The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-11-19


veal the fact that the disease most to be
dreaded by the people of the District OF
/ Columbia is consumption, or tuberculosis of
the lungs. It is not only the cause of
greater mortality in the aggregate than
any other ailment, but it claims larger
/ percentage Of its victims than any other
malady, the disease being almost ineurable.
1t is at the present time. and has been for
years past, the chief menace to the health
OF the city
The daily death list published in The
Times contains from one to -four deaths
/ from this cause. On October 20 the list con-
sisted OF II deaths for "a hours, and OF
! these were of consumption In the wees--
( " report from the Health Office ended Sat
urday. october 20. out of 10 deaths from
all causes II we're from consumption. In
order TO equal this number it is necessary
to combine the 10 from kidney diseases
and of the from affections of the heart,
or it is necessary to add together from
] diarrheaI diseases, from meningitis. and
/ Z from pneumonia. The report of deaths
! for the week ended October 81 showed a
mortality of II from consumption. while
that Of all diseases of the heart was 10.
and that from appopiexy and diseases of the
kidneys IL
The health report for the fiscal year year
ended June 80, 1898. gave 713 deaths as
the result OF consumption, of which $50
were whites and 257 were colored. Of the
total deaths from consumption 397 were
males and S16 females. IN the annual re-
port Of the Health Department for the fs-
cal year ended June 80. 1900. the mortality
from all causes was 1858, and of these T13
were victims Of cOnsumptioa-an average
mortality from this one disease OF SO for
each week IN the year. The total number
OF deaths resulting from tuberculosis in all
its forms was S53 fer the year, represent
ing 4-e8 deaths TO each i 600 OF the popula-
ton.
This report shows that there were 735
deaths from diseases of the nerves and
nervous system, but this quota is the total
of nearly 20 allied diseases. There were
also 500 deaths due to affections OF the
heart and the circulatory organs, 400 Of
them being designated as valvular disease
Of the heart. But the figures show con-
sumption 10 be the principal factor IN the
mortality Of the District. It is also to be
noted that the entire number of deaths re-
sulting from the ailments of the respire--
tory organs was ZIP, Of which pneumonia
was chief with 462 ieaths and more han
50 per cent Of thes. We're reported II the
months Of March and April To dis sased
digestive organs $50 deaths were charged.
but here as in the other cases mentioned.
q long catalogue OF ills are grouped to-
gether to make up the aggregate, =diIe
consumption stands grimly at the head of
the list alone and unapPToachable in rs
terrors for the people Of the District
The statistics covering a long period
show that mortality from consumption
reached high water mark in 1886, and
from that time has slowly decreased rela-
lively TO the population, except that since
1887 there has been a slight increase Re-
marking upon this point IN one of his
annual reports the Health Officer attTib-
yates the fact of the decrease in the prev
alence. OF consumption TO the gradual i'm
proyement in living, especially OF the col
ored peopl.
As regards locality there is no inhabited
part Of the District that is wholly Tree
from consumption but the section bound
ed by Pennsylvania Avenue southeast and
Maryland Avenue southwest shows the
largest death rate from this cause of any
part of Washington
In speaking Of the nature of Consump-
ton the statistical clerk of the Health
Department recently said that while the
medical profession is pretty well agreed
that consumption is germ disease, very !
little is actually known about the manner
of us transmission, and ne stated that as
yet no cure for the malady is known to
the world He said further that the ex-
perimenters have been at work for more !
than twenty years TO obtain serum that !
Will serve as an arIidote for the disease {
and arrest its progress when once ii has /
fastened upon its victim but no such Sc /
rum has been discovered though many /
have thought they had succeeded and have +
announced the results OF their expert I
ments. The fact, he thought, was that the !
destructive processes of tuberculosis are /
so sure and rapid that it appears TO be an I
impessibiIity to arrest them in most |
cases. and for that reason many have des- |
paired of success in obtaining a serum /
that viii be efiicacious in saving those at /
tackled bv consumption
Medical authorities are not agreed as TO I
the manner in which tuberculosis is ac-
QuiTed by those who suffer from a. Some I
have thought that it is transmitted b. Tie
parent at birth, and others have clung te-
naeiously TO the belief that it may be TAX |
en- by healthy person by intimate asso- /
citation with one afflicted with the dis i
ease It may also be carried in the air. /
some have said. and sanitary experts have I
warned against the habit of splitting IN 1
the streets and in public conveyances, re- /
garding that as a fruit source of conta- !
gion.
DR. William G Woodward the Health |
Officer. said yesterday to reporter of /
The Times that scientific research has /
demonstrated that tuberculosis is an in ]
fictitious disease, and he is of the opinion /
that 1t is most often conveyed by associa- /
ton OF the healthy with those who are i'll |
with the disease. He regards the sputa
of the person suffering with consumption
the primary means of contag ion. From /
1t, he believes the microbes get into the
air and are carried thence into the lungs
of human beings Those constitutionaIiy !
weak or with advanced catarrhal symp-
toms, he thinks, easily acquire the dis
ease by the germs finding Judgment uron
the morbid deceased throat or lung
membranes DR.. Woodward is OF the
opinion that these germs often enter the
lungs of the healthy and either find no
lodgment or are thrown off by superior
vitality. 1t is in his opinion those whose
systems are specially prepared for it that
take the disease and die from its effects
DR.. Woodward is not one Of those who
believe that consumption is an incurable /
maIady. His observation and experience
have convinced him that persons frequent
" recover after ha ing suffered from con-
sumption for a long zine, but he admits |
that such cures are the result generally !
of living in the open air and of giving
particular attention TO the matter of diet !
He thinks that cure is chiefly question
Of keeping up the physical vitality. drugs
being OF little use in efeeting cure
In speaking of the means to be Used to
stamp out consumption, DR.. WoodwS-i ad-