The Tucson citizen., 1902-03-19

|
custom to sleep out of doors from the
middle Of May until September, and
many las the writcr) 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 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 n per-
son coming to this Territory in the early
stages OF 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-
crs."
DR.. II, W. Fenner, of Tucson, Surgeon
OF the Southern Pacific r. H., saws
Tucson is a city of 10. 900 inhabitants,
on the main line of the Southern Pacific
Railway, altitude 2,4O0 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 56o respectively. 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 ofhumtd
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 bv experience to be particul
arly beneficial to most cases OF pulmon-
airy phthisis, especially those of the
earlier or pre-tubcrcular periods.
DIR, Mark A. Rogers. of Tucson, says:
My experience has impressed upon
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
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.
preach to it is Arizona.
Physicians rare'v send their pa *;"nts
to the arid -eg.ons txtri1g s-mle; I'D
this l consider a great .--sstake. .hs
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 view OF sending them
to dry climate The relative humidity
in southern California is as great, and
in some einstancesgreater, than that oi
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. 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 phthiss
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 equaled anywhere in
North America. I 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 1000 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 than 5000 feet. The altitude OF
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
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 Catalinas,
has au elevation of 10000 feet, and
Mount Wrightson in the Santa Ritas,
reaches an altitude OF nearly l,oO0
feet.
"The scenery Mt Tucson is as impress
sive as anywhere in the Rocky moun-
tains, and the gorgeous sunrise and sun
set beggar description.
During the nine months, October to
Iune, inclusive, lS9+-5, there were but
twenty-five cloudy days, and nine OF
these were in one month. Some idea oi
the transparency of the atmosphere may
be had when state that, at nidd ay
and with the unaided eye, have seen
Venus when it was hut ten degrees east
of the sun"
TN. II. Matas, a Physician of II