Great Falls daily tribune., 1919-03-27

washington, u. G., March 23.-That
large areas Of good farming land in the
eastern United States have been kept
unsettled and undeveloped for three
centuries by one of the smallest but
most dangerous Of wild animals seems
an incredible statement
The United States public health serv-
ice is authority for it. The wild animal
referred to is the Anopnal.s mosquito,
which is the carrier of malaria. The
lower peninsula Of Virginia is given as
an example of rich region which has
never been developed solely because of
the prevalence of malaria there. Public
heaith officials say that, altho this is
good farming country and was one of
the first parts of America settled by
white men, large parts of it contain only
one family to three square miles.
An old record shows that Jamestown
Virginia, was abandoned ''because of
epidemicals', and the public health men
say that the word undoubtedly refers
to malaria, which was probably worse
enemy to Captain John Smith and his
followers than were the Indians.
The public health service is now in
duSiId udllou-WluS campaign
against malaria. Letters have been sent
by the surgeon-general to the governors
of all states and to the mayors of all
cities of more than eight thousand people
in the regions where malaria is pre-
valent asking for their cooperation in
the fight. The public health service
further offers its assistance to any in
dividual or community in the fight
against malaria. If you wish to eliminate
this disease from your section, apply to
the public health service thru your state
health officer. If necessary special
sanitary engineer will be sent to assist
you in the work.
The difficult part of the anti-malaria
campaign is to make the people of the
United States realize how serious the
damage done by malaria is. The in
fluenza, with its sudden spectacular
onset and high death rate attracted wide
attention Literally everyone in the
United States joined the fight against
it. The newspapers took it up and when
the newspapers attack a national menace,
it is about done for.
You never see much about malaria in
the newspapers, or hear much about 1t.
Yet six or seven million people in the
United States suffer from it every year.
A small percentage of these die. but all
of them are weakened and many rem
dered practically useless. Enormous
areas are made almost unproductive by
malaria 1t is said that no such thing
exists as really prosperous white com
munity in malarial region. Thruout
great sections of the near south, prac-
tically every child has malaria. and
children suffer most from it The back
wardness of certain classes of southern
l.. l.. ht-h
perts to be almost wholly due to the
malaria. And backwarlness in school is
not the worst effect of the disease. The
mental and physical development OF
these children is retarded, and the ranks
of that class sometimes described as
poor white trash are greatly sweiled.
In 4 word. where malaria Is uncon-
trolled. if the white man stays he de-
generates: if he goes. large areas are
left uncultivated. and the best of the
land falls into the hands of negroes.
At one time malaria was much more
widely prevalent than it is today. SAM
tary conditions improve surely II SLOWLY
The Importance of taking guinine IN
malarial regions is more generally re-
cocnized. and the faith in certain worth
less patent medicines that were once
widely used has fortunately declined.
But nearly half the country is stu
ravaged by the disease To some extent.
In general. it is most prevalent in the
most thiply settled rural districts. while
in modern cities it no longer exists.
tho it still prevents development ana
Injuries property values in the suburbs
of some important cities OF the sou'h.
The largest malarial area IN the
Tinted States includes the whole south
east. as far west as Texas and eastern
Kansas and as far north as the north
ern boundary of Maryland. The northern
malarial area takes in parts of New
Jersey, New York. Connecticut: Rhode
Island, and Massachusetts. \ thira area
;nn,rdas tho Sacramento and San Joaquin
va,levs in California Malaria is not
limited exclusively to these endemic
areas as the public health service calls
them, nor is it prevalent turnout them, en-
Put malaria is danger thruout the