Evening star., 1914-10-04
ALEUTS DWNDLED
TOAFEW HUNDRED
Once Sturdy, WarIike People
Ravaged by Many
Diseases.
POPULATION OF 5000
HAS DECREASED TO 800
tuberculosis, Smallpox and Measles
Have Carried Off Thousands.
No Sanitary Sense.

| The Aleut population of the Aleutian
archipelago and the Pribilof Islands
Of Alaska numbered we'll over 5000
| in the closing years of the eighteenth
century, when Russian explorers first
discovered them. Their descendants
today number about 500.
The village of Atka today contains
sfxty-four souls. the remnants of three
villages which numbered 700 inha bit
ants only fifteen years ago During
the past year the population was re-
duced by fourteen to its present
census
The ravases Of disease, brought by
the white man and before his coming
unknown to the native, appear to
threaten utter extinction of the Aleuts
in Alaska. Every variety of i'll known
to civilization has invaded their vii
lagos. There seems no hope.
of St. Paul Island have open tubercu-
losis. This is the estimate of Dr.
Esmond, who lived among them. de-
voting his labors to their preservation
a chronic cough. according to state
ments of fellow-Aleuts. Recent physi-
cal examinations made by United
States health officials has discovered
active LESSONS in u majority of lungs
tested.
Surgeon Galloway Investigates.
Surgeon T. c. Galloway of the
United States public health service,
assigned to duty aboard the revenue
| cutter. Unalga, cruising in Alaskan
| waters during the past summer, at
tempted to discover the causes of the
great incidence of disease among the
Aleuts. the high mortality and to con-
slider possible remedy. With other
| tasks claiming his attention, his OBJ
servatiens were limited.
The treatment and instruction to
natives which can be given by officers
| of the public health service on duty
with revenue cutters, he comments, Is
negligible; only a limited time can be
spent in each village. owing to the
necessities Of the service. Natives are
treated almost against their will. Pub
lie health surgeons can come In con-
tact with a patient not more than once
or twice a year.
A large part of the problem Sur
geon Galloway considers to bs 'un-
doubtedly an economic. question. To
solve that and make them as nearly
Independent as POSSIBLE; he recites. has
been the subject OF a proposition to
place all Aleuts on a single island un-
der federal supervision: giving them
privileges Of hunting and fishing over
other islands in season. While this ap-
pears a good plan for many reasons,
Surgeon Galloway regards 1t especi-
ally wise as anording opportunity for
hospitalizAtion and segregation neces-
sary to preserve hea1ths:
=, ONCE stafdy 1eeple.
| The A1eua II i described by the
first Russians Who saw them as a
sturdy war1fBe people. Ie,night have
been expected that their isolation
would have protected them. at the cost
of any acquired immunity. from infec-
tious diseases to which they have SO
easily succumbed since their later In
PRODUCTION among them.
who dwells among them, has been an
accurate historian Of these people.
Smallpox. In 1853, he has recorded
carried off one-half the populatlon:
in 1918, had even a higher mortality In
those Villages where Il was epidemic.
aside from any question OF acquired
Immunity" says surgeon Gai.oway.
such as to make them easy prey to
disease. The climate is foggy and
damp, the sun is hidden most Of the
time and high winds are. are frsapHm.: aIsns tha m
'barabara'. form of dwelling was the
natural development: These dwellings
are half cave, sod-covered, usually
damp, dark and airless. ,SsS on,y LsIentty ,r;ty
wood floors and walls. Since fuel is
almost lacking warmth is conserved
at the expense Of ventilation. The cook
ing is done at one end Of these huts
over an open fire.
..rheir restricted diet consists chiefly
Of the products Of their hunting. with
some -four. tea and sugar oDtalneo
from traders. They are fatalfstic and
improvident, and live in alternate sur
felt and famine"
Lack of Sanitation.
SANITARY sense has hardly begun to
develop in the Aleut," observes Sur
Eeon Galloway. although teachers,
missionaries and others have instilled
some fear of tubercular discharges 1t
Is quite common, however. to see
mother in far advanced stages Of dis
ease fondIing her still healthy infant
and bestowing upon 1t her baneful
caresses. The frequent practice OF the
mothers Of masticating dried hsh be-
fore giving 1t to their weaving babies
must work great harm.
! The ,sickroeIn is always. croWqed with
curious neighbors. This probably helps
In the rapid spread of epidemics.
"Superatitious and childlfke, the ma
tives do not lend themselves readily
to Improvement in the present situa-
tion. Yet. unless Improvement comes
quickly, extinction is almost inevitable
in comparatively few. years..