Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-01-21

4X&4<H[H hc ha1 A1AS1A INC iatAnl lEnff
49, beggary 10 prosperity, an,
ihu'E his foreign trade has been multiple,
80 per cent. How the wealth OF the PEG
PIE has risen from almost nothing I,
S!se per family. and how they are nov
grswing rich off Of coffee. tobacco and
- ga. Further on in this letter / viii
TELL how mountain trails have beer
changed TO stone roads. and how justice
ana good government have taken the
place OF disorder and graf.
Uncle Sans fight with the worm has
been bigger than any OF these. And
etill the worm is so small that you
could lay It on the little fingernsn OF
your baby and It would Just reach
around the edge where the nail is
foined to the flesh. Nevertheless al
rhe time we took hold Of the island IL
was sucking the life and strength out
OF per cent Of the people. Almost
every one had it. We did not know
what was the matter We thought the
Porto Ricans were degenerate nation
and Ghat their pasty. pale skins. flabby
mns cles and lsekadaisicsl ways were
her adi,ary and could not be changed. II
vas some time before we discovered that
Ne are naturally as strong as we are
and that their weakness existed because
uhcy wero sick. II all came from this
little worm which. was gnawing their
vitalS.
DIR. Ashford Discovers Hookwern.
The presence Of the parasite was dis
-eoverN d in 1900 by Major Bailey X. Ash
ford. a United States army surgeon. and
h.. f.ht ha1
AKA INST it. resulting in the cure OF hun
DIRE of thousands and In confirming its
rS ages TO the poorest classes of labor.
er Who are far off in the mountains.
The discovery OF this worm in Porto
Ron led to our knowledge Of it in the
southern states and TO the great hook
worm experiments which have been taken
undcr the Rockefeller fund to control IT.
The first active hookworm campaign.
however. was undertaken BY Major Ash
ford m Porto Rico, and today there are
ferty-fiye dispenssrtes scattered over the
island 10 which such patients come to
he treated. During the last year 1900
men, women and children have been
doctored al these dispensaries, and Of
them laOoo have been completely cured
and 200 more are sun improving under
treatment In all the island more than
S1.oc9 have been treated and the hook
worm has been practically EIped out of
IRE towns and villages.
The Deadly HooLworm.
II is due to the work In Porto Rico
that we now know al about the hook
worm and how TO control II. II is be-
licved to have been brought there from
Africa at the time the first slaves were
imported. II is known TO have existed
ans ng the African pygmies and II is
THO dght TO have come 20 Porto Rico in
ls's, with the founding OF the first three
sugar plantations. The worm began its
work in the lowlsnds and gradually made
it's way through the island. 1t is now
strongest In the mountains and II is
found almost everywhere on the coffee
e. tates.
IRE hooSworm comes from an esq
which matches out In the earth twenty.
foW hours after 1t is laid 1t Is said TO
iie' or hatch anywhere else than in the
earth. and II Is the worm itself that
vavis into the body Of the man. II
sylacn, gets In through the feet. The
mort Of the Porto Rican laborers go bare
footed. and during the rainy season, when
tho ground Is wet and damp, 4 scratch
or sore on the skin enables the parasite
to crawl in, A poor state Of health
makes its rayages easy. There was a
great Increase Of the disease after the
hurricane Of 1892 at which time thou
sa IDS were practically starving and the
u 4 OF the people was low.
The entrance OF the worm through the
skin has been prevented by persuading |
tie people to wear shoes and watch out
for their feet during wet weather. In |,
many OF the rural districts the sanitary |
e. nditlons are still bad and parts OF the |
country are peppsred with the worms and |
their eggs.
One can easily tell the men, women and
children who are being eaten up by |
these parasites. They look weak. pale,
dull and flabby. and II is almost impos-
sible for them to do more than half work.
Most of them are afflicted with nausea.
vomiting, headaches and palpitation Of
the heart, and with some these symptoms
continue for years. while others gradu-
ally fade away and die.
Feed on Red Blood.
But let me tell you how the worm
works. The doctors say II feeds on the
red corpuscies Of the blood This Is the
life-giving fluid, and good healthy man
ought to have five or six millions OF them
in every cubic miIlimeter Of all the blood
that flows through his veins Not long
ago, inas:naeh as I vas far under par. l
had my own blood examined. A doctor
tabbed pin into my ear and took out
drop Of my blood and tested 1t. He found
that there were over five million red
corpuscies per cube, and even this num-
Der made him shake his head and look
serious. Now the Porto Riean with the
has only two and one-haif
million OF these red corpuscles, so you
can see where he stands. Another part
Of my test was as to tho hemogiobin.
which also relates to the quality Of this
is excellent. Ny test showed g. and now
after treatment it has risen TO ninety.
The average Porto Ricsn with the worm
has only 70 per cent OF that stuff In him.
and nevertheless upon such a physical
he has had TO labor from day
light TO dark on the sugar estates and in
the coffee plantations. He has been
sick man all the time. but he has had to
work. The curing of hundreds of thou
sands OF such people is a par. Of what :
Uncle sam has done in Porto isbco.
A Sanitary Island
Indeed, the present plans of One govern
nent are such that the Isl md is now I,
ibout as sanitary as any Fart OF Latin ,
america. At the time We took hold the
Heath rate was about forty per thousand.
It is now onty twenty-five per thousand.
md this compares favo.a11ly with any d