The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-01-31
THEHASKINLETTER
WHITE MAN IN THE TROPICS
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

N-ray without adequate protection have
been thereby rendered sterile.
Whether tie effect is due wholly or
even mainly to the actinic ray or not, it
has been pretty well established by
experience that continuous life in equa-
torlal countries is bad for the white
man No white man should go to such
country unless he is assured of ample
vacations in more northerly lands. He
should be specially careful about ac
Cepting work in tropical countries which
exposes him much to the sun.
But while parts Of the tropics are
probably uninhabitable to the white
man, and while continuous NE there
may be dangerous for him, there are
various mitigating conditions to be con-
sldered. The actinic ray may destroy
The nervous system, il the exposure is
long enough, but in small doses it is
has taken winter vacation trip to
the tropics Rs aware of this peculiar
stimulating effect A sense of delight
full physical well-being is experienced
by almost anyone on first going to the
tropics, and a short visit there is al
most always beneficial to the health.
suppose, then, that a man owned a
CoConut plantation somewhere in the
West Indies which required his atten-
ton only five or six months in the
year, and enabled him to go to New
England for the summer and fall. Such
a life might be far healthier than one
all of which was spent in the variable
climate of the middle Atlantic states.
Then again there are tropical lands
which have mountains that reach lit
orally out of the tropics by reason of
their great elevations. And there are
| other tropical lands especially islands,
which are so tempered by sea breezes
! that their climates are not really trop-
cal at all
Hawaii is an excellent example Of
| this latter class. The island is just
within the tropics, in the first place
and it is cooled by winds in the ser
ond. Its temperature varies between
So and 50 degrees, There is now q
! fourth generation Of white Americans
in Hawaii, and this generation is not
! only healthy, but has produced a num-
| Der Of men of very exceptional ply
| sique American boys of this genera
| ton in Hawaii are among the star ath-
| letes of Yale and Harvard.
Mr. Ford believes that these young
| men, who seem decidedly to have gained
! rather than lost in strength and stami-
! ma by being born in the tropics. illus
! hate method by which the white man
may adjust himself to tropical climates
! when they are not too severe.
MI, fOIu lIlnIN DtllfNtS lllHt the &C
I tinic ray is a large factor in the effect
which the tropics have on the man
/ with light skin. He also believes
| that this light ray, up to certain
point, is a valuable stimulus. He says
with regard to himself for example,
that he can do much wore work in Ha~
wall than in the United States, and
that he needs only five hours sleep out
Of every "a there while in this country
he requires, or at least takes, a great
deal more.
The reason that negroes. Polynesians
and other peoples native to tropical
countries are not affected adversely
fhY the actinic ray Is that the dark
| color of their skins neutalizeS its eff
feet Now the young Hawaiian ath
letes Of Anglo Saxon blood, who have
spent so much Of their time riding the
surf, with their skins exposed to the
fun action of the sun. seem not to have
suffered thereby And it is noticeable
that all of them are tanned to very
dark hue--darker indeed, than the ma
tive PolynesianS. In other words. pro-
vided he can endure the initial expo
sure to the sun. the white man may
protect himself in the tropics by ac-
quring the dark skin of the native
The Engishman in India seeks to sur
viVe by wearing pith helmet and
staying in the shade as much as pos
sible The American in Hawaii has
reversed the process by going right out
into the sunlight and adjusting himself
to it,
OF course his latter process would
not he possible in a country like India
where exposure to the Sun usually re
suits in death by sunstroke. But il
suggests that in many of the more
healthful tropical countries the white
man may adjust himself to his en-
vronment. not only without damage
but with positive benefit. The whole
subject is. one upon which nothing posi-
tive can b. said and Of which a care
Mr. Ford believes that study of the
fourth generation Of Americans in Ha'
wall should now be made. Meantime
any American who cOntempates COINS
to tropict country to live should re
aize that }e faces a radical change o.
environment. and one which can safely
he made only with full knowledge
of its conditions,