The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-07
CUBA AND THE YELLOW FEVER.
What the Terrible MaIady Has Cost
the United States.
From the PhiladeIphia Press.


From the Philadelphia Press
The Savannah, Ca, News has the fol-
lowing: Nearly every outbreak of yellow
fever which this country has suffered can
be traced 20 Cuba. When the soaniards
shall have been driven out of the island the
United States government will probably
have influence enough with the new gov
eminent TO induce it to clean up Havana
and its foul harbor and institute such san
ttary reforms as will practically if not
actually eliminate the fever from the
island. This is one mitigating circum-
stance in connection with the war"
This IS phase of the war for Cuban
| freedom which has not been given it's due
prominence. But the opportunity that will
be offered the United States of compell-
ing a thorough cleaning up in the neigh
borhoods from which yellow fever has been
brought to this country Will be one of the
most important and beneficial of the re-
suits following the expulsion of the Span
iards from the West Indies. Yellow fever
is filth disease and it has fiourished es-
pecfally in Cuba where the shftless, lazy
Spaniard has provided the conditions nee
essary to its growth and spread. If he
can be removed and modern sanitary con-
ditions substituted for the disgracefully
incompetent methods that have ruled for
centuries in Cuba a check can be put up
on one of the worst scourges that has af-
fected the human race and duty per-
formed to humanity.
The harm done to this country by the
yellow fever epidemies that have been i'm
ported into it from Cuba is inadeouatelv
understood. Since 1902 the disease has APP
peared In 1853 coast cities of the United
States and in eighty-seven different years.
and in sixty-eight of these years it has be-
come epidemic. Concerning the earlier
epdemics little is known No records
were kept of their extent and severity and
of the source from which they came. 1t
is only within the past thirty or forty
years that the facts in connection with
the disease have been investigated In his
annual report for 1895 Surgeon General Wy
man said that since 1862 the source of
nineteen visitations of yellow fever had
been traced and in sixteen instances Ha-
vana was found to be the place Of origin
and in two other instances the disease was
known to have come from some other part
of Cuba. In only one case was the fever
traced to a place outside of Cuba.
The cost of these epidemIcs can be es-
timated in an incomplete way only But
any one who knows the panic which seizes
upon the people when it becomes known
that yellow fever has appeared in a city
or town and the complete paralysis of bus
mess which follows can gain an idea of
the money cost of an epidemic of this
dread, disease. The epidemic of 1897 was
comparatively mild. 1t appeared late in
the season and the number of cases and
deaths were small. And vet 1t is estinna-
ted that 1t caused business loss of s60.-
100000 to the. Southern states The cpl
demic at Jacksonville, Fla, in 1888 is sup
posed to have cost that city and state from
100000 to $15,000OOO, and the Brunswick,
Ga, epidemic of 1898 entailed loss of S1O-
100000 But all these pale before the
money loss occasioned by the great cpl
denies of 1878 and 1879 which began at New
Orleans and spread up the Mississippi val
ley Conservative authorities place this
loss at $500, 900 600
Taking taese illustrations as guides, It
is safe to estimate that the United States
has suffered a loss in money of from $500, :
10000 to $400,C00,0O0 during the past fifty
years from yellow fever. This is only The
money loss and does not take into consider
alton the loss in suffering and in valuable
lives. And when it is taken into account
that almost the sole source of this i'm
mense loss Is the sanitary condition of
Cuba and that the Spanish are RESPONSE
bic for that condition, there ought to be
SGhNldi tGJolCiuS tldl the udy Is near at
hand when the rule of the Spaniard in The
West Indies will end and the United States
will cease to be scourged by the Spanish
yellow fever. That this disease can pe
nearly eradicated, is shown in the case of
the Barbados and Jamaica, where it for
merly existed, but is now rare owing to
the introduction of modern sanitary meth
DDS by the English.
This country and the world in general
have suffered enough from Spanish mis-
rule. The Spanish colonies in America
and Asia have been little more than pest
holes. They have been disease breeders
for all mankind. A few years ago the
European governments took steps to stop
the outbreak and spread of cholera from
the fanatical pilgrmages in Asia and the
whole civilized world appauded. The
United States deserves the same applause
for undertaking to end the disease breed
ing situation in Cuba.