The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-01-23

tourto-A Spaiil~it '"'
out Graft.
pcnter.'
W~ashiueton. j. G.
l'ncia Sans greatest Hlctor5 ~
Poriu kjrn has u 10 With a worm.
have. written how II" has RAISED VIC
island from ie""ary 10 roSpeiiLs'
ard how his foreign trade mas 'tIh
multiplied 100 per cent. TO" tnS
wealth OF The people has risen iioHt
almost nothing 10 $1,000 per fanny
end how they are now growing rich
off II coffee. tobacco and sugar. ur-
trer on il this letter | will tell now
mountain trails have been changed u
stone roads, and how justice auo Soou
government have taken In" place OF
disorder and graft.
Uncle Sans fight with the Worm
has beer bigger than any OF THESE.
Avid still The. worm Is so SIIlall tha'
YOU could lay il on the little tlngerhali
IF your baby and il would Just reach
around the edge where nali -
,oincd IL che flesh. Nevertheless AT
the tseno We took hold OF the island Il
was sucking the life and strength on,
of 80 per cant of the people. aiInos'
every one had it. We did no. know
what was the matter. We tllouSiit
the Porto Eicans wer.: Il degenerate,
nation ana mat tuflI fdS>NS oNii'
nabby muscles and larkadaisical ways
we're hereditary and could NOT De
changed. 1t was some time before
~. discovered that they are naturally
as strong rs We are and that their
weakness existed becausc they we're
sick. Il Ill cam" from this little
worm. which was craving Their VI
tails
DIR. Ashford the Hookworm.
g ~. ~ vl 4 NEn =
discovered in 1900 by Maj. Bailey II.
Ashford, q United States army sur
geon, and since then . great hight has
cone on against it, resulting III the
cure Of hundreds OF thousands II II
conGning it's raVages 10 the poores
classes Of iaborerS who are far Off II
the mountains.
The discovery OF his worm II
Porto Rico led to our kno Wedge OF !
in the Southern States and t" tht
great hookworm experiments. Whicf
ave beer taken undo the f.ocke-
TELLER fund to control II.
The FIRST active hookWorW cam
paign, however, WAS undertaken D,
Major Ashford III Porto Rico, and to
Gay there are forty-tivc diSpenSttrle
scattered over the island to which
such patients come TO be treated
During the past year $4,000 men, Wo
men ana cnlilItn nave DNtiR op1tc1C
at these Gispcnsaries, and OF then
10000 have been completely cure
and 1000 more are still imprOvtn
under treatment. IN all the islam
more than 100000 have been treated
and the hookwOrm has been praGt
cally wiped out OF the towns and vi
Lagos.
The Deadly Hookworm.
1t is due to the work In Porto Rio
.r 1900 h~.s ~
hOokWorm and nov to control it.
is believed to have been brought ne
from Africa at the time the fir
slaves We're imported. 1t is known
have existed among the African Ply
mics, and 1t is thought II have con
10 Porto Rico In 1880 with the fount
ing OF the first three sugar plant
tons. The worm began it's work
the lowlards and gradually made
way through the island. 1t is nc
strongest in the mountains. and it
found almost everywhere on the &C
fee estates,
The hookworm comes from an e
which matches out in the ear
twenty-four hours after it is laid.
il said to never hatch anywhere 81
than in the earth. and it is the wor
itself that crawls into the body Of t
man. It often gets in through the fe,
The most Of the Porto Rican
borerS go harefooted; and during /
rainy season when the ground is V
end damp. 4 scratch or sore on t
skin enables the parasites to crawl
\ poor state of health makes it's r;
ages easy. There was a great
crease OF the disease after the hur
cane Of 1899. at which time tho
andS were practically starving q
the diet of the people was low.
The entrance of the worm thtuu
the skin has been prevented by p
Suading the people 10 wear shoes a
watch out for their feet during
weather. In many of the rural {
tricts the sanitary conditions are s
bad and parts OF the counrry are .
pered with the worms and their es
one can easily tell the men. won
and children who are being eaten
by these parasites. They Dol VT
pale. dull and f1abby. and it is ain
impossible for them TO do more II
haif work. Most of them are afr
So with nausea. vomiting. headac