The Tucson citizen., 1902-02-13

] y
/ invalid can spend part Of the day, at
least, out of doors. In this climate in
Iurics and wounds heal very rapidly;
contagious diseases are usually very
mild. There has been no epidemic, ex-
ccpt Ill whooping cough, for years.
/ THE winter months, from the middle
of September to the first of MAY. are il
this locality the finest i'll the world One
/ bright sunshiny day succeeds another;
/ the nights are cool and exhilarating; the
whole country green with the richest
! verciue and the brightest flowers. Truly
/ II is Joy to live.
"a 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 WE'LL 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 X. r., says
! Tucson is a city of l0, 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
26' and So respe, lively. The rainfall
is small and but little irrigation is car
ried on. The water supply is excellent
, ranges high. but the low degree ofhumid-
ity makes the clear warmth tolerable,
and the most hcalthful part OF the year.
Sunstrokes and heat prostrations are
unknown. The climate of Tucson has
I been found by experience to be particul-
c arly beneficial to most cases of pulmon-
AIRY phthlsis, especially those of the
:, earlier or pre-tubercular periods.
8 Or. Mark A. Rogers. of Tucson, says:
My experience has impressed upon
. me the necessity for outdoor life in the
4 treatment OF pulmonary tuberculosis. In
, | order that the patient may live contin-
uously IN the open air for a period ofsev-
cral 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 II Is Arizona.
Physicians rare'v send their paints
to the arid ~eRsous cari1g f-rnzer nd
this | consider great -=istake. Ghe
patients should be sent TO the arid re-
gions so soon as there is evidence of in
lection 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 a view OF sending them
to dry climate. The relative humidity
in southern California is as great, and
III some instances greater, than that of
the Atlantic coast, and many of the best
physicians in California regularly send
| their tubercular and asthmatie patients
to Tucson. California is n 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. 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
/ nlt 90
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-
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 10 the Santa Catalina range; Ia
the east, the Rincon; to the south, the
Santa Rita; and ON the west, the Tue
son. Each of these ranges has m aiti- 1
tude of 5000 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 11,000
| feet. s9sSs
THE scenery at Tucson is ne impres~$
sive as anywhere in the Rocky nioun.
tains. and the gorgeous sunrise ana sur-
set beggar description.
During the nine months, October TO-
June, inclusive, 1S94-5. there were but
twenty-five cloudy days, and nine III
these were in one month. Some ideA of
the transparency Of the atnosphere may
be had when state thar, ri midday s.
and with the unaidesi eye, I have seen
Venus when 1t was hut ten degrees easf
Of the sun"