Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1939-10-05
Page Three

Four physicians, Reed, Agramonte,
Carroll and Lazear, were dispatched
to grapple with the problem of
death, and Governor Leonard Wood.
gave freely of his means.
The doctors braved death in its
most terrible form to solve the prob
lem. They slept in garments and
under quilts that were saturated
with disease. No one got the fever.
DR.. Carlos T. Finley, noted native
doctor, of Havana, specialized in
this realm. He insisted the disease
was not one of filth. The contagion
was carried by the stegomyia mos
quito At last they proceeded on
this supposition.
They subjected themselves to the
bite of insects ripe with the germs
of fever LaZear died in five days,
Carroll fingered for two years and
died. Walter Reed recovered to die
two years later in hospital. John
r. Kissinger, twisted and bowed for
20 years was familiar figure on
the streets of Cincinnati, volun-
tary sacrifice. May these Martyrs
never be forgotten of men,
Certain of the carrier, they
sought to annihilate her, the female
mosquito, the male being harmless.
Oil was placed on every lake and
pond. Water receptacles were pa
tiently listed in every home Havana
became the healthiest city in the
world. The normal death rate of IA
per thousand, fell to six. The fever
ceased.
Ten years passed. They were
working on the Panama Canal.
Amid the junk of abandoned ma
chinery, thousands of little crosses
marked the graves of French work.
men, who died of Black Jack, when
DeLesseps gave up his effort. Cor
gas insisted on the destruction Of
the mosquito. The government was
skeptical. So the fever came, our
worked died or left hastily, and it
seemed the canal would not be
built. Gorgas' advice was taken. He
was put in absolute control of the
health of the workers, destroyed
the insect pest, and the canal was
finished. No case of fever has been
in that locality since 1925. We
should be grateful. Why?
The north was not immune. Phil
adelphia lost one in ten, in 1893.
In 1878, the Mississippi valley lost
were reached by the plague. Each
year it came north it was ended
only by the coming of frost. The
martyrs, who made war on these
tropical diseases, died in the stead
of millions. Malaria just means
E'bad air." People shut their homes
up tight at night until they knew
better, that a different mosquito,
anopheles, caused the unbearable
ague.
The story of hookworm is inter-
esting. G. w. Stiles. convinced this
was disease of sandy southern
areas, found parasite like a pin
but half it's length. Also he found
a simple remedy, thyme and EPSON
salts He visited the southland,
and cured thousands. Opposition,
strong at first, ceased. Rockefeller
gave $1,000,000, and
carried the work into China. Prob
ably ten million have been cured Of
this affliction, brought from Af-
rica, and introduced through the
soles of the feet. It is conceivable
that men might utterly perish from
the planet by plaques. A thing SO
small as an insect, carries an infinite
ly small germ. multiplying at rate
of millions in day. Diphtheria,
typhoid and every germ disease is
doomed in this war of science
against suffering. Let us breathe
freely now, and thank all pioneers,
and martyrs many, in every field of
knowledge and service.-Howard HI.