Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1916-10-31

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Albuquerque, N. NJ, Oct. 2s.-This
little city, in common with practically
every other city. town and village in
the southwest. presents an unusual
and interesting spectacle from the
business and social points of view. 1t
has a great asset in the climate, which
runs largely to sunshine, and it is con-
tinually faced by the problem of keep
ing that asset from turning into liza.
bility.
The climate. as is we'll known, is
very favorable to the treatment of
most forms of tuberculosis AS a re-
suit, tens of thousands of health seek
ers come here. Some Of them have
money, and some of them have not.
The moneyed element represents one
of the greatest elements in the pros
perity Of city like Albuquerque. The
moneyless members of the health seek
ing army are in many ways the biggest
local problem. In fact, the leading
question in a town like this is how to
get the first class of health seeker
without getting the second; or rather.
few Of the INDECENT as possible. and
what to do with them after they ar
rive. No real progress has been made
in answering the second half OF that
question, on an adequate scale, and
there seems to be no answer in sight.
There is considerable local contro-
versy as to the exact proportion Of
the community's prosperity for which
the health seeker is responsible. High
attitudes breed optimism and there
are enthusiasts who claim that he is
not an indispensable asset to that we'll
known Official. General Prosperity.
They are probably wrong. Most of
the retail merchants, who are the real
barometers Of local conditions In any
community, admit that they would
have to do business on a different
scale and plan if it were not for the
people of means who live here on &C
count of the climate.
This is city of 10000 the largest
in two states. One merchant esti-
mates that there are $500 remit
lance people" in town-individuals
supported wholly or in part by remit
tances from their families or their in
vestments in the east. A large num-
Der of these are In good circumstances
or better Many of them are wealthy.
Obviously. the money they bring In
and spend monthly is big factor in
local business. Taking care of them
and supplying their needs is bound to
be leading industry. Just as FL
Paso or San Antonio can point to the
thousands of soldiers who are paid OF
there every two weeks, or Pittsburgh
indicates without undue m0desty her
million-d ollar-a-day payroll, so these
southwestern towns figure the num-
Der of health seekers as local asset.
Their presence brings about num-
Der Of indirect results that are not
duplicated by any class of outsiders
in any other section of the country.
A remarkable cosmopolitanism of So
ciety is one Of them. There are towns
Of six or eight thousand in this state
that have the atmosphere of cities
five times their size in the east. You
can meet people from every state in
the union in them. You will find pro-
fessional men, artists and writer's, sci
entists. big business" men in them
who would not ordinarily consider liv-
ing in town of such small size and
isolation. Some OF these men are so
well known that merely to mention
their business would be almost equiv
alent TO telling their names. Their
presence keeps the southwest very
much in touch with events because
they arc people who get the inside
dope" on everything from art to poll
tics. They are desirable citizens as
much for themselves as for the mon
ey they spend, and number Of south
western towns are accordingly con-
Quoting national advertising cam
paigns to attract them. Unfortunately,
the picture has it's other side.
The figures on this other side are
the sick who are attracted by that
same advertising, and by the reputa-
ton of The climate: and who arrive on
the scene without any means of sup
port. or means wholly inadequate. 1t
is not too much to say that this latter
class forms a problem entirely beyond
the resources of local towns to cope
with. They are problem for char
ity. public or private. on an immense
scale. and the southwest Is too sparse
ly settled region to handle 1t. The
general average Of prosperity is fairly
high here; there are no poverty strick-
en- classes Of local development On
the other hand the number of men who
would be rated as very rich by east
ern standards is so small that man
who had worked IN saw mil or
twenty years could count them on the
fingers Of one hand. And it is from
tho n,,rcoS Of tho worry rich that pri
vate charities of any magnitude have
to be recruited.
AS result Of this state of things.
the sick man or woman who comes
here without enough to live on is like
ly to Lave a pretty sad time of it.
There is an immense amount of suf-