfection and Their
venture into the icy wind with the hat
on the back Of the head, the coat I'M
buttoned, or the neck insufficiently pro
tected. In the course of few hours
they rack their minds to find out why
this cold in the head, why this weak
ness and other ailments which are the
sure forerunner of pneumonia, grip, OF
meningitis Others will stand on stree
corners until the muscles of the feet
twitch and a chill runs up the back
from cold. Others will keep bundled al
day in furs, wooden underclothes, heavy
stockings, high shoes, and warm over
shoes, with wollen cap pulled dowr
over the head, leaving only part of the
face exposed. In a burst of confidence
in the atmospheric conditions they will
throw open the coat and put the cap IL
a normal position on the head. In
comparatively short time the wind is
at the warm scalp and neck and quick
ly works it's way inside the clothing tt
the chest and to the spine and the
foundation for period of sickness is
effectually laid. Men working on the
mountain passes with their outfits ART
as careless as people in the town. Tht
lack of hospital facilities at Skagwa5
gives the meningitis sufferer but little
show for his life.-From the Portland
Oregonian.