The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-01-21
NJ FRANK e. CARPENTER.
Caxhiurto, ~

NcLE SANS greatest victory In
Porto Rico has to do with Il
worm. have written how he
has raised the island from bcEgary 10
prosperity. and how his foreign trade
has been multiplied 100 per cent How
tho wealth of the people has rniscn
from almost nothing to $1,000 per fam,
ilS, and how they are now growing
T'rh of of coffee tobacco and sugar.
Further on In this letter | will tell
Row mountain trails have boon changed
10 stone roads. and how justice and
good government have taken the place
Of disorder and graft
Uncle Sams ngh, with III. worm
has Lecn bigger than any Of these.
And sttil the worm Is SO small that you
could lay ii OH tho little nnsernail OF
your baby and il would just reach
Arouru the edge where the nail IL
Joined to the flesh. Nevertheless nc
Tic unc he took hold OF the island II
was sucking thc life ana sircnsth out
ct 80 per cent OF the people. Almost
every ons had It. we did not know
~ha, was tho matter. We thought
ths Porto Ricans were u degenerate ma
tion, and that their pas;y, pale skins
fl chS muscles and lackadais;cal ways
were hereditary and could not be
changed, II was some time before We
discovered tina, they are naturally as
strons as NC are and that their weak
mess existed because they were Sfcit
j; all came from this little worm whach
Was ruawlnr their vitals.
Dr. Ashford Discn,crs the IIoukworn.
The presence OF the parasite wns dis
covered in ,"0O by Major Bailey *.
Ashford, - United states army surgeon.
and since then great tight has gone
on aEains; II. resulting in the cure OF
hundreds % thousands and In coniin-
Ing It's ra"agcs TO the ponrcs, classes
Of laborcrs VINO arc far of i'll the
mountains.
The discovery OF this worm in Porto
EiCu led to our knowledge OF 1t in the
southern States. and 10 the srca; hook
svorm experiments which have hec:
rakcu under the Rockefeller fund 10
control ii.
The first active hook worm campaign.
aoNerer. was undertaken by Major
Ashfcrd in Porto Rico and to- day there
arc forty-fivc dispcnSarics scattered
over the island to which such pa ;ienta
come To be treated. During the past
year $4,000 men, women and children
have been doctorei "a, these dispcn.
sarirs, and of them 10000 have been
completely cured and 1000 more are
still Improving under treatment. Iii all
tho island more than than 400, 600 have
been treated. and the hookworIn has
and villages.
The Deadly iIoOkNorui.
II IS due 10 the work i'll Porto Rico
that sc now know all about the hook
worm and how To control ii. 1t is he
1eved 10 have been brought there from
AtriC., at the lime the iirst slaves
were imported. II is known to have
existed among the African rygmcs
md it Is thought to have come TO
Porto Rico in 1880, with the founding
of ihe first three sugar plantations
The worm began its work in the low
lands and gradually made its way
Through tho island. |; is now strong
as, i'll the mountains. and ii is found
aln1st everywhere on the coffee Gs-
tuttS.
Tn hook worm comes from AN cEs
which matches out in the earth twenty.
four hours after 1t Is laid IT IS said
10 never hatch anywhere else than fl
7hc earth and il is the worm itself
that ,rawls int" the body OF the man.
Ut often gets in through the feet The
mos. OF the Porto Eican lahorccs 20
oarcf"otcd: and during the .ainy sea
son, when the ground Is wet and damn
- scratch or sore on the skin enables
IN" parasite to crawl in. y poor state
nf health makes it's ravnges easy.
There was a great increase OF the ais