Arizona republican., 1907-09-16
WORK OF THE DOCTORS
Who MAKE NO CURES
Achievements of Men Trained in the
Modern Science of Preventive Medi-
cine.

cine.
Washington. Sept. 14,-(Special cor
irespondence Of the Republican, -
Governor Magoon of Cuba recently re-
ported to the authorities in Washing
ton that the outbreak of yellow fever
in the island would be conquered be-
! fore the end of September This Is
one of several recent happenings in
dicating how the doctor who ma. per
I haps never make cure has indicated
his right to a high position i'm the med
\ zeal profession. Yellow fever appeared
! in cuba this year. Yet nobody was
seriously alarmed. although there was
some natural evaporation because the
! Cubans could not or would not con-
tinue in practice the things which
they had been taught by physicians
and experts from the United States
The island again being under Ameri-
can control. steps We're promptly TAX
On to give Yellow Jack his quietus
and a national department of SANTA
tion was created to have full control
Of sanitary conditions. Even before
this was done Cienfugos was given a
house cleaning such as II had never
known before. The men who devote
themselves to the prevention Of dis
ease won a signal victory in Cuba i'm
mediately after the Spanish American
war. Had they continued in charge Of
the situation. it is extremely doubtful
il the few recent cases Of the once
dreaded scourge would have appeared
in the island.
on the isthmuS of Panama. through
out the canal zone where the Ameri-
cans have fun swing. yellow fever has
been conquered for the first time in
the histor,- of that region. In a recent
interview. DR.. Paul VI. Carpenter OF
Milton, Massachusetts, chief of the
sanitary department in the zone town
of Empire. SAYS that so thoroughly
has the war on the troublesome mos
quito been carried on that although
every bed is provided with a mosquito
netting these defences are now falling
into disuse. In hundreds of bedrooms
although the mosquito netting is still
visible. II hangs looped from the cell
ing and IS never dropped about the
bed" Every intelligent American
knows that, when the mosquitoes have
been killed off and proper sanitary
regulations enforced. the danger Of the
spread Of yellow fever has been prac-
tically eliminated.
OF course. Fellow fever will appear
from time to time. notwithstanding the
fight waged against il. In 1905 there
was in New orleans what was. accord
ing to present ideas. an epidemic: yet
II was small indeed. when compared
with the ravages of the same scourge
before the doctors had discovered the
pornicious activities of the mosquitoes
and begun their wars upon these pests.
Thus. in 1873. in an epidemic in the
Mississippi valley. 1884 people died
and the number of cases exceeded "a
900.
Even before the adoption of modern
methods in combating the disease.
something had been accomplished by
strict quarantine regulations. During
the first sixty years of the nineteenth
century, yellow fever prevailed almost
annually in one or more of the south
ern seaports of the United States and
frequently extended its ravages to in
terror towns. In fact the permanent
residents of southern cities commonly
regarded il as a disease of the climate
and necessary evil against which il
was useless to impose quarantine res
trictions.
The fight with yellow fever may be
regarded as already won. The battle
with the great white scourge is being
waged with increasing vigor through
out the "orld ard ii is confidently
predicted that the time is coming
when tuberculosis will be almost as
aria
many Of its terrors. Typhoid is also
regarded as doomed, although it is
still a serious menace in all parts of
the world. And the activities of the
doctors who devote their talent and
energy to prevention rather than cure
are not confined to the battle with |
and infectious diseases. a |
noted physician in Boston mas built up |
n large practice among people who are |
perfectly well and who go to him at |
stated intervals so that acting under |
his advice, they may keep well.
The universities are beginning TO |
make special provisions for the train
ing Of the men who will in the future |
devote themselves to stamping out |
disease rather than to curing it after 1
il has attacked mankind. Thus the !
George washington university in this |
city numbers among its faculty Cen
eral George NJ. Sternberg, who holds |
the title of Professor of Preventive |
Medicine. General Sternberg, who /
was surgeon general of the United |
States ARM from 1898 until 1902. /
learned by practical experience how |