El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-11-30
Ell PASO HERALD

so far as health is concerned we hav'
come close to the parting of the ways
Much syphilis Prevails
In the discussion Or. G.. Werley said
The question of cleaning up Chihua-
huita is simply a question Of money
II is going to take a whole lot OF il
/ We have &C TO get rid OF the SUFFICE
water that runs down there after every
rain. That will mean the putting in
Of storm sewers and a great deal oil
expense The next thing TO do is tc
connect every family with the common
sewer a is a thing for the city
TO do and for the individual TO do. The
city has got to take hold Of it. The
your buildings down there and pave
your streets. Nothing can be done
along that line until the men Wht
own property get together and are
convinced that il is TO their interest
10 improve the conditions. Another
problem is TO get rid OF the overcrowd-
ing.
There is no way TO get rid of this
except 10 increase the earning capac-
lty Of the people who live there. There
IS only one way TO do this and that is
to give them a better education. Tha
is going to take time There are thous-
ands Of girls working as servants, who
II they were efficient, could really
/ earn twice as much as they are earn
ing now That is . matter Of educa-
Z ton It is the same way with the man.
! who is ignorant and gets about half
B what the American gets These people
are handicapped by their state OF
health. brought about largely by their
ignorance. Sixty to eighty per cent
are syphilitic or tuberculosis. Hook
worm. tape worm and other parasites
handicap them in their efforts to make
! a living. 1 don't think that the Next
can people are iutrinsically incapable
or vicious or undesirable,
The White Mans Donation.
"I~uoerculosis and syphilis are the
white mans donation to the race When
! was in Washington / visited the
Smithsonian Institute. I was interest
ed in bones At the time. 1 met Dr..
Hrdlicka. the curator Of the museum
and he was full Of the subject. He
told me that there was no evidence OF
tuberculosis or syphilis in the pre-CO-
lumbar bones of this hemisphere. He
had Travelled everywhere in the United
States Central and South America So
we have ourselves to blame for the
disease among our Mexican friends
We have three or four thousands of
years Of civilization behind us and
they have only three or four hundred.
So I have great hopes that when they
are given a chance they viii prove
themselves WORTHY.
Either we will have TO convince the
people of Ell Paso that they and their
children are in danger from these con-
ditiOns. or we VIII have to use the big
stick and compel them to improve con-
ditions.
7 hin I Fan answer. DR.. Thomp-
sons question in one word. we can
reasonably expect hell. il we dent do
Diptheria's Source.
DR.. Il. T. Stafford said: Il think
that the increasing amount of diphthe-
ria is one demonstration Of what IS
coming TO US from these unsanitary
conditions in the lower part OF town.
DR.. R L. Ramey SAID: The clean
ing up Of Chihuahuita is a hard prop
nEfHfow II is "a nnNfrfral cleanup meT-
Their in the past or the present has II
been thought necessary TO clean u up,
for those people have been satisfied
and h politicians have been salts
fled and they don't have to clean Il
ND. One thing, to my mind. that viii
do more good VII be drainage II
seems 70 me that can be
il they viii pave the streets, as Dr.
WerIey says. II C~hihuahuita could
be turned over 10 the army as Cuba.
San Francisco and the Philippines
were. II would soon be changed Those
places were cleaned up and disease
stamped out. The same thing can be
lone down here il only pressure enough
can be brought TO bear on the admin
isrrarion. The people who own the
property ave not been forced to i'm
prove it. The property is owned by
rich men
Complete Family.
DIT. W II. Lloyd said: one thing
7 was impressed with down there in
Chihuahua is that the Mexican family
is not complete. a complete Mexican
family consists Of the family. the hog
and chickens. and the dog When the
family DELEGATES the hog stands by and
eats il. when the hog DELEGATES the
chickens eat and then lay the eggs for
the family to eat in its turn They
are easy people 10 handle II YOU know
how. When l was in . little town
in Mexico. where I haG the ~co-Opera-
ton OF the authorities n We mao as
clean a town as i ever saw anywhere
Dr. C F. Braden sail: 4 want to
ask Dr. Thompson If, N his opinion,
the question Of domestics was not one
some OF our children's diseases"
Danger Above Tracks,
DR.. J. A. Rawlings said The trOu-
this state Of ours have not enough
power. We can suggest but we can't
carry out. As a emit Of the board
OF health, I would like to nave this
society stand behind US stronger II
We can get the public behind US, We
can get something done Doctors who
don't practice among these MeN1cans
can't realize these conditions. I be
lievs that starvation is the chief lac
tor in the sickness that occurs. As FOX
the matter Of diphtheria, last year In
the months Of November. December
January. and February. running down
into March and April. We had from 80
to SIS cases OF diphtheria every month,
and the death rate At one time was
IlIleen- mat KEEP up unLl hlululTA
almost, and nov il is beginning again.
FumiGntion n Failure
DIT. @. H Thsmas said: In counec-
tion with the contagious diseases. diph-
iberia and scarlet fever, there is n
thing that is overlooked to q great
extent by tho medical profession. u
that is the method Of disinfectinE the
material inside the residences south
of the tracks. where the acute infec-
tons exist. Burning a few candles
and sulphur is not going to affect the
contagious condition OF the bedding-
These people get sick and vomlt on
the bedding or soil il in other ways;
the women viii wipe their babies ewes
mouths on the bedclothes. and this
contegion lies dormsn until next sea
son. ] know we are having diphtheria
and scarlet fever i'm the same localities
that we a last year. The city or
county should ave some central place
where sterilization Of the bedding and
other materials in these houses could
be done under high pressure Under
our present method Of fumigation those
things are going to lay dormau from
Year 10 year and we will have those
diseases going on al the time
Quarantine n Farce
Dr.. Thompson added some 1iudl
thoughts: "HOrdes of NeNicans, who
are coming over are all coming with
the ab~omniable. filthy practices and