The Tucson citizen., 1902-03-18


the whole year. There are not FIVE days
IN the whole year but the.most delicate
Invalid can spend part of the day, at
least, out OF doors. In this climate in
iuries 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 Nav, are in
this locality the finest in the world. One
bright sunshiny day succeeds another;
the nights are cool and exhilarating; the
whole country green with the richest
verdue and the brightest flowers. Truly
it is JOY to live.
"At present have never known a per-
son coming to this Territory in the early
stages OF pulmonary disease andlocatinp
in 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. w. Fenner, of Tucson, Surgeon
of the Southern Pacific r. r., says
Tucson is city of 10, 900 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
260 and 56o respectively. The rainfall
is small and but little irrigation is car
ried on. The water supply is excellent.
The summers are long, the therm ometef
ranges high, but the low degree of humid.
ity makes the clear warmth tolerablc,
and the most healthfrl 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, says:
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-
uously in the open air for period of sew
eral months, or, for that matter, for a
year, or several years, 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 it is Arizona.
Physicians rareIv send their pa; ;~nts |
to the arid -eg;ons :rtri1g s-en=e- nd
this | consider a great --.stake. III. |
patients should be sent to the arid re |
gions so soon as there is evidence of in. |
fiction from the tubercle 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 a view of sending them |
to dry climate. The relative humidity |
in southern California is as great, and
in some instances greater, than that ot |
the Atlantic coast, and many of the best |
physicians in California regularly send |
their tubercular and asthmatic patients |
to Tucson. California is Il beautiful |
country, but the fogs which come in
rom the sea, and the emanataons from !
the vast irrigated regions, make it far |
inferior to the inland desert regions for |
phthisical patients. think it may be |
assumed as general rule that wher-
ever there is irrigation there is high |
degree OF relative humidity. and patients
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 opiu-
ion. advantages as health resort
which can not be equalled anywhere in
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
to send tubercuiar patients
to an altitude of 5 900 feet, or over. In
fact clinical experience has proven that
more frequently patients required to bc
sent to an altitude or less, rather than
more thafr3 200 feet. The altitude oi
Tucson is 2 400 feet. and that seems to
be amply high for all but the most ex-
ceptional cases. The city is situated in
a 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 slti-
tude of s, 900 feet at least. Mount lie.
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 11,o0G
feet.
"The scenery Mt Tucson is as impress
sive as anywhere in the Rocky noun
tains. and the gorgeous sunrise and sun
set beggar description.
'During the nine months, October to
June, inclusive. 1S9+-5, there We're but
twenty-five cloudy days, and nine OF
these were in one month. Some idea OF
the transparency of the atmosphere may
be had when state that, at midd ay
and with the unaided eye, have seer
Venus when it was hut ten degrees east
of the snn."
DR.. N, II. Matas, a Physician of II
years practice i'll this City, says
''Since consumptives must depend on the
forces OF nature for the cure of
Al, IL