The daily gazette., 1880-05-31
LEADvILLE CLIMATE.
THE HYeIENIc CHARACTER OF THE
CITY IN THE CLOUDS.

OAA IN AAhs N&N~SDHs
1t is the opinion in "the States -
how acquired l know not-that away
up here, nearly eleven thousand feet
above the level of tide-wa'er, there
reigns eternal Summer that in this
lofty atmosphere each breath is an in
spiration which stimulates like some
divine elixir, and that, should men and
women wish to die.Gthey never do
away up here-they migrate to those
lower atmospheric regions whose stra-
ia bear the essences of decay and dis
We may as well have the facts about
this question of climate at the outset,
SO that people who are coming here
may know in advance what they will
have to encounter. Most notable in
this respect are the frequent varia-
tions. TIL sun now shines down
warmly ON the slopes of the town.
Away off to thewest, across the Ar
kansas River, lies u range of noun
tains which seem vast snowdrifts piled
to the very sky. Among these snow
storm is raging, hiding them like a
somber mist, and which at any mo-
ment may charge across the hillsides
of this city. No one knows what may
come an hour hence. There are June
hours in midwinter, and hours in June
in which the snow has buried the
town till almost out of sight. Such
changes cannot but have disastrous
effect upon the health of those who
have to endure them.
A distressing thing to the new-com-
er is the difficulty of breathing, owing
to the rarity of the air. Such an one
cannot walk half block without los
ing breath, They say that people get
over this as they become acclimated;
and-perhaps they do. In theory, men
get over this shortness of breath, this
difficulty of getting sufficient air, as
soon as they have been acclimated; in
fact, the majority do nothing of the
kind. l know men who have been
here from one year to two years, who
cannot go a block without getting
'winded," and who, to save their
lives, cannot get from the at tenuated
sufficient ar to carry on
the process of breathing, walking and
smoking a Leadville cigar, all the
same moment.
The new arrival, very soon after
landing, is seized by an affection of the
throat of the most distressing charae-
ter. There is congestion of the glands;
it is most painful to swallow; furious
cough usually sets in; and now and
then it happens that men recover from
it only by dying from suffocation.-
This malady, l believe, lasts, as rule,
only few weeks, although it is diff
cult to find one whose nasal organs are
not out of order.
Men carry, pull out, and pass around
their box of troches as in old times
men did their snuff boxes.
And finally-I wish at this point to
dispose for good of climatic and sani-
tary phenomena-the prevailing dis
ease is not only common, but one of
the most deadly known to modern
science. 1t is pneumonia; and of this
more people die than from
all other causes combined.
OF five deaths announced in the
papers, four will be from
the fifth will, as often as
not, be that of somebody from pistol
shot.
The death rate in Leadville is little
over thirty-six per thousand, or more
Than double that of Philadelphia, and
more than double that of
Chicago. That this difference is large
ly climatic and local in its origin will
not be disputed by any intelligent man
who is informed as to the facts in the
case.
| am not giving these things for the
purpose OF making any attack upon this
mountain city. Leadville has passed
the coddling stage i'll Its career; it no
longer needs indi.criminate puffery, but
has reached point in its development
where it can afford candid examination
of its merits and dement's.
A popularity which affects especially
the newcomer to this town is that he
experiences a total loss of
appetite, l have not been able to eat but
two meals day, and in the case OF both
Of them 1t is simply a mechanical sort
of a process duty which | performed
toward my stomach, and yet performed
against my will. That this is not pee
uliar TO new aIrvals is shown by the fact
that dozen men, with whom l have
on this matter, and who have
been here from one year to three years,
eat after the same mechanical fashion,
and without having the smallest amount
of appetite for food from one year to
another.
From these statements, people can
establish fair conclusion as 10 who
should not come here. Thos who have
any catarrhal difficulties or "bad" throats
should avoi>. this this region as they
would a pest-house. Peoplr, too, who
have weak lungs cannot stand the sud-
den changes, the extreme severity of
this climate, AS rule, only those who
are in robust. health should come to
Es;advllle, unless, perhaps, during the
of July, August and September.
These are said to be equable, pleasant
and healthful, although these qualities
will not compensate for the thinness of
the atmosphere and the difficulties which
attend the processes of respiration.
These is one sanitary defect which is
yet in embryo. The city has no drain
age; all the slops, refuse and excrement
are taken up by the soil, and in time,
during the heated term, there will be
given off vapors whose effect will be seri-
ousIx, dolatarinus unon the Dubiic health.