The Placer herald., 1863-06-13


pox, typhus fever, felon, withrow, erysipelas,
and many other disorders which are more
often induced by an infected atmosphere
than any other cause.
But what shall persons do who live in the
vicinity of the Pontine Marshes in Italy, or
the rice swamps in South Carolina where, as
we are told, few whitfs of the night air
have caused considerable illness! Sleep in
a draught not the less, but at proper eleva'
tion from the ground. If ten feet be not
sufficient for the requirements Of health, try
twenty, thirty, fifty, hundred, or whatever
point shall be found by experience to secure
immunity from sickness. 1t may not be
generally known, that the peculiar posons
OF malarious regions tends downward i.
hugs the earth; the wind may carry it up
and over hill a thousand feet high, but yet
The poison will rarely exist to hurtful extent
beyond very limited distance from the
ground. The importance of even so slight
an elevation Of fifteen feet, was strkingly
illustrated in yellow fever district of the
West Indies. 1t was ascerlained BY scien
titic investigators, officially appointed that
there was three times as much sickness in
the first story of dwellings as there was in
second. In another locality of the same
region, it was found that the air within six
feet of the level of marsh was so pestiferi-
Gus, that few moments exposure to it at
night was almost certain to produce fatal
attack of yellow lever; but at an elevation
Of three hundred feet on the side Of bill
close by, night exposure merely caused
remlttent fever, a mild form of the other
very rare ly fatal-whle the same amount of
exposure two hundred feet higher produced
scarcely any i'll effect worthy of notice. In
yet another Locality, it was observed that,
when the wind blew strongly in certain
direction, it was dangerous to occupy a
ground floor in n valley loftily situated be
tween two high hills.
Facts like the above show that little need
be feared from the night air. by those who
occupy an elevated apartment in an elevated
locality. Other facts might be adduced to
prove that the avoidance of night draught
usually increases the liability to take the dis
ease most dreaded. When, for instance, the
great plague ragged in London destroying
one hundred thousand of its inhabitants in
year, and ten thousand in single week,
it was discovered that few persons escaped
infection who endeavored to ''shLt it out"
by barricading themselves in their own
dwellings,.
In recommending a draught, | am no
advocate for whrlwind or hurricane but
for merely such current of air as will
supply the lungs during each night, with
from eight to ten thousand instalments of
pure, fresh, flee oxygen, in quantity fully
equal to any possible demands Of the human
system. Stagnant air cannot supply this
want, neither can air that is in motion if it
be not perceplbly so; nothing less than a
draught, moderate yet decided, and continu'
ing Throughout, the night, can meet in every
respect the requirements Of health.
How Our Friend J. H. E. Mined for an
Office.
Two years ago our friend J-H. E..
-, who lives over in the mining dis
trct about Shullsburg, ran for the Legslal
ture. The district WAS close, and it required
the best foot forward to win. The profits
derived from An election were nothing, but
the idea of a defeat did not allow any stone
to remain unturnd by either party to secure
vote. J. is in the mining business,
ouu az S'iuOo u Hu'upcI VI iuCH WIZ
dig and deIve into the bowels of the earth
for their profits. So the day before election
he engaged about fifty republicans voters to
work for him the forenoon of Tuesday, and
90 to the polls in the afternoon. Being
prompt to pay he had no difficulty in get.
ting what help he wanted; so bright and
early Tuesday morning fifty three good re-
publicans stood gathered around the shaft
leading down into the hill one hundred and
thirty feet, waiting for J.. Soon he
came and down the long ladder the party
went till they struck the bottom, when they
separated to follow the different veins or
lodes. Soon they were all at work, with
pick, chisel, and drill, digging, cutting and
blasting for the bright cubes of lead so plen-
to thereabouts. J--passed around
from group to group of men, joked with and
directed them in their labors, till halfpast
eleven, when he very cody put on bis coat,
ascended the ladder, reached the surface,
drew a long breath, and with the help of two
or three friends in the secret drew the ladder
up utter him, leaving fifty three good repub-
lican voters hard at work a hundred feet be-
low, with no means of getting out till the lad
der was replaced! Taking two sections of the
ladder off to have some neW rounds put IN,
he left for the polls, mile distant. and
when the votes were counted at night, to the
surprise Of bis opponent, J--had forty
taco mqjorityi
An hour later there might have been seen
fifty-.hree able bodied men, each one bearing
lighted candle, emerging from certain
hole in the ground, like ants from vial OF
moasses, profaning fearfuly, and vainly
seeking for 1.-The man who pulled the ladder
up" but for two days no such man could be
found. Concluding they had been sold in
earnest, after consultation, the miners con-
cluded to charge nothing for their services,
drink at J--'s expense, and let the mat
ter drop-but be was elected!
Milwaukee NeWs.