The Ebensburg Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1865-1871, 1866-01-04
EBENsBURG.. PA, THURSDAY JANUARY=4z 1850

| WHICH Is USeU III the uauuIaClur6 UI SfdSS,
on account of its superior quality.
The head waters of the Juniata river,
rising in Blair, Huntingdon and Miffiin
! counties, rush with a rapid descent thro'
this part of the District, and afford great
facilities for the erection of water-power.
There are many furnaces, forges, Touring
mills and other factories erected thereon.
Among the principal of these is Mann's
axe factory, which is built on the Kisha-
coquillas creek, four miles above Lewis.
town, where the creek breaks through a
gorge in jacks mountain with peaks one
thousand feet high, overhanging, almost
perpendicularly, the stream as it flows in
torrents over its rocky bed beneath. The
celebrity of Mann's axes has given % this
factory wide spread notoriety.
| Altoona, situated at the base of the
| Allegheny mountain, on the eastern slope,
on the p r. r., is one of our principal
manufacturing towns 1t contains 5000
Inhabitants, most of whom are employees
of the P. R. r. company. Here the COM
pany have extensive machine shops and
boundaries, In which are made everything
pertaining to rolling stock for their road i,
from car wheel to a first class loeomo-
tive.
The P. r. r. in its passage through
this District, pierces the Allegheny noun
tain by a tunnel three. quarters of a mile
in length. The company built. and still
own, the Logan House, in Altoona, Gone
OF the best in Penusylvania) for the ac-
conmodation of the travelling community
over the road. Every train stops here
long enough to accommodate the passen-
gers with a meal.
The eastern portion Of the 18th District,
through which the Juniata river flows,
was, SO far back as the memory of man
runneth, until about the year 1860, sub
jeot to malarial diseases, in. the form Of
bilious, intermittent, remittent and con-
tinued or pernicious fever, frequently of
severe grade This intermittent type was
so prevalent here that pneumonia, pleurisy,
rheumatism and all other acute diseases
assumed its livery, and persisted not only
during the Autumual season, but the year
through and such was the impression
made on the subject of disease by malaria,
that apparent recovery was frequently not
the case: for no matter what attention
was paid to hylactics, or what system
of regimen was adopted, relapse after
relapse occurred in the intermittent form,
i producing functional and organic disease
Of the liver, spleen, and other viscera which
often terminated fatally in dropsy or other
cachexia. When scrofuIous diathesis ex-
listed, tubereles were frequently developed
by this, as an exciting cause. Such was
the poisonous influence oe malaria, that
premature old age marked our citizens,
and it was rare to see an individual among
,,4. i
! Of teeth was also apparent, attributable, as
we think, to this cause. Here quinine
was indispensable in the treatment of
every disease before cure was effected,
and this article could frequently be used
in the early stage of the disease with
advantage.
About the autumn Of 1858, bilious fe-
vers in their several forms grew less for
midable, and in 1860 they disappeared
altogether.
AT the present time, no epidemic pre-
walls in any part OF this district. Typhoid
fever for several years past has been the
predominant disease, and this in some To-
calities has broken out with considerable
violence. Erysipelas, diphtheria, scarla-
tina, and kindred diseases have prevailed
TO as great ar extent, perhaps, as any
class. Dysentery and diarrhea are by no
means uncommon.
Among returned soldiers, we find more
suffering from diarrh@a than from any
other cause.
In the large blacksmith shop in Al
toona, where there are many fires, and
where the 2. r. r. company manufacture
and repair the rolling stock for this di-
, vision of their road, the predominant dis
ease is developed tuberculosis.
, found many men in every stage, from
the earliest symptoms of tuberculosis de-
posite to the last stage of the disease
, Many suffer also from bronchitis, with or
without tuberculosis.
In one sub-district, of all the men draft.
ed and exanincd, found scarcely good
sound man. Upon inquiry, learned that
! in the early settlement of this country two
f families Of Scotch Irish birth located
there, who were intelligent, healthy
thorough-going people, possessing strong
| vitality and great endurance. THEN
| children commenced marrying and inter
, marrying, until now in the fourth and
fifth generation, there is not really SOUND
| adult known In all that extensive connec
ton proving, SO far as it goes, the evi
| of the intermarriage of relatives.
, The inhabitants of this district are in
telligent every man is a reading man
{ The public schools are becoming the oh
J jeet of great solicitude, and the pride O
, many of our leading men. The best mer
> that can be obtained are employed al
> School Superintendents School district'
vie with each other in procuring the bes
L I'll L.. Il,