The Tucson citizen., 1902-08-16

custom to sleep out of doors from the
middle IF May until September, and
many (as the writer) sleep out during
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 May, are III
this locality the finest i'll the world. One
bright sunshiny DAY succeeds another;
the nights are cool and exhilaratlng; the
whole country green with the richest
verdue and the brightest flowers. Truly
it is a jov to live.
"At present | have never known a per
son coming to this Territory in the early
stages OF pulmonary disease andlocating
III 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."
DIR. Fl. w. Fenner, of Tucson, Surgeon
of the Southern Pacific K. r., says
! Tucson is a city of 10, 900 inhabitants,
on the main line of the Southern Pacific
! Railway, altitude 2,40O 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 braciug,
the humidity being exceedingly low; the
yearly minimum and maximum being
! go and $50 Tespe> 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 ofhu1nid-
| 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-
airy phthisis, especially those of the
earlier or pre-tubercular periods.
DR.. 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 a period fsev-
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-
preach to it is Arizona.
"Physicians rarely send their patients
to the arid -eg:ons ;1tri1g :-sn-1er I'D
this | consider a great %istake. 4he
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 we'll, 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 o.
the Atlantic coast, and many of the best
physicians in California regularly send
their tubercular and asthnatic patients
to Tucson. California is beautiful
country, but the fogs which come in
rom the sea, and the ernanations from
the va st irrigated regions, make it far
inferior to the inland desert reg ions for
phthisical patients. think it may be
assumed as a general rule that wher-
ever there is irrigation there is a 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 opin-
ion, advantages as a 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
imperative to send tubercular 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 2,40O 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 alti-
tude of 5 200 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 IL, ,OO0
feet.
"The scenery at 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, 1S94-5, there were but
twenty 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 seen
/ Venus when it was but ten degrees east
of the SUM-"
: DR.. N, H. Matas, a Physician OF II