The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-01-08
FIGHT YELLOW JACK
SURGEON WHITE OF MARINE HOs-
 PETAL SERVICE TALKS.
Tells How Northern Cities Got Rid of 1t Summary of the Methods to be Pursued In ConquerfnE Epi-
 demics--How Fever
 Trayels

| ~~N' VI AA. FhAtrs ttldEtue nOSpltdi sur
 geon, of New Orleans, took part fir the yellow fever discussion in the meet Ing ofthe scientists Tn New Orleans
 and his talk was of great interest especially as the outcome of his ex.
 perlence with fever during the last summer and autumn. He is report by The Picayune as follows:
 Surgeon J. H. White. of the Marine Hospital Service, who conducted the
 campaign in New Orleans last sum.
 mer. then read paper on The Prac-
 tical Results of Reeds Findings on
 Yellow Fever Transmission" He gave a clear concise account of the meth ods pursued by his forces, and added
 For the first time since Reed. La
 gear and Carroll did their great work
 in Cuba opportunity offered, in 1905,
 in the city of New Orleans, to demon
 strate on scale of such magnitude as
 must needs be impressive the true val
 ue of that work.
 have no desire to underrate the
 work done in Havana. It was no= | torious as being a perfectly natural
 habitat for the mosquito.
 1 The fight began in Havana in the
 early spring, against two or three
 cases. It began in New Orleans under
 the blazing sun of late July, and
 against hundreds of cases" . | Yellow fever is so easy of control,
 if only the medical profession and the
 people will be frank and honest with | the health officers, that it seems a
 crime against humanity that we must ! needs quarantine such a disease. There | Is no more rationalsp in quarantinfng yellow fever than there would be of quarantining typhoid. Indeed, there is | less, because it may be stated that a case of yellow fever known in the first two or three days of it's existence, and | to which proper measures can be ap- piled, presents absolutely no menace to
 the community, nor even to the fami- ly resident in the house with 1t. Un- til, however, such laws are enacted and enforced as will make the con- cealment of a case of yellow fever, either through the complaisance of the family physician or the cowardice of the family. a crime and an abso-
 lute impossibility, there will continue to be more or less of quarantine probably more. Such laws are deemed
 by many people as interference with individual liberty and incompatible with the rights of American citizen ship, and similar buncombe, ad libi-
 tum. The only other alternative, and most excellent one, too, will be the
 passage and enforcement of laws in
 surfing the proper sanitation of our cities, this being a manner which of- fers so many other advantages in ad- dition to the removal of yellow fever, as to make it appear to my mind the most imperative need that confronts the South as a whole and the really proper solution of the entire matter
 Tt would be a false claim, if set up by any of our great Northern cities. that they intelligently got rid of yellow fever. for it is fact which must be apparent to all of us that they did nothing of the kind. They intel ligentlly provided themselves with municipal utilities which appealed strongly to their ideas Of creature com fort and general cleanliness, and which, incidentally and entirely acci- dentally eliminated the mosquito at the same time. These public utilities were a thoroughly controlled water supply, sewerage. drainage and pavements. them. were essential 70 the end at- tained
 We may rid the city of New Cr- leans of yellow fever, but we will never rid it of it's susceptibility to that disease until these four require ments arc complied with, and the pos session of these public utilities will also do away with many of the other Ills that flesh is heir to-
 ''It is irrational to go on, year after year, fighting only the infected mos quito, when we can, with a little more | and for all. To put the matter plain ly to the businessman. who is, after | all, the court of the last resort, make | an investment now in good health, | and it will pay you enormous divi- l dends in increased business, in re- duced loss of time by yourself and | your employees, and in that priceless boon that comes only to the man free | from any taint of disease--the one only thing that makes our North su- perior to our South-the pure joy of living.
 .sT 1,-o,,ra hr;afI,- s,,r,r,ariza tLo ,,ot ter thus
 "Flrst-The only true way to fight yellow fever is to wipe out all of the by water supply, sewer age, drainage and paving.
 "Second-As a palliative measure or expedient pending the first 
 "(a) Compel the report of all few CTS.
 "(b) Screen all fever patients
 '(c) Use a culicidal agent in all dwellings, of the sick at once, and again before twelve days have elapsed since patient sickened.
 "(d) Authorize inspection by health officer of any patient.
 Though perhaps out of place, let ne pay d well deserved tribute to he patriotism of the citizens as whole. and to the citizens committee, he clergy and the medical profession, md, finally to that gallant band of ,ficers, some sixty in all. who worked Il the dust and sweat of August with lntiring zeal, and particularly tho core who were my captains and did t uch duty as, had 1t been rendered O the First Napoleon, had been re- carded by a marshals baton" <
 Dr. Montagu R Leverson discussed 2 he importance of improvement of anitary conditions, and urged his hear rs to study certain French authorities .. n regard to disease. He showed that ; @ did not agree with modern discov- 1 ries
 Dr. Carroll took the floor to pay a 3 ribute to Dr. White on his accom- lishment In New Orleans. It gave i'm much pleasure to learn that the ? ever had been conquered before frost. he disease had obtained such head z 'ay that there was good reason at V ne time to doubt his ability to do it. Ie had confirmed the mosquito theory i the transmission of the fever. That s 'as conceded now, and would remain 'ith us as permanently as any of the , ther accepted doctrines in regard to iseaSe.
 Yenow fever could be contracted in O other natural way than by the mos U u!to He thought, however, that pr. hlte was rather dogmatic in saying h nat the yellow fever mosquito would i r ot travel The fact that the disease b bread from house to house showed ? lat it did. He concluded by sincerely i" nd heartily congratulating Dr. White c pon the grand work of the past year q Dr. White said that he did not in- , md to say that the mosquito did not $ 'aVel but he did mean that 1t would C ot travel any great distance unless b
 was put on train and taken away, a e had put one man on certain phase N