The Tucson citizen., 1902-02-04

many (as the writer) sleep out during
the whole yePr. There are not five DAYS
III the whole year but the most delicate
nvald can spend part of the day, at
least, out OF doors. In this climate in
lurles and wounds heal very rapidly;
contagious diseases are usually very
mild. There has been no epidemic, ex-
cept in whooping cough, for years.
The winter months, from the middle
of September to the first OF May, are in
this locality the finest i'll the world. One
( bright sunshlny day succeeds another;
the nights are cool and exhilarating; the
whole country green with the richest
verdue and the brightest flowers. Truly
it is a Joy to live.
"At present have never known a per-
son coming to this Territory in the early
stages PULMONARY disease andlocating
i'll the altitude suited to their particular
case that did not get well; nor have
known of one in the second stage that
did not improve. But cannot refrain
from raising my voice against the out
rage of sending advanced cases to this
or other sections to die among strang-
ers."
DR.. II. ". Fenner, of Tucson, Surgeon
of the Southern Pacific r. r., saws
Tucson is a city of 0,000 inhabitants,
on the main line OF the Southern Pacific
Railway, altitude 2,400 feet above the
sea level. Tucson is one of the Oldest
settlements made by the Spanish con-
querors. 1t is now the commercial and
railroad center of Southern Arizona. The
climate is exceedingly dry and bracing,
the humidity being exceedingly low; the
yearly minimum and maximum being
26' and 560 respe> lively. The rainfall
is small and but little irrigation is car
ried on. The water supply is excellent.
The summers are long, the thermometer
ranges high, but the low degree ofhumid-
ity makes the clear warmth tolerable
and the most healthful part of the year.
Sunstrokes and heat prostrations are
unknown. The climate of Tucson has
; been found by experience to be particul-
arly beneficial to most cases of pulmon-
ary phthisis. especially those of the
earlier or pre-tubercular periods.
DIR. Mark A. Rogers, of Tucson, saws:
My experience has impressed upon
me the necessity for outdoor life in the
treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. In
order that the patient>may live contin-
uousiy in the open air for period ofsev-
eral months, or, for that matter. for a
year, or several years, a climate is re-
quired which is continuously warm and
dry. Such a climate the United States
does not possess, but the nearest ap-
proach to 1t is Arizona.
/ physicians rare'v send their pa;
to the arid -eg:cus ;nri1g ;-encter nd
this | consider great ---istake. The
patients should be sent to the arid re-
! II:
/ fiction from the tubcrcle bacillus, and
should be made to remain there until
| they are well, or until it is apparent that
the case is hopeless.
! MANY physicians in the east order
patients to California for the winter,
apparently with view of sending them
to dry climate. The relative humidity
in southern California is as great, and
in some instances greater, than that of
the Atlantic coast, and many of the best
physicians in California regularly send
their tubercular and asthmatic patients
to Tucson. California is a beautiful
country, but the fogs which come in
rom the sea, and the emanations from
the vast irrigated regions, make it far
inferior to the inland desert regions for
phthisical patients. l think it may be
assumed as a general rule that wher-
ever there is irrigation there is high
degree of relative humidity. andpatients
suffering from pulmonary phthisis
should never be sent to an irrigated dis
trict. Indeed, some of the California
physicians have declared that irrigation
and malaria go together
"The city Of Tucson has. in my opin-
ion, advantages as health resort
ha s,r
North America. know of no locality
where such a moderate winter climate
and such low degree of relative humid
ity are combined with the same latitude
and altitude. 1t is no longer considered
imperative to send tubercuiaT patients
to an altitude of 6. 900 feet, or over. In
fact, clinical experience has proven that
more frequently patients required to be
sent to an altitude or less, rather than
more than 5000 feet. The altitude OF
Tucson is 2,400 feet, and that seems to
be amply high for all but the most cx-
ceptional cases. The city is situated In
basin near the underground Santa
Cruz river. 1t is completely walled in
bv massive mountain ranges. To the
north is the Santa Catalina range; to
the east, the Rincon; to the south, the
Santa Rita; and ON the west. the Tue
son. Each of these ranges has an elti-
tude of s 1000 feet at least. Mount Le-
mon. the highest peak of the Catalinas,
has an elevation of 10000 feet, and
Mount Wrightson in the Santa Ritas,
reaches an altitude of nearly ia, ,O0O
feet.
"The scenery at Tucson is al impress
sive as anywhere in the Rocky mousl-
tains, and the gorgeous sunrise and sun.
set beggar description.
During the nine months, October 70
June, inclusive, 1S94-5, there were but
the transparency Of the atmosph<te may
be had wheuf state thak. az naiddAg.
and with the unaided eye, I haye scesa
Venus when II was but ten destees eAsk
of the sun. z,