Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-11-18
MEN DIE LIKE SHEEP.
SPINAL MENINGITIS EPIDEMIC AT
SkkGWAY.
Hundreds of Cold Hunters sue.
cumb to the Incurabic MalaIy--
Largely Due to Carclessness of
the Men.

the Men.
Portland Oregonian.
4 prominent physician OF Portland
says, concerning spinal meningitis
"The disease rims in cpidcmics, and is
due mainly to bad sanitary conditions.
1t is an inflammation OF the mem
branes of the spinal cord and of the
brain and is accompanied by terrible
headaches and pains in different parts
OF the body. Young, healthy persons
are more liable to it than any other
class, and it attacks male and female
alike. The disease is accompanied by
Il breaking out of purple blotches all
over the body, and for this reason is
sometimes called purpuric fever.
There is no known cure for the dis
ease, and nine out OF ten persons at
tackled die in 81 hours, and sometimes
in a third of that time. II one does
happen to recover, he is left deaf or
blind, or afflicted in such way that it
would have been better if he had died.
"The sanitary conditions in Skag-
way are very bad. There is no drain
age whatever, all slops, etc, being
thrown on the ground. The water. is
very bad, as the creeks are full of dead
horses by the hundreds. Then the
cold weather compels the inhabitants
to keep all the, windows tightly closed,
shutting out all ventilation and add.
ing to the general bad health. 1t is Il
very terrible thing, and nothing on
earth could induce me to attempt to
do any kind OF business in the town.
While it is probably not contagious,
the conditions that give it to one per-
son will give it to another Just as
we'll"
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
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 period the Clara Nevada has been
driven to her destruction in the Lynn
canal, the Oregon has been blown
ashore, other 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 Klondike gold fields.
Strong indeed is the constitution
that escapes ills in the northern re-
gions at this season of the year. Few
of the many thousands who have left
Portland, Seattle and San Francisco
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, etc. The long steamer trip
is not conducive to bodily comfort.
Seasickness is anything but pleasant
and lack of exercise causes languor
and failure of the excretory organs to
do their duty. Scrupulous attention
to the functions of these organs is an
essential in the treatment of cerebro-
spinal meningitis, but whether it avails
as precautionary measure is for doc
tors to say.
As the majority Of the north-bound
people come from south of the fiftieth
parallel, they do not have any great
difficulty in acquiring cold after the
steamer passes the northern point OF
Vancouver islands and pOkes her nose
into the waters OF Queen Charlotte
sound. In Alaska it is not considered
good form to "kill cold with whiskey.
The main reason that whiskey in the
northern regions does more harm than
good. Another reason is that the
whiskey OF commerce, considered rs a
stimulant or as a medicine, is pure rot
and is OF no value. One drink of
Alaska whiskey will make man yearn
for the return of his money; the
second will cause him to tell all he
knows to anyone having time and
patience to listen to him, and the
third will cause him to arm himself
with a tomahawk and 60 on murder
Gus hunt for his wife's relations,
Exposure to cold in Alaska, es.
pecially when men know what the re-
suit will be, is due largely to careless
ness. Men will hug a red-hut stove
for hours and toast their shins to per-
fection and then venture into the icy
wind with their hats on the back of
the head, the coat unbuttoned, or the
neck insufficiently protected. In the
course Of few hours they rack their
minds to find out how they caught this
cold in the head, Or why this weakness
and other ailment which are the sure
forerunner of pneumonia, grip or
meningitis.
Others will stand on street corners