Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-12-27
LIFE AT THE HOT SPRINGS.
THE TRUE LAND OF THE sKALD-A CITY TO BE
SOLD TO ITS CITIZENs-THE BOILING, STEwING
AND FRYING OF MEN.
Correspondence Of the Sar.]

Correspondence Of the Sar.l
Hot SPRINGS, ARK, December %, 1879.
At Hot Springs there is an exchange OF Ills.
One is freed from blood disorders and contracts
s.the blues" So it strikes one at first. An
invalid's first day here, If mine may be taken as
fair sample, is gloomy and peculiar. II he
hes come from the north by way Of st. Louis,
the previous day and night have furnished an
appropriate preface to the first chapter S OF Hot hot
has been an all-day struggle for the possession
and retention OF seats. in which the vanquished
have paid extra for refuge In the Pullman, OF
with greedy eyes for some one to arrive at his
station and leave an opening. The victors In
the fray have been penned In hot, unhealthy
atmosphere and have been entertained by the
squallings Of babies being emigrated to Texas.
The troubled sleep OF the night has been broken
In the early morning by the necessity OF chang
line which runs to Hot Springs; for by pro-
voking perversity the train has selected this par
ticulaf morning in the week to be on time. Be-
fore our invalid is fairly settled in his seat In
the narrow-gauge car, boarding house drum
mer has fastened upon him. Arriving at his
destination he is placed in a coach, painted a
bilious yellow, and driven into the city.
THE FIRST IMPRESSION OF THE PLACE
is given by the graveyard, which stands on the
outskirts welcoming the invalid visitor with
CHASTITY suggestiveness. 1t has been raining,
and as the coach enters the main street. traV-
ers1ng the rav1ne among the Ozark mountains
In which the springs are found, black mud sticks
to the wheels. The street is lined with low
frame houses, mostly shabby, and threaded by
a track over which cars are pulled at q sleepy
pace by mules, which stop to doze at short IN
tervals on switches, Having breakfasted, the
stranger feels strong enough to see more. He
stumbles along wooden plank walk, here half
torn away, here full of holes, nearly every
where rotten, dilapidated and dangerous. While
thinking that no place needs better pavemenJs
and that none has worse, and wondering
whether their condition is not an ingenious de-
vice to keep visitors from mischief and damp
air by combining them to their rooms at night,
he finds himself an object of assault.
THE CHARGE OF THE DRuMMERs BRIGADE
Drummers to the right OF him, left of him, be-
hind him. volley and thunder the praises OF Dr..
A. of MI. BIS drug store, OF the Xxx bath-house,
OF Mrs. C.s boarding house. They engage in
conversation with bin on all sorts of preteXts.
Ihey turn up in the most unpromiSfng looking
individuals, and in the most unexpected places.
The tendency OF their arguments, taken collec-
lively is to lead him to believe that it will not
be safe for him to eat, drink, bathe, Or consult
physician While at Hot Springs But he meets
other people. Some are carried in ntters or
chairs. Others move along after every conceiv-
able fashion, from the plain walk or unadulter-
ated hobble, to the most ornamented and COM
plicated systems of progression Imaginable. He
sees some persons with, and some Without noses.
In his excitement he is convincing himself that
the popular opinion is opposed to Indulgence in
these eXcreScences, when suddenly he meets a
man completely run to nose, as 1t were, with pro-
6osc1s enough to compensate for the nasal de,
nclenc1eS OF all the others, Then he observes
creek flowing by the side Of the street, and rec
ogn1zes it, with difficulty as the "crystal brook
let" OF imaginative Hot Springs descriptions.
giles, barrel-staves tin-cans, and other matter
A faint odOr, which Is not of Araby, is waited
to his noStrils, and he envies the noseless men.
WHERE DOCTORS MOST DO CONGREGATE.
He reads the signs as he walks along He thinks
that he has solved the mystery of what becomes
of the countless doctor graduates, which, with
its fellow mystery of what becomes of the pins,
has SO long puzzled mankind The more he sees
the more firmly he is convinced that Hot Springs
Is city OF doctors shops, drug stores, bath
and churches thrown in to fll up the chinks
He reaches point OF the street, opposite which
the mountain to the east is bare OF houses, and
from spots upon It and along its foot vapor
rises into the air. He has come to the springs,
and he knows that according to the traditions
OF the place he is near the Internal regions. He
permits himself to wonder whether, if Hot
Springs were there in reality, life In it would
not be more cheerful. Then he gets his shoes
BACKED by the crawling remains of a negro
stricken with paralysis, while the shadow Of a
low voice that he has tape-Worm which every
now and then grips him by the stomach, which
organ must then be pounded until the "var-
mint" lets go. The stranger rushes desperately
to his room and passes the rest OF the day In
painful meditation. But the city
IMPROVES WITH LONGER ACQUAINTANCE
and this ut OF melancholy soon passes of. Re-
lief is found more rapidly, perhaps, If purer air
and more cheerful sights are sought at some
on or near the line OF the street cars. Ina short
time the pecular1t1eS of the place become inter-
esting, even amusing, rather than depressing.
The to torn up Sidewalks quickly lose terrors for
one who has known Washington during its most
destructive era OF public improvements; and
the Odorous creek even in warm weather cannot
greatly offend the senses of one who has had
smelling acqualntanceShtp with the Old Wash
lDgton canal. Some OF the visitors might even
be disposed to vote to retain the street in It's
per1lous condition. Excitements here though
rather more numerous than the snakes in Ire
land, 90 not compare favorably with the num-
Der of Washington notarles public; and invalids
found i something to stir the blood in making
ing over the rickety sidewalks at peril
Of life and limb, while they lodged
tne shower OF stones blasted from The
side OF the mountain in the excavations for
new bath house. But new foot-ways are build
ing in places, the framework of the bath house
Is up, and this amusement is killed The hot
waters soon come to have positive fascination,
whether used as bath or as a beverage. Then
10 explore the Wtndings OF Hot Springs CITY
through the neighboring valleys and over the
ss sldes OF ADJOINING mountains, to collect speci-
mems OF the many-colored stones that are .ound
IN every walk, to view the city and surrounding
country from the wooden observatory on HOE
springs mountain, 10 f1de horseback to various
cold springs In the vicinity or to make the same
trips on loot, furnish sport to many AS the
number or s1rsux,.r, No., NO at ma coun+inG
each visitor as one whether or not enough of bis
members remain to constitute quorum, is said
10 average several thousand, one is almost GER
tain to ind congenial spirits who will help him
TO drive away 1.-The blues" when they threaten
SO that Hot Springs is few degrees better than
endurable, after all.
HOW WE BATHE
When the indians yentured timidly into the
mysterious pools formed where the heated wa
tiers flowed from the earth and rock. they were
not sustained In faith by doctors or physically
reinforced by drugs. The Arkansas pioneers
who tested the great water cure, though denied
modern luxuries, bathed freely and without
fear. But the tendency to find mortal dangers
lurking In things which our ancestors considered
harmless has caused it to be discovered that
later visitors less hardy than their predecessors
need to be inspected before bathing, lest through
some abnormal condition of the heart or lungs
the use of the waters prove fatal So consider
yourself inspected, and come with me to that
particular one of the half-dozen lighthouses
which we happen to favor with our patronage.
There Is gentlemens parlor on one side, and
a ladles' parlor on the other In which the ex-
pectant bathers await their turns. and
n winch they cool OF after bathing. In
the hallway between them sits the pro-
prietor, and behind him are the bathrooms.
When one enters he asks: ssIiow long before
my bath?" When the establishment Is crowded
the answer Is generally $40 minutes,n which is