Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-17

to do with temperature, and it is com
mon to speak of the humidity of WASH
ington as though the National Capital
| were peculiarly afflicted in this matter
But the truth is, as recorded in the
files of the weather bureau, Washing
ton is practically the same as Boston
can brag over Washington of about
.O15 average superiority during the five
warm months of the year.
northern i cities have nothing on"
Washington weather in summertime
it is just as true that Washington can
fairly hold her own with many of the
famous resorts, of the south In winter
time.
That greatest of joys and health-giv-
ing properties. sunshine, is about the
same in Washington in winter as in
Atlanta Ca, and for the three winter
only about clever hours less of sun
shine than Jacksonville, Fla.
The mean average temperature rec
ord in Washington during the three
less than five degrees from that OF
Asheville, n c.. 1t was almost the
same in point of equability as that OF
Thomasville, Ga, and was superior In
northerner who complains that changes
of temperature in Washington are
rapid and severe. that in winter time
one goes from cold to noticeable
warmth and back to cold again in the
course of a day." forgets apparently
the similarity in this respect between
Washington and southern California
and the Riviera. 1t is indeed with such
adorable abiding places in winter time
that Washington may dare to hold her
own, even in respect to temperature
Xxx
If man who comes to Washington
to live and to work is apt to find him
self on the sick list frequently during
the first year or two Of his residence,
he must bring his germs with him; for
not only is 1t trueo that residence in
Washington is conducive to good
health, but records show that the eli
mate of Washington is not properly to
be charged with anything unfavorable
on the score of health.
Take the infant mortality rate. which
is a sensitive index of ill effects OF
summer This matter in Washington
is complicated by the conditions of the
large colored population. Nevertheless,
both among the whites and the colored
there has been a steady marked de-
cline of the infant mortality rate. which
would not be SO If climate were
largely determining factor.
Other diseases to a certain extent
chargeable to bad climatic conditions
in winter, such as grip, diphtheria,
berculosis. also show marked steady
decline Scarlet fever, which amounts
almost to scourge in and about New
York, has never had a high death rate
in Washington. descending in some
years as low as IL per 100000, and
while that disease is not closely asso-
ciated with climate. the death rate does
assert something of the power of re-
sistance to contasion which humanity
enjoys in the climate of Washington.
The humidity .of Washington which
northerners love to think is deadly in
effect upon health is shown by the
health officer of the District to have
no necessary relation to the illnesses
presumably most affected; for the num-
Der of deaths from pneumonia, bron-
chitis and congestion of the lungs rise
and fall, apparently without relation to
the humidity, as, for instance. In March,
1911, with a relative humidity of 500,
the death rate from lung troubles arose
to 115 and in September of the same
year with a relative humidity of 500,
the death rate fell to %.
X *
Death from all causes retreats under
The beneficent condition of life in Wash
ington, for length Of life Increases. and
malaria has actually departed from
the midst Of Washington It is some
times alleged that the decline of the
Greek nation had it's first cause in
prevalent malaria. That being true,
the outlook for New York city is dark
and it is no better in Boston, where,
during the summer Just past, mos
ouitoes have amounted to something
like a plague. Mosquitoes in Washing
ton are as extinct as the mastodon,
and malaria, like the ichthyosaurus, is
no more.
There were precisely 2.s deaths per
| 100000 resulting from malaria In
| Washington last year and the facility
with which mosquitoes penetrated
rooms on the seventh floor of Boston
hotels the past summer make the in
ference reasonable that such negligible
suffering due to malaria as occurred
in Washington came down from Massa-
chusetts via rail or by underground
from the Bronx boarded train at Jer-
native to the state of New Jersey
joined a sightseeing party to WASH
ington.
In simple justice it must be said re-
garding vital statistics as a proof of
the choice health conditions of Wash
ington, had New York city succeeded
in her dire plot to carry off DR.. William
c. woodward. who has been health Of
fcer of the District a score of years,
New York would have something to
boast of in connection with health in
spite of her climate. and Washington,
Notwithstanding her natural advan-
tages, would have endless cause of re-
greet.
But length Of life nor immunity from
disease is not everything that makes
health blessing and Washington in
finitely to be celebrated as a health
resort Washington is as full of the
joy of living as Boston is of mos
auitoes or New York Of scarlet fever
An inhabitant of Athens being re-
buked because he did not love to
travel, responded: But why should I