The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-02-13
MEDIG0S ORGANIZE FOR VASS OF
 MEMORIAL FUNDS
Dr. Scale Harris Gives Views on Why the Memorial Should Be Erected
 in Alabama

purpose of lnaugurating a system atic canvass for raising $750, ,000, which Alabama is allotted for the erection and maintenance of the $6,000,000 Gorgas School of Sanita- ton, to be erected at Tuscaloosa in honor of the greatest chSnlpion of sanitation the world has perhaps ever known, to do honor to the mem ory of the great Alabamian, Gen. William Crawford Gorgas.
 In an interview with pr. Scale Harris on the memorial, he tells why the memorial should be erected in -.ise ma to the late champion of aantti.tion and foe to preventive dis eaees.
 pr. Harris said:
 Comparison Drawn
 Fns greatest memorial to General eersas should be in the state in which 1ie was born and which he called his nome during most of his life, It should be and will be of such mag nitude that will attract the atten- tion of the world to his native state. 1t will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to establish and endow a school of sanitation such as Is pro- posed in Alabama and which will befit the memory and the achieve ments of General William Crawford Gorgas. The people of the world are contributing to this international me- rnorial to an Alabamian. It would. therefore, be blot on the escutcheon of Alabama if its citizens did not rise Ito tho occasion and contribute most Iiberally to an institution which will carry on the geat work of stamping out disease. initiated by one of her sons.
 "I have sometimes compared Cor gas' conquest of disease to Napo1- cons military successes, their lives. however, were different and diver gent. The one was q soldier of for tune, making weird and devilish music with a sword, bidding Europe dance to tho measure, yet loving France as none before or since. The other was a simple child of genius. an apostle of a new dispensation in medicine. a benefactor of the great est magnitude. Napoleon's conquests were accomplished at the cost of car rying death and desolation over 8 continent, making millions to mourn; while Gorgas achievements brought health and happiness into millions of homes, and will rest like benedic- tion upon mankind in all civilized nations when wars and warriors with the fearful destruction they have wrought has been forgotten. Peace has It's victories more potent than war Since France has done so much to perpetuate the memory of her great military leader. what I ask should not America and particularly Alabamians do for Gorgas who saw ed more lives than were sacrificed to Napoleon's ambition?
 "The memory of General Gorgas and the good that he did will live fin the hearts and minds of men and wo- men when bronze and marble have crumbled into dust; but there should be, and will be, many monuments and meorials dedicated to the memory Of this great American. In proving that, with the elimination of tropical dis eases, the white man can live as comfortably. be as efficient and en- joy as good health, in the tropics as in colder climates, General Gorgas is one of the worlds greatest bene- factors.
 "One Of the greatest privileges of my life was to serve on the staff Of General Gorgas for more than year during the World war. As I saw him day after day realized more and more his greatness, though he was the most unassuming man, great or small, that I have ever known; and when my duties called me to France and England found that his fame was as great in those countries as in the nation that gave him birth. Sir William Osler told me that when General Gorgas went to England in 1910 to receive honorary degree from Oxford university, he was given the greatest ovation ever accorded to a physician in that usually undemon- strative country. Another evidence of the esteem of the British for Gen. eral Gorgas Is that during his last illness he was visited by King George who took that occasion to make him Knight in one of the most honored of the British orders.
 After the death of General Gorgas in London his remains were escorted by a military cortege to St. Pauls cathedral where his fuperal services were held in the presence of the greatest of England's great. It was said that no man, not British sub ject, was ever accorded higher fu- neral honors than were given to Gen. eral Gorgas.
 "When the remains of General Cor gas were brought back to the United States and laid to rest in Arling- ton cemetery, where they will ever remain the sacred possession of the American people, he was paid the greatest tribute ever made to a de-
 ev< Art AA ital Tn addition to the great men in public life in Washington who as- sembled at his funeral, there were representatives of most of the na- tions that have embassies in the United States, particularly those of the Central and South American re- publics, who have profited so much by his achievements. One of the most touching incidents of General Gorgas' funeral at Washington was the presence of a special envoy from Cuba who was sent from Havana to Washington to place a wreath of flowers on the grave of the man whom the Cubans regard as their greatest benefactor.
 This is the man to whom Ala bamians and the people of the world will pay tribute during the next few weeks. Panama initiated the move ment. The government of that re- public contributed the site for this international institution, which bor- ders >on the Pacific ocean, adjoining many of the embassies which are the national monuments of the respective countries In addition the people have raised $500.000 with which to build the memorial institute and will equip the laboratories and class rooms in their entirety. The first field branch of this great project will be opened within a few months at Tuscaloosa. It only remains for the people of the United States to en-