Wilmington journal., 1876-01-28

L and ears and tucked under the chi1
@ one In imagination at once becomes
fresh corpse in a coffin with the lid lear
ing against the wall somewhere. o.
casionally the programme is change
and the man IN the pack becomes
Z mummy. No prescription that re
quires the patient to motionless, hi
head tied up aud a winding sheet, as
were, around him aud his tees stickin
straight up, Can be a pleasant one
In the immersion and in the vapor a
much bot water must be drank as ca
be swallowed. Then comes the rub
blng which, according to professor
. ROblnsou, the cOlOred chief bather
Ia worth more than all the waters
Alter the rubbing which is done will
the hand. towel or brush, either or all
the patient dresses and keeps quie
until all danger of taking cold ha,
passed. If there is a tender plac,
about Il patient the Professor is sure
to find it out, and various are the ejac
ulatlons that announce the discovery
but that muscular christian heeds nei
ther curses uor pr ayers. Tie ba hs
are taken i'll courses, twenty one max.
ing course. After taking one course
the patient is usually advised to stop
tor week or ten days before begin
ming another. That cures have been
effected by the use of these waters and
really wonderful cures toe there seems
to be no doubt.
WHAT HEATS THE WATERS
A favorite description Of this place
is that which designates it as one of
the wonders of the world Talk of it
thus and you at once strike deep into
the affections of the average Hot
Springer. And III all seriousness there
are many things about these springs
to excite our sp. clal wonder, not the
least of which IS to know how the Wa
ters are heated. Upon this point doc
tors, geologists and scientists Of ev.
cry escrlptIon are at Variance. Some
| say the waters come through immense
beds of caustlc lime in the interior of the
earth. Others lay the temperature is
dne to latent heat given off from the
water in the act of depositng .diment
as it comes from the earth. Others
! again say the waters are completely
permeated with highly heated vapors
| and gases which manate from sources
far deeper seated than the water itself,
20 that even here there is "lower
deep STILL But far be it from me to
undertake to settle a dispute of this
character. Science and metaphy sics
are two things about which I ara not
ashamed to confess profound igno-
rance. A few brief comments some
years ago upon a metaphysical dis
course delivered d on hot afternoon to
young ladies and gentlemen in full
dress, wherein the orator discoursed
about the ''subjective apprehension of
an objective reality" came near in
volving me IN serious scrape and
since then L have forsworn metaphysics
and science too. As G,vernor Vance
says, life is entirely too short. So
what the devil heats these waters with
or whether he heats them at all others
must decide. It is enough for me that
they are uot and good both internally
and externally.
THE DIFFERENT SPRINGS AND THEIR Pc
CULIARITIES,
The several springs here are popu.
larry supposed to send forth each a
different kind of water. They are gen.
orally classed under one of two heads,
however, that is to say as iron, or as
magnesia springs. There are some
not so classed and notably the arsenic
spring, which is very much resorted to
and especially by the ladies, who,
doubtless congratulate themselves up
on the opportunity of trying the we'll
known beautifying effects of arsenic up
on their compilations. The fact IS
however, that analysis has shown there
is not trace even of arsenic in the
Wa e.. But for all that there is painted
in large letters over the spring house,
'rHE ARSENIC SPRING." One lady /
l. Al
house for the arsenic bath room, but
it was not to be had. The liver spring
is also much resorted to by those who
think their hvers need stirring up.
Then too, there is the romantic little
place called in the vigorous dialect of
the valley, the corn-ho.e. The corn
hole is a small spring, whose waters
are said to bs a sovereign remedy for
corns and bunions. To see parties
sitting on log just above this spring,
on the mountain side soaking their
feet in the corn-hole is said to be very
interesting. The eye-hole too, is
place we'll worth knowing about, being
the spring said to be peculiarly adart-
ed TO the cure Of diseases affecting the
eyes 1t does not follow here as a mat
ter of course that there is death in hi
family when man. Is seen on the
mountain side bending over and hold
Inn his handkerchief to his face with
both hands. The chances are that he has
a bad case of sore eyes and hts just dip
ped his handkerchief in the Spring. This
Is a fact that ought TO be borne III
mind by the stranger here unless he
desires to experience the delightful
sensation of feeling that his gushing
sympathy has stopped over on false
alarm. Nor Is the mud bath a place
SO shocking to..refned sensibiitIes that
ears polite may hope to escape any
mention of it. The mud-bath is a
II place dug out large enough for
man 70 I've i'll at full length; it is full of
soft mud and therein patients inn
merse themselves. The mud bath is
thonght by many to be the most effica-
cious of all the baths. IL has no other
covering over it than the broad cauo
by of the Heavens, and resembi les
nothing else hereunder SO much as q
common hog allow.
THE FREE BATH
But perhaps the greatest curiosity
here is the free BATH. Tho free bath
is u nDtiliug IN ,r, uDr less than PIT
about three feet deep and some fifteen
by 8 into which Il stream of hot water
is constantly running. 1t Is on the
mountain side and covered with a rude
boa, structure. The free use of the
waters in that particular bath has af-
ter the lapse of m any years become a
sort of acknowledged prescriptiv
| eight vested in nil cDmers with out
regard To age sex color or prevl' IL
| C ,udition of servitude. l have seen
negro men, and white men bathing
together in this bath. side by side
like sardines, in box, only tue beads
were all one way; and have been
told too that the distinction, of sex
were as little regarded as those of race
and color of this however I cannot
speak of my own knowledge as there
was no woman there tho one time that
L visited this noted spot. Senator
Morton of Indiana who SO delights in
the bloody shirt business has sought
this place more than once for relief,