The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1939-03-23

the dark was man on horse
back, with a broken leg. The
doctor set his leg and put him to
bed. Next morning, when the
doctor came to call on his patient
he was gone. That night, Abra-
nam Lincoln was shot and the
man who ran away from the
Maryland doctor was John Wilkes
Booth.
Life was not kind to DR.. Sam
uel Mudd after that. He was
court-martialed and finally land
ed down in Americas hell-hole
prison, Fort Jefferson, way out in
the Gulf of Mexico.
Shortly after arriving there, an
enemy defied the great guns, paid
no attention to the hungry sharks
in the. 60-foot moat that sur
rounded the Fort. 1t went past
the guards, in through the CORR
doris and into the cells. This was
the Yellow Fever. s.
People began to die one after
the other, and one of the first to
go was the regular prison doctor
It was then they came down to
see DR.. Mudd in his cell, down
in the dungeon. They released
him from his ball and chain and
they said: Save US! Save us
from the pest.
1t turned out that he was nc
ordinary doctor. He worked and
worked, and observed and OBJ
served, and after a period he no.
ticed that those who were out in
the fresh air, who were out in
the breeze, seemed to stand the
fever better than those who were
locked up. So he ordered great
holes blasted through the walls OF
the old Fort, and from then on,
everybody improved and those
who were left recovered.
Accidental Discovery
Without realizing it, he had dis
covered that the Yellow Fever
Germ is carried by mosquitoes
and by his blasting of the holes
he let the wind in so that the
mosquitoes would be blown out
into the sea. Dr. Mudd was fin
ally pardoned, but the strain and
the disgrace had been too much
He died a broken man, but with
death came fame.
Some time, when you make q
visit to Fort Jefferson, you will
see nothing but great ruins
great walls of brick and mortar
staring at you. And, when, YOU
land and stand there looking al
the old parade grounds, maybe
you will turn the clock back and
then you see squad after squad
column after column of men in
uniform, marching past. You sec
officers in glittering uniforms
You even hear the strains of mill
tary bands.-Then, the picture
disappears, and you realize this is
1889. You see palms growing wild
on the old parade grounds. You
see guns sticking up out OF the
sand. But one thought stands out
clearly in your mind: all these
men that you saw-all these Of
ficers that you looked at-they
are all forgotten. Only the mem
DRY of him who was down in. the
dungeon with a 60-lb. ball and
chain on his leg, still lives. !.
Pirates Hang. Out
s When you take this trip, you
will start it from another island
even moro famous in American
history-the Island of Key West
The Spanish called it Bone Key
because when they 'firsf landed
there was so many skeletons
Indian skeletons. When a losing
Indian tribe had to flee, it re-
treated down the long chain OF
islands which is called the Flor
ida Keys. Such tribe would &c
from island to island and be
steadily chased further and fur.
ther South. When they finally
came to Key West, they coulc
not go any further, and there
these warriors had to do or die
This island, $50 miles out int
the ocean, has a more varied his
tory than almost any place else
on earth. First, it was hang
out for pirates. With increased
commerce with the West Indie.
and South America, this was ar
ideal place for the pirates to hang
out. In the Florida Keys the,
found a safe hiding place. Here
they also could store away theil
gold, and experts will tell yo,
there is still plenty of it bidder
for you to find.
Later, Key West prospered OF
salvaging ship wrecks. Thes'
waters were so dangerous that be
fore the government had light
houses and markers, ship aftel
ship was wrecked against tn,
dangerous reefs. This made sally
aging an industry in Key West
It was during that period tina
Kew Westers framed their house