Evening star., 1901-08-29
ENTIRELY FREE


It is gratifying to note the success attained
by the military authorities in their efforts
to rid the Island of Cuba Of yellow fever.
II ia shown in official reports received by
the division Of insular affairs that the fight
against this foe began in the city Of San
tiago almost Immediately after its occupa-
tion nv the military forces. while there
is no blare Of trumpets nor pomp nor cir
cumstance Of war, and no medal or honor
for yellow fever service" says one Of these
reports, "yet the campaign against 1t calls
for as much personal bravery, as much
calm facing Of the foe and as vigorous
measures as would be called for in cam
pafen against human enemy. 1t is
fight against foe who turks In the atmos-
phere. in the water, who works In the
watches Of the night more than In the
broad light of day, and whose advance Is
more invisible than that Of troops armed
with modern guns and smokeless powder.
It's casualties show a greater percentage
Of loss for those .hass src tndn IN battIe
The yellow fever epidemic at Santiago In
1899 resulted in death rate OF ~ per cent
of all who had the disease. The epidemic
began during the absence OF Gen. Wooo In
tI1e north. and It ragged without abatement
until his return, when prompt measures
were taken to quench the fires by removing
the fuel on which they fed. Every Amer
ican soldier stationed in Santiago was sent
to the mountains department Headquarters
were sent out Of town. prompt isolation OF
suspicious cases, and dis1nfectlon OF houses
where they occurred was made. Hotels
and lodging houses in which cases had oc-
Cured were closed, quarantine measures
were risidly enforced. and detention camps
for suspicious cases were organized. The
disease at once began to wane.
Santiago a Clean City.
The result Of nearly two years Of Amer
Ican rule has been to make Santiago, to all
outward appearance, as clean as any Amer
fcan city. Every house where yellow fever
occurred in 1899 was disinfected three
times. Eighty-five miles of streets were
swept daily; 25,0OO cubic yards of sweep
ings were hauled out of the city during the
wear: 1190OO cubic yards of garbage was
removed in the destruction of which $4,000
gallons OF crude petroleum were used, 1000
gallons of carbolio acid. and 11.OOO pounds
of chloride Of lime perfumed the air in the
same good work. No street excavatlng was
The result Of this work Is that there has
been no yellow fever in Santiago since De-
cember n, 1899. Its Punishment from that
city. it's habitat for 400 years, was accom-
plished by American cleanliness and en-
ergy fnteiligently directed by the military
authorities, and its absence has been no
freak or accident.
citv Of Havana continues excellent. Dur
ing June last there were 49S deaths from
ali causes. This Is the smallest number
occurring In any June since 1889. The
greatest number of deaths for June oc-
cured In 1898, when there were 1,253. the
average since 1890 being 77S.40. The rate
per thousand is equally favorable. being
2328 for the month OF June The death
rate for June compares favorably with
that of many large cities In the civilized
world. For example, the death rate in the
city Of Mexico for the week ending June
was 65 60; Vera Cruz, for the week end
ing June 1 had a death rate Of 81 40; the
death rate Of the city OF kmgs'1R 81 as Rosn sn
France, for the month or Aprii last' hao q
death rate of 20. 43.
Condition Of Havana.
The condition of the city OF Havana. SO
far as yellow fever IL concerned. is par
ticularIy gratifying. During the month OF
Tune there was not single death nor
new case In Havana. The records show
that since 1861 no previous June has passed
with absolute freedom from this disease.
There has never been year that ap-
preached the present in its freedom from
yellow fever, the last death having oc-
Cured on March 16.
Commencing about the middle Of Febru-
ary the sanitary authorities based their
whole management of yellow fever upon
tff8 position t0al the mOBQuitO iS tue me-
dunn of it's transmission from person to
person, theory originally brought for
ward and elaborated by DR.. Chas. Finlay
OF Havana, and finally entirely established
by complete experiments Of the yellow fever
Commission. When the results Of these ex-
perfments were made known the military
governor directed that every effort be made
to carry out disinfection on the lines indi-
Gated by this discovery, and the result of
four months work has been to strengthen
the conclusion reached by the board.
In January there were twenty-three
cases. seven deaths; February. eight cases
and Ave deaths. After this date the new
method of disinfection being in operation,
there were new cases on February o.
81 ara n, and on the I'd and 9Th OF March.
There were no further cases until April 20
and n, when two occurred, and no more
fever until May 9 and Z, when there were
four. There were no cases from May to
June so, the date covered by the reports so
far received.
Rever Has WhelIy Disappeared.
There have been years in which there
was very little yellow fever. but none in
which It has entirely disappeared as at
present 1t would therefore seem to be
fair inference that the Improved method
Of dfsin6ection killed on the infected mos
quitoes; that by March The city had been