The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1860-11-23
Minnesota for Invaltds.
BY REV, HORACE BUSHNELL.

BY REV. HORACE BUSHNELL.
THE following letter tells its own story:
DR.. Bushnell knows whereof he afirms. His
many friends here will be glad to learn that
be considers bis recovery so decisive. Such
testimony to the health giving qualities of
our Minnesota climate will send us multi
tudes of invalids.
From the Independent, New York; ass
have so many letters to answer respect.
ing Minnesota as to afford evidence that
considerable number of your readers will be
glad to receive short article on the sub.
ject; for the consumptive party of these
times, though not growing quite so fast as
that of Mr.. Lincoln, is yet growing sadly
fast. Meantime this one letter to you. will
take away from me the necessity, it is pre-
sumed, of many private letters.
went to Minnesota early in July, ard
remained there till the latter part of the
May following. l had spent a winter in
Cuba without benefit. l had spent also
nearly year in California, making gain
in the dry season, and partial loss in the
wet season; returning, however, sufficiently
improved to resume my labors. Breaking
down again from this only partial recovery,
made the experiment now of Minnesota
and submitting myself, on returning, to
very rigid examination, by physician who
did not know at all what verdict had been
passed by other physicians before, he said,
10 accordance with their opinion, " You
have had difficulty in the right lung, but
it is healed" 1 had suspected from my
symptoms that it might be so, and the fact
appears to be confirmed by the further fact
that have been slowly, though irregularly,
gaining all the summer.
This improvement or partial recovery,
attribute to the climate of Minnesota. But
not to this alone-other things have con.
Cured. First, l had naturally firm, en-
during constitution, which had only given
way under excessive burdens of labor, and
had no vestige of hereditary disease upon it.
Secondly, l had all of my burdens thrown
of, and state of complete, uncaring rest.
Thirdly, was in such vigor as to be out
in the open air on horseback and otherwise,
a good part of the time. 1t does not follow,
by any means, that one who is dying under
hereditary consumption, or one who is too
far gone to have any power of endurance, or
spring of recaperative energy left, will be
recovered in the same manner.
A great many such 60 there to die, and
some to be partially recovered and then die,
for | knew of two young men, so far re-
covered as to think themselves we'll, or
nearly so, who by overviolent exertion
brought on a recurrence of bleeding, and
died, one of them almost instantly, and the
other in about twenty-fOur hours both in
the same week. The general opinion seemed
to be that the result was attributable, in
part, to the over tonic property of the at
mosphere. And l have known of very
remarkable cases of recovery there which
had seemed to be hopeless. One of q gentle.
man who was carried ashore on litter, and
became robust, hearty man. Another
who told me that be had even coughed up
bits of his lung, of the size of a walnut and
was then, seven or eight months after
perfectly sound looking, we'll set man, with
no cough at all. fell in with somebody
every few days who had come there and
been restored; and with multitudes of
others whose disease had been arrested, so
as to allow prosecution of business, and
whose lease of life, as they had no doubt,
was much heightened by their emigration to
that region of the country. OF course it
will be understood that great many are
sadly disappointed in going thither, and that
as the number of consumptves making the
trial increases, the funerals of the consump.
tive strangers are becoming sadly frequent.
The peculiar benefit of this climate ap-
pears to be from its dryness. There is as
much, or even little more of rain there
than elsewhere, in the summer months; but
it comes more generally in the night, and
the days that follow brighten out in a fresh,
tonic brilliancy, as dry almost as before.
The winter climate is intensely cold, and
yet so dry, and clear, and still, for the most
part, as to create no very great suffering.
One who is properly dressed finds the eli.
mate much more enjoyable than the amphi-
bious, half-fuid, sloppy gravelike chill of
the East The SHOWS are light ; kind of
snow-dew that makes an inch, or sometimes
three, in night. Real snow storms are
rare; there was none the last winter. "A
little more snow to make better sleighing
would be an improvement. As to rain. in
the winter, it is almost unknown. There
was no drop of rain the last winter, from
the latter part OF October to the middle, or
about the middle of March, except aslight
drizzle on Thanksgiving Day. And there
was not snow melting enough for more than
about eight or ten days to wet deer skin
moccasin (which many gentlemen wear all
the winter). The following table will show
the comparative rainfall whether in the
shape of rain or snow, for three different
points, that may be taken to represent the
whole country; being on the two coasts,
and at st. Paul in the middle of the cont.
nent:
San Francisco St. Paul. Hartford
Inches. Inches Inches
Spring.. 10
Summer. ........ 0 IL IL
Autumn. ........ 6 10