St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-03-25
The Hot Springs of Arkansas.
HOT SPRINGS, Jan. 25, 1881

Editor CdledORiGH The Hot Springs
of Arkansas have the merited Teputa-
tion of being one of the wonders of OuI
land and are found in a narrow gorge
of the Ozark Mountains in Garland Co,
60 miles southwest of Little Rock.
No one of this day can tell when the
discovery of their qualities was first
made. When the white people became
acquainted with them the Indians were
| bathing in the waters, and said their
fathers had always come here to get
well, and from that time to the present
the reputation of these springs for heal
ing the sick have not been abated. This
valley is only about 700 feet above the
! level of the sea, and Hot Spring Noun
tain is ESQ feet higher than the valley.
The corner stone of this town which
has 5000 inhabitants, half celored and
half white. is exclusively the invalid.
Without him this barren ravine, with its
noisy brook, its rough, pine-clad noun
tains, would bs unknown, save to some
lone hunter whose wife would never see
church, and whose children would
never see the inside of a school house,
as is the case in some parts of Garland
county at this day.
Even on this creek bottom tSere is
no soil that will produce anything but
forest trees-nOt shubbery, flowers, or
even grass to any amount. There is
only one thing that can be successfully
raised here, and that is a daily crop in
the shape of cash from the pockets of
patients and visitors.
After securing hotel accommodations,
of which there are plenty, the next
thing is to secure medical advice, and
if the patient is inclined to drOpsy, can
Ger, aneurisms, acute and intiammatOry
diseases, diseases of the lungs, bronchial
tubes, tuberculosis in any form, affec-
ton of the heart or brain, they ale not
advised to bathe in these waters, as
they are a positive injury. But if it he
rheumatism, gOut, stiff joints, cOntrac-
tions of the muscles, old wounds, skin
diseases, scrofula, prOstratiOn from
long-standing sickness, or from debility
following severe courses of powerful
medicine, spinal complaint, sciatica,
lumbagO, neuralgia, nervous affections,
D. catarrh, diabetes, gOitre, spurious vac
cination, blood poisOns, morbid condi-
tion of the system, uterine diseases and
all syphilitic forms of arrangement
the patient will get a written prescrip-
tion stating what kind of baths to take
how often, length of time to remain il
the water and the degree of heat.
These springs, seventy-oRe in mum
Der, flow from the west side of Hot
Spring mOuntain-some of them fifty oil
eighty feet above the valley, and 9th
D ers near the margin of the creek-s
n few rise in the creek and one only from
the opposite bank of the creek, nearly
all of which are enclosed in masol
work-the water being conducted il
. iron piping which runs on the surfac,
4 of the ground in all directions, mucl
resembling the crossing of railroad
tracks on a map of some of our NOR
thickly settled states, to the batl
houses-or rather a part go directly t.
? the bath houses and part run to larg
e open watts of some 20x30 feet and thre
feet deep-twO of which stand on th
hillside above each bath house-one be
inc lower down than the other, througI
both of which the water passes, tn
ID object being to cool the water and ais
,o to have supply from which to draw
and mix with the hot for both bathin
and drinking purposes. This piping re
ferred to is all the way in size from a
inch bore to 6 inch-the most bein
o., fiom I to inch.
a These springs vary much in heat an
I'd some in quality of water-though the
o, all, as is thought, come from the sam
r. sOurce-the reason, as is supposed, fC
I'd this variation is that some of the risin
Of streams come in contact with veins {
,g eI cold water, which mix, reducing til
temperature and causing the miXtur,
in a greater or less degree, to partak
d. of the qualities of the cold water.
d There are six springs which are MOI
z or less fed by surface water, and are {
u course intermittent in their character
On On the balance are of remarkable regular
,t ty, never varying much in quantity {
ef in part.
es The amount of water discharge
Is from all these springs is estimated at
IN barrels per minute, and in heat it rul
ct all the way from 76e to l57 > the mo
however being from 100 9 to l40 .. 1t
not strictly true, as is generally belle
al ed, that cold aud hot water flow side /
ed side from this mountain, but to ce
a a tain extent in that direction it is trl
he the reason of which has alleady bee
leu given. In all water cure establishment
pc ter is graded the same as wheat, cor
our pork, &c, are in the markets of Il
ITS world and are 7Oo cold water, 75o
@Is %s 65e temperate, s5o to 90 : tepId, 81
5l ma to 9eo warm, 96 9 and upwards hot.
ers Hot Spring Mountain contains abO
ws, lS5 acres and is, as well as some 9th
prs pa lands in the vicinity, not new in ma
5 ket, owned by the United States Go
ernment, who keeps an agent, &c
till Kelly, to look after its interests.
The bath houses. of which there a