The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-07-16

< AiSe 8tlA'f I q 9
OF the cost is altogether IN favor of
me tropics. and as the sanitation cf
me tropics IS improved the diseases
VIII De 50 eliminated tina the cost
OF hghting them Will grow less and
less.
You must also remember. con
tnued Colonel Gorcas, THAI the
great undeveloped lands OF the rutur.
are thoat near the equator. Take
Brazil. That country is as large as
'he United states and has a vast deal
more cu1tiNable land. The whole
eventually be the home Of a great
people. and We NAV yet have the
konco valley as the enter Of A roce
Of white men. Moreover he habit-
able parts Of the colder Lands are
already croWded and the world must
have room. | believe that the white
mans emigration to what is the So
called t"rrld zone is only a question
Of time
Sanitation in Brazil.
But how about the tropical people
Of today. Colonel Gorgas2 DO they
realize the possibilities that might
come TO them by improved sanitation?
Have they learned any lessons from
Panama."
Most Of the people of the ropics
and by this ! mean the civilized ma
tons. have been watching With great
interest the government work here at
Panama and many of them are tax
ing advantage of the discoveries
made in recent years as to malarial
and yellow fever mosquitoes. They
have adopted the methods Of elm
mating these pests which we intro
duced at Havan and have found to
work so well here. AS a result vel
low fever has been almost eliminated
from RiotJaneiro and Santos. which.
for generations. have been the pest
holes Of the world. 1t has been prac-
tically wiped out OF Mexico and it has
been reduced greatly in other places.
And Just here l would say" con-
tinued Colonel Gorgas. that a great
miszpprekension obtains as TO the
dangers of the tropics. If you can
keep ava from the mosquitoes the
climate is no more deleteriOuS than
that OF any other part Of the world.
Taking care Of ones health here is
not unlike taking care Of az orchard.
Apples n peaches are injured more
by the insect pests which attack the
trees than by lack Of cultivation or
inferior soil. If you can keep off the
insects the luscious fruit natures in
bountiful quantities. It is the same
With man in the tropics. If YOU can
keep the parasites out Of hin he
seems to thrive quite as we'll as in the
temperate zone
A Cost Of One Cent Per Day.
But. DR.. Gorsas. are not the meth
DDS of sanitation used or the canal
SO costly that no nation could afford
to adopt them?'
NO. Thev are heap. The average
cost of keeping the population Of the
iSthmus in its present sanitary con
ditiOn is lust about one cent per day
per capita. and that sum is well with
in the means Of any tropical country
A great deal Of miSstatement has been
made concerning that matter. It has
been said that we were spending
something like 2.O00, 600 per year or
sanitation. and certain imaginative
Newspaper men have figured out that
at the same ratio it would cost q
vast sun to keep the United States
healthy. Thos figures did not come
from this bureau. Our actual cost OF
sanitation has not amounted to more
than $3.50 600 per year. and this is
for a population Of 10000. It would
amount to considerably less than one
cent per day per man. II YOU tax
the ratio of the cost as compared
with that OF Chicago or others of the
United States cites you Will find thai
We are spending comp aratiNely little
Indeed. ! have figured that we are
spending here only 10 per cent more
per CA Dlta tnan is spent the tnlteC
States over.
The Deadly Mosnuito.
The conversation here turned to the
two kinds Of mosquitoes, which more
than the lions and tigers Of the jungle
have driven the white men from tht
tropics. and | asked Colonel Gorgas
t otell me something about these ter
rible insects. In the conversation
which followed. he saidA
There are altogether about 40t
different kinds Of mosquitoes. each
of which has its own habitat and pc
culiarities. Take the Jersey mOsQui-
to. That breeds in salt water and vii
sometimes fly thirty miles during the
1t is far more f~erOcious thar
the malarial or yellow fever mOsqul
to. and its bite is more painful The
malarial mosquito is known as the
anophele. 1t bites during the day
time, but its chief feeding time is a
night. 1t is an ou~t-of-door mosnul-
~ ,o}l W. 1ix-aC " mo n w