Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-14

ate in new countries, but the hard condi-
tons OF life, which kill the settlers.
So, In the recent war with Spain, bad
conditions in the northern camps, unclean-
Illness of person due to lack of water, over
eXertion In practice marches sleeping on
the ground. change Of food, overcrowdlng
In tents preventing restful sleep. insani-
tary conditions on Transports. caused the
men to be landed in the tropics in an ex-
tremely bad condition of body. Landing in
the rainy season, opening the earth to form
trenches for defense and about their tents,
sleeping upon the damp ground with a de-
ficient and unbalanced ration. with no
change Of clothes for nearly three months,
1t Is wonder that many became sick
But the sickness was not due to the climat e
at all. 1t was due to the hard conditions in
the home camps, and to hard conditions
during the campaigns in the islands.
MaEnifed by Distance.
1t Is said that the heat, the rains and the
insects Of the tropics are certainly unbear-
able by white person from the temperate
ATTITUDES. but these things are magnified
by the distance from which they are viewed
So far as the tropical lands recently ac-
4ured by the United States are concerned,
they are not elements to be dreaded.
These lands are all oceanic islands. Sur
rounded by immense areas of water, they
have an unvarying or slightly varying tenn
perature. They are warm the whole year
round, while never hot. In all these ISL
ands the midday temperature is about so
degrees Fahrenheit AT night 1t falls to
IS degrees or even 10 degrees: In the noun
tains still lower, depending upon the eleva-
ton.
But this heat is moderated by sea breezes
Except for about an hour in the morning,
there is breeze the whole day long, which
tempers the heat. Sunstroke is unknown.
No bad conditions arising from the heat
have been seen in Porto Rico. The nights
are always so cool that refreshing sleep
may be obtained and the effect of the sun
is tempered by clouds. which shade the
earth nearly all summer.
All the islands have mountains which
may be reached in few hours, where the
climate Of the temperate ATTITUDES may be
enjoyed by those desiring the change.
The tropical rains are serious draw
back. They fall at fixed time each day.
usually from to o'clock in the afternoon.
They are much like heavy June showers in
the states. unaccompanied by thunder and
lightning. The ground soon dries off, and
the rain has occasioned no inconvenience
Of consequence to any one. The absence Of
thunder and lightning Is remarkable. This
| is certainly true in Porto Rico.
The hurricanes and other great wind
storms are probably no more frequent nor
more destructive than are cyclones in the
states. In Porto Rico there is a belief that
a single severe hurricane occurs about
once in each hundred years.
Insects are strangely few. The mosquito
Is grown In the cisterns, and Is abundant
in the towns. 1t is practically absent In
towns, where it is a sort Of domestic ami
NAL. A little attention to cleanliness would
diminish the numbers. The bedbug has not
been seen in year in Porto Rico, though
there Is no reason why 1t should not be
here Centipedes spiders and tarantulas
are SO scarce that the natives expect about
30 centavos for each large specimen which
they catch. Indeed, instead Of an abun-
dance of insects. these islands are remarka-
BILE for the small number of species and in
dividuals indigenous to them.
Conquest is Possible.
Recent inventions and discoveries have
made the conquest Of the tropics by the
Caucasian race possible. There have been
great discoveries made in chemistry, biol
ogy. bacteriology and medicine within re-
cent years. Chemical discoveries have pro-
duced new and powerful remedies Biology
and bacteriology have brought to light nu-
meroIs microscopic forms Of life, traced
their life histories and shown that beyond a
doubt many. IL not ALL of the diseases des-
ignated communicable contagious and In
germs" The experimental physician has
discovered In some cases remedies which
will destroy these germs after they have
been introduced into the body, while the
sanitarian has made vast studies in demon
strating how they may be destroyed before
water and clothing never convey diseases.
Cities which are kept clean and have pure
water supplies have little fear of epidemic
diseases. The draining of lowlands, the
thorough cultivation of the soil, the paving
Of streets and the use of quinine cause ma
laria to retreat from its old haunts
Biologists have shown that a tick con-
veys the Texas cattle fever; the tsetse fly
In Africa spreads the fly disease, among
the cattle In that continent. The house dy