Salt Lake Tribune | 1913-08-31 | Page 6 | The Hot Sun Does It

THE HOT SUN DOES IT. It has been claimed by a good many people In this region that tho service of the Utah batterymen in the Philippines Phil-ippines had a severe, and in many cases a disastrous, effect upon the physique of these men. A good many who went into tho -war in good physical condition never fully rallied after their Bervico. Even where nothing seoraed to be especially espe-cially amiss at the time of their discharge, dis-charge, the weakening effect of the sorvieo became apparent as the yonrs passed. This is quite in accord with the consensus of medical opinion which has just boon expressed upon the breakdown break-down of Lioutenant-Colonel Gaillard at "Panama, who returns homo broken in constitution by reason of his labors in charge of tho contral division of tho Panama canal work. Tt has often been held that there Is no danger in tho Panama Canal zone since it has b een frcod from malaria; I and yet Lieutenant-Colonel Gaillard returns re-turns home a broken man. Dr. Charles A. Woodruff, of the U. S. A- Medical Corps, haB for years past fonght the idea that the only dnnger to bo feared in the tropics Ib from infection. He uTgeB that it Is the sunlight more than any special microbe that breaks tho strength of tho northerner in a southern south-ern land. Doctors generally hnvo long combated Dr. Woodruff's position In this. Dr. Frazier, of tho Bureau of Scicnco, is quoted as one of the most ardent in his belief in the harmlessness of tho Philippine climate, yet he died from itn offects, as Dr. Woodruff declared. de-clared. Dr. Washburn, who Tecently resigned from the Civil Sorvieo Commission, once stated that no man could beconio ill in tho Philippines if he was moral und sober; and yet he broke down after a few months in that climate. Colonol Gorgas, tho chief eaniiary officor at Panama, has stated that a white population popu-lation can 'permanently maintain itself in Panama, if only tho dangers from infection can bo minimized; but the return re-turn of Lioutenant-Colonel Gaillard with a certificate from his doctor of what tho climate, did for him, is a powerful pow-erful argument against the assertion that white men can thrive ou the Isthmus Isth-mus if thoy can cscnpo tho dangors from infections, for Lioutenant-Colonel Gaillard has no infection, ho has lived in a sanitated zone, has been in a position posi-tion to protect himsolf more than whito men usually would be, by reason of his commanding position; and yot he is" broken by the fierce sunlight of tho tropics. The better modical opinion now evidently evi-dently is that n man from tho north enn have his constitution undermined bv a tropical climate without his contracting con-tracting any special disease. This seems to be as reasonable a proposition as it is an export proposition from a scientific standpoint. It is a position that is fairly borne out by the facts connected with, tho Utah mon who served In the Philippines, to their own damage and destruction. We have no doubt that a prolonged residence in tho tropics is, and must necessarily be, harmful and often even fatal, to many of tho temperate climes who go thero suddonly and remain a sufficient length of timo for the tropical sun to get into thoir blood; this ontiroly aside from any danger of malaria or other infection.