The Colorado statesman., 1924-03-15

q cabinet officer knswn as the chief
of the sanitary department. Santa
ton In Cuba Is a prime requisite. u
was Major General Gorgas, better
known in the service as Doctor
Gorgas, who. while lieutenant col
onel and stationed in Havana years
ago, put that city into condition
which made 1t immune from that
plague of its life, yellow fever.
When he was formulating his great
work in Cuba General Gorgas was nc
companled by his wife. She ran all
the risks of the plague which the men
OF the service ran, and her courage en-
deared her to the Cubans. OF course,
In greatest purt, the high honor which
has come to this American woman in
the form of an invitation TO be the
guest OF government is in recognition
or the services of her husband to he
CUBAN people, but the honor due to
his widow also was a moving factor
In the Cuban invitation to her to visit
Havana as the honored guest of the
Cuban people
Gorgas' Great Work for Havana.
1t was DR.. Walter Reed acting with
other physicians and with American
Medical Corps volunteers, who proved
that yellow fever was transmitted by
the mosquito known as the stegomla
faciata, but 1t wes Doctor Gorgas. who
formulated and put into operation all
the methods and the plans for Kidding
Havana of yellow fever at a time i'm
mediately following the mosquito
transmission discovery. This whole
work was that Of Doctor Gorgas.
Just after Havana had been cleared
of the plague through the skill and
high understanding Of Doctor Gorgas.
he was ordered to Panama to make
safe the Canal zone. He put into
force the plans, regulations and
methods which he had formulated and
had used with such signal success in
Havana, and added to them new meth
DDS as the work suggested them, that
Panama might be made the safest
place on earth so far as threats of
disease were concerned.
Mrs. Marie Doughty Gorgas, the
great physicians widow, is writing
life of her husband in connection with
Burton ]. Hendrick, who edited and
connected the letters Of Walter Hines
Page, our wartime ambassador TO
Great Britain.
1t Is a remarkable thing that yellow
fever played a part in the lives of Will
liam G. Gorgas and his wife from the
time that they first met. The story Is
a romantic one from every possible
viewpoint.
Romance Of Yellow Fever.
The two met for the first time In a
frontier post when Doctor Gorgas was
young lieutenant in the Medical
corps. Yellow fever struck the gar
rison. Mrs. Gorgas, then Miss
Doughty, contracted the disease. and
Doctor Gorgas was her physician. All
hope that she might survive was aban-
doned and her grave was dug, and in
the absence of clergyman, Doctor
Gorgas was to read the service. She
recovered and then the doctor was
taken i'll he narrowly escaped death,
but came through, and later they were
married.
1t Is not hard to understand why
yellow fever and all the problems con
nected Herewith became of intense In
terest to this American army surgeon.
He was called upon after his Panama
success to go to South Africa, and
there instituted methods which re-
duced the pneumonia plague to low
percentage.
Doctor Gorgas was surgeon general
OF the American army when this coun-
try entered into the World war, retir.
ing age came to him before the war
was over. AT the conclusion of the
conflict the British government asked
him TO go to Africa to solve plague
problem which was affecting one of
its great tracts of territory.
Doctor Gorgas went to London, in
tending from there to start on his mis-
moved to u military hospital where he
died. Before his death the king went
to the hospital and decorated the gen
eral with the Order of St Michael and
St. George After General Gorgus
death he was accorded the honor of
funeral in ST. Paul's, all the available
troops being turned out to do his mem
eminent offered battleship to carry
the body to the United States. Mrs.
Gorgas, however, preferred that an
American vessel should bring home to
his native heath the body of Dor hus-
band