The Tucson citizen., 1902-02-05


the whole yer. There are not five days
IN the whole year but the most delicate
lnNaIid 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
muld. There has been no epidemic, cx-
cept in whooping cough, for years.
THE winter months, from the middle
OF September to the first OF MAY. are in
tins locality the finest III the world. One
bright sunshfny 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 OF pulmonary disease andlocating
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 at sending advanced cases 10 this
or other sections to die among strang-
! crs."
! DR.. H. ". Fenncr, of Tucson, Surgeon
OF the Southern Pacihc K. r., SAYS
| Tucson is a city of 1000 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
| 26S and SO" respectively. The rainfall
rs small and but little irrigation is car
ried on. The water supply is excellent.
| 1 he summers are long, the thermometer
ranges high, but the low degree ofhumd-
ity makes the clear warmth tolerable,
and the most healthfui part of the year.
Sunstrokes and heat prostrations arc
unknown. The climate of Tucson has
been found by experience to he particul-
ariy beneficial TO most cases of pulrnon-
airy phthisis. especially those of the
earlier or pre-tubercular periods.
Dr. 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 contiu-
uousiy IN the open air for period of sew
! erai months, or, for that matter, for a
| year, or several years, n climate is re-
/
! dry. Such climate the United States
does not possess, but the nearest ap-
| proach to it is Arizona
Physicians rareIv send their paints
to the arid -ex.cas curing :1sn=.e1 nd
this ! consider a great --.stake. 1he
patients should be sent to the arid re-
gions so soon as there is evidence of in
lection from the tuberclc bacillus, and
should be made to remain there until
they are well. or until il 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 of
the Atlantic coast, and many of the best
physicians in California regularly send
their tubercuiar and asthmatic patients
to Tucson. California IL 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. think il 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
1.-The city of Tucson has. in my opin-
ion, advantages as health resort
which can not be equalled anywhere in
North America. l know of no locality
where such n 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 tubercuiar patients
to an altitude of 5000 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 ex-
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 5000 feet at least. Mount Le-
mon. the highest peak of the cataiinas,
has an elevation of 10000 feet, and
Mount Wrightson in the Santa Ritas,
reaches an altitude of nearly Ill, ,OO0
feet.
"The scenery at Tucson is as impress
sive as anywhere in the Rocky nousa-
tains, arfd the gorgeous sunrise and sun
set beggar description. $
During the nine months, October To-
June. inclusive, 1S94-5, there were hut
twenty-five cloudy days, and nine ot
these were in one month. Some ideA az
the Transparency of the atmoophere may
be had when state that. ~ midday.
and with the unaided eye, ! have sen
Venus when it was hut TN degrees east
of the SUM-"