The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-17
THE "WHITE PLAGUE
SCIENTISTS TO DISCUSS DISEASE AT
 WASHINGTON.
Spread of Consumption by Afflicted Travellers on Railroad Cars Will Be Considered at
 Meeting.
Advertiser Bureau,
 Colorado Building,

I l Washington, April Is. | Great scientific interest attaches to
 the coming annual meeting of the Ma
 tional Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, which will | take place in this city on the 18th and | 18th of May. So widespread and so deadly has become this disease that it is now generally referred to as the White Plague" Surgeon-G General Wyman of the United States Marine Hospital Service, has received numer- ous letters from health officers on this subject, especially on that branch of it which relates to the spread of the disease by travellers on the various rail- roads. Dr. S. J. Crumbine. Secretary of the Kansas State Board of Health, thus writes;
 The geographical position of this State is such. lying immediately east of the health resorts of the Rocky Mountains. that 1t could probably be asserted that there Is scarcely trans continental train going west the year round that does not carry its one or more passengers afflicted with tuberculosis, seeking the life-giving and healthful resorts of Colorado, New Mex ico and Arizona. With little or no convenience for the proper dis
 posal of the expectoration of these peo- pie, it must be self-evident that these cars are In a chroEic state of infection Time and again 1 have personally ob- served d consumptive in a day coach where there were no cuspidors provid- ed. coughing and expectorating upon the floor. These people being of low vitality and afraid Of draughts and cool air while travelling require that
 the coaches be closed, which adds to
 the danger of infection to their fellow passengers. The constant vibration of an ordinary railway coach is free. and
 is admittedly carrier of the bacillus of tuberculosis"
 Dr. H M Bracken of St. Paul, Sec
 retary of the Minnesota State Board of Health. has been assigned to read paper before the association on In lection in Transporth,fon." and as Dr. Bracken has made an exhaustive study of the subject, he is expected to pre- sent data of the greatest importance
 In connection with the above meeting
 pr. Wyman has called a meeting of the executive officers of the State Boards of Health for May 18th.
 It is regarded by the scinetists who expect to be in attendance as es- pecially fortunate that while the meet ing is in progress they will have un- usual facilities for studying the latest improvements in the ventilation and sanitation of railway passenger ars Simultaneous with the meetings of the health specialists will be the meeting of the International Railway Con gress, with It's great exhibition of cars and railway appliances, for which congress has granted the use of the White Lot" In the exhibit will be many devices for the ventilation and heating of passenger cars. matter that is just now being widely ids cussed by health boards, scientific men and railroad authorities Numer- ous tests will be made in the pres ence and under the direction of dis tinguished health officers from diner- ent parts of the country. The tests will consist of a series of experiments to demonstrate how quickly and how completely the air In passenger coach es can be changed, 1t being the al ready expressed opinion of scientific men that public health demands an entire change of air at least once In
 R. H. Watkins.