The Tucson citizen., 1902-05-13


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 cxhilarating; the
whole country green with the richest
verdue and the brightest flowers. Truly
it is a JOY to live.
AT present have never known 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 OF sending advanced cases to this
or other sections to die among strang-
ers."
DR.. H. w. Fenner, of Tucson, Surgeon
of the Southern Pacific r. r., says
Tucson is a 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
26" and 56o respectively. The rainfall
is small and but little irrigation is car.
! rIPI nu The 70 sVpt,tx .u avcallaxxf
/ The summers are long, the thermometer
ranges high, but the low degree ofhurnid.
ity makes the clear warmth tocrabie,
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-
ary 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 period ofsev |
eral months, or, for that matter, for a |
year, or several years, a climate is re-
| quircd 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 rare'v send their pa; |
to the arid -exions curing sssn=acr nd
| this / consider a great -istake. 4hS |
patients should be sent to the arid re
| gions so soon as there is evidence of in.
| fiction from the tubcrclc bacillus, aud
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
i'm southern California is as great, and
! in some instances greater, than that u.
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 nations from
the vast irrigated regions. make it far
Inferior to the inland desert regions for
phthisicai 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 ut Tucson has, in my opiu-
ion, advantages as a health resort
which can not be cqualied 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 tubercuiar patients
to an altitude of S, 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 1900 feet. The altitude Of
Tucson 10 2, 400 feet. and that seems to
be amply high for all but the most cx-
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 in 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 {. 900 feet at least. Mount Le-
mon, the highest peak OF the Cataiinas,
has an elevation of 10000 feet, and
Mount Wrightson in the Santa Rtas,
reaches an altitude of nearly 1l,0oG
feet.
"Thc scenery at Tucson is as impress
sive as anywhere in the Rocky noun
tains, and the gorgeous sunrise and SUM-
set beggar description.
During the nine months, October to
Tune, inclusive, 1S94-5, there were 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 seen
,, Venus wher it was but ten degrees east
! of the sun"
DIR. N, II. Matas, a Physician OF II
, wears practice in this City, says
''Since consumptives must depend on the
resisting forces of nature for the cure OF
their disease, it is evident that an early
selection of a good winter climate is the
-. ..nrortart factor for their cure and