Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1913-04-22
GOVERNMENT INSTITUTION At
SAND SPRINGS WILL TREAT
SEVERAL THOUSAND.
Disease PREVALENT HERE
Dr. White Who Is 10 BE I'm Charge
Says Majority OF Indians HIVE
u. Eye Trouble.


soon to be established at Sand
'~Sngs, VIII afford place of treat
INT for this dreaded ailment for
thousands of persons OF the south
west, In the word of DR.. Daniel White,
y who Will have charge of the hospital,
together with his brother, now OF the
Manhattan hospital of New York
utj
pr White has spent much of his
time among the Indians of Oklahoma
and the southwest, and Is well ac-
quainted with the ravages OF blind
ness which trachoma has caused
among all classes. While II il not
L possible at this time to ascertain the
Size of the new institution for Sano
Springs 1t may be said that its ac-
commOdations will be ample to care
for afflicted ones in an expeditions
manner. In recent letter TO Charles
Pags founder Of the town OF Sand
1 Springs. DR.. White said:
4 The Situation In Oklahoma.
l 81 have been all over oklahoma,
and from $1,000 to $4,000 Of the
y1l5,000 Indians In teh state are the
victims of trachoma in Its various
I forms. II will eventually lead to
blindness unless the government and
state authorities take every means to
1 stamp out the disease, which Is high
)y infectious. / have personally seen
many Of the Indians and know the
! conditions as they exist In Oklahoma.
tlt IS very serious matter, II Is
| quarantine disease, but no efforts to
] segregate the sufferers from tracho-
ma has ever been made by the health
authorities of the state. AS soon as
I the Indians pass out OF the control
Of the government they will be
1 .liroWn upon the state for protection
and as there are at present no state
laws dealing with trachoma, 1t is
only question of time until OKLA
homa will be up against difficult
problem.
In Indian Schools.
"I have visited all the Indian
I schools in Oklahoma, and have treat
, ed many old Indians but owing to
, the fact that the Indian office has no
y, funds to carry on the work among
I the adults, many of them have been
frendefed totally blind from trachoma.
' Persons without instructions as to the
methods employed in the treatment
of traChoma cannot cope with the di-
sease. Thirty per cent of the Pawnee
tIndians in Oklahoma are blind and
at least fifteen per cent OF the In
tdians of the state are in the same
condition, due to trachoma. The dis
ease has gained its greatest foothold
among the Pawnees, while the sltua-
tion is serious among the Cheyennes
end arapahoes The Seminoles and
Wrecks are badly infected with the
disease, it being especially bad among
the SeminOles. Many of the Chero-
xsees. especially those living in the
hills around Tahlequah, Sallisaw and
Vinita. are blind from the same
Gauss The public school children of
the state, according to DR.. White, are
badly affected with the disease, 20
per cent of the scholars at the Nc
Alester and Vinta public schools
where he made investigations, being
sufferers from the disease which
}eads to blindness. Most of the in
mates of the state blind school at
Fort Gibson are victims Of the dis
Case,
What Causes Irachoma.
Trachoma, according to DR. White,
I has made the disease study for
u MI ifNtn NJ g
tace upon a dirty towel; by washing |
N the same water used by another
'Jerson; by using the same bed clothes |
br handkerchiefs; by many persons
rsing the same bath tub one after the |
bther and many cases are directly |
Attributable to dirty towels used in |
,arber shops, upon the faces of the |
Mtrons of the shops. Never rub |
Tour eyes with the ends of your fin
,ers ) cautions DR.. White, for SO do
d. you may carry the germs of ira
homa to the eye" Trachoma is a |
serm disease and is infectious and In |
Nine cases contagious. If you must |
NJ your eyes use the back of your |
tands or your knuckles. and thus
Ns,d the danger of trachoma.
~ symptoms of Trachoma.
sThe only active symptoms of trac-
.oma according to DR.. White, are
he feeling of granules of sand rub
ing the eyeball; ltchiness Of the eye
ID and eyebal; flowing tears down
he cheeks; inability to stand the rays
fthe sun without squirting; the eyes
,resent a sleepy appearance and the
idst are kept close together Trac
onia is an nsiduous disease and
Aneg9 is no pain in its first stages.
fhere may. or may not be redness of
- eyeball, in so per cent Of the
Aog the eye ball appears normal.
XHow to Detect Trachoma.
wxnyone with experience can easily
ahsof the appearance of trachoma
H{hrning back the eyelids, where
go the size Of pin head or pea
nc found Eserytime the victim
pchoma winks or bllnks these
rub the eyeball. If the dis
tis not cured in a majority OF
the sight becomes affected and
natient fails to realize that their
is bad until called upon to read
4 card such as occulists use