Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, September 1899: Vol. LV, May to October, 1899 — John Shaqi
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, September 1899: Vol. LV, May to October, 1899Various
Science
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, September 1899: Vol. LV, May to October, 1899
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
Are we in America in danger of the plague? I will have to answer this
question very much as I did two years ago: "Yes, we are in danger; but
this danger, being foreseen, may be easily avoided." In my opinion,
our most vulnerable point is along the Pacific coast. With the plague
at Hong Kong, it is possible that it may be transferred to Manila, and
the transports bringing soldiers to this country may also bring the
infection. However, I think the chances of this happening are small.
The length of time required to make the voyage from Manila to San
Francisco is so great that, with the infection on board, it would be
almost certain to manifest itself before reaching our shores, and,
knowing its presence on board a ship reaching San Francisco or any
other point on the western coast, thorough inspection and disinfection
will keep the disease out of this country. The probabilities are that
for several years to come the larger cities of India, at least, will
remain infected, and our sanitary authorities must be vigilant. The
fact that, if the plague reaches us at all, it must come by sea, that
a long voyage must be made before it can reach us, and that the
disease will most probably appear on board ship before arrival at any
American port--all these conditions are in our favor. The General
Government should take upon itself the control of all measures to
prevent the introduction of infectious diseases from without.
Quarantine detention is a relic of ignorance of the true nature of
infectious diseases. All transports and other vessels between Manila
and this country should be provided with proper disinfecting
apparatus. The Government should supply the Marine-Hospital Service
with every needed equipment, and if this be done the plague can enter
America only through incompetency in that service. There is another
source of danger on our Western coast that must not be overlooked. The
plague is now widely distributed in Formosa, which is under the
control of Japan, and our intercourse with the last-mentioned country
should be most carefully watched.
TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE AND ITS PRESIDENT.
BY M. B. THRASHER.
Tuskegee is a county town in the State of Alabama, not far from
Montgomery. It is near the center of that part of the South commonly
spoken of as the "black belt," because the negro inhabitants there
greatly outnumber the whites. The town is one of the oldest in the
South. It is said, in fact, that when De Soto made his famous journey
across that part of the newly discovered continent he found an Indian
village of the same name on the site of the present town. Tuskegee is
five miles from the main line of the Southern Railroad, with which it
is connected at Chehaw by means of a narrow-gauge road.
[Illustration: THE FACULTY OF THE TUSKEGEE NORMAL AND INDUSTRIAL
INSTITUTE.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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