Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-09-11
Eject Of Altitude In LeadyIIIe.

A letter from Leadville, Col, the
great mining town, says: ! saw but very
iew cases OF into1ication In the streets.
though the 300 saloons In the city held
out their best inducements. / was sur
prlsed at this, as one of the notable
effects OF the great altitude of the place
&c, 800 feet above the level Of the seal IN
that all fermented liquors intoxicate
much more quickly than at lower eleya-
tlons. The boiling point. owing 20 the
| decrease OJ atmospheric pressure, is
much lower than at Chicago. and the
alcohol Is sooner vaporized and taken
| into the circulation. producing intoxi-
cation much quicker.
The boiling point Of water here rs
| about 1870 degrees. instead of 2l2 degrees.
the effect Of which In boiling beans,
eggs, potatoes, etc, Is that IL requires
longer time To cook them in an open
vessel, and IL Is necessary TO keep the
pot well covered or the water will VA
porizc and escape before being raised
to the requisite degree of heat for
thorough cooking. At this elevation
much more air II required 10 fill and
satisfy the lungs. and breathing must be
quicker in order TO properly oXygenize
the blood. II Is said, too, that after one
has been here for some time the colorinR
matter Of the blood becomes darker,
being changed from the peroxide 10 the
sesquio1ide Of iron. With "A person suf-
fering under any difficulty or disease Of
the heart, the effect Of any severe or
long-continued exertion Is to cause "A
dangerous degree of palpitation, and
even with persons entirely well the
pulse runs extremely high.
There are other and notable facts con-
nected with this altitude. There are
very few birds seen here-perhaps for
the reason that flying is difficult in the
light air. The common house fy, the
summer pest Of our Eastern housekeep-
ers, is unknown here. There are some
Of the outdoor bluebottle variety. but
they seem languid and tired. II is said.
also, that cats cannot live here. This is
probably owing 10 their delicate orgAni-
Zation being unable TO resist tho rigor Of
the night air. So the voices Of the
night are not heard in this locality.
and boouacks are reserved for their
natural uses.
Another result OF the lightness Of the
air is that. having so little density, il is
easily heated by artificial means Our
nights are uniformly cold-so cold that
it is uncomfortable To sit without fire;
but few pine chips or small sticks will
warm an apartment very quickly. At
the same time the suns rays do not seem
tO'have the heating power that they do
in lower elevations. This seems 10 con-
firm the theory that there is no substan-
tial caloric in the rays of the sun. but
that the heat is the result of chemical
action generated by the direct rays with
the elements Of the atmosphere--the
amount and degree of action varying
with the directness Of the rays and the
density of the atmosphere. While
standing high upon these mountains,
even at a distance from any snow-drifts
and where the air is still, the summer
sun has only sufficient power 10 make
/ the air refreshing AMI pleasant, while
/ you on the plains arc sweltering under
n toTTid heat. In the shade of a rock or
/ two IL is always cool enough.
+ The effect of the altitude is the same
rs that experienced by balloonisis, who
| in ascending from the surface of the
! earth, even on the hottest day, soon finds
| it necessary To don his overcoat and
warmest clothing In the night here n
4 good sur ply of blankets II always neces-
/ sary; and nearly every morning heavy
/ frosts are found. and sometimes thick
scales Of ice are formed. The crests of
I some Of the mountains and many of the
+ deep ravines upon their sides are still
/ full Of masses of snow so compact that
one can walk over them without sink
| ing. A day or two ago. in visiting a
mine close 10 the summit of Mount
| Bross. ! was compelled to cross field of
snow hanging over the edge which must
1 have been "A mile in length and pr Jbably
in places twenty-five feet in depth