Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-02-23
LNVALID LIFE IN THE SOUTH.


Oh, when /
INVALID LIFE IN THE SOUTH
One needs only to spend single month in
one of our winter resorts to realize how many
wornout pilgrims are wandering restlessly
from place to place in pursuit of health. Nor
is America exceptional in this respect. Nice
and Mentone repeat the sad stories Of Aiken
and Jacksonville, and wherever soft airs pre-
vail will surely be seen year after year the
same pressing throng, with pale, eager faces
and aching hearts. 1t has been the fortune
of the writer to spend nearly five years at diff
ferent points between Virginia and Middle
Florida, and perhaps a record of personal ex-
periences, with brief notes on the advantages
and drawbacks of southern life from the inva-
lids point Of view, may serve to help some
sinking heart forced to face an unknown fu-
ture with its weight Of homesickness and ap-
prehension.
When we first sailed from New York, near
ly five years ago, my husbands condition was
critical. Possessed originally of a robust CON
stitution free from any hereditary taint, he
had fallen victim to sewage-gas poisoning
from defective plumbing in Brooklyn house.
What seemed at the outset slight attack Of
bronchitis proved to be an obstinate disease,
which his system, weakened by malaria could
neither throw off nor conquer. For two years
the fight went on, until general exhaustion
ensued and he was forced to lay down his
arms. We sailed in February, not caring
whittier we should drift, and reached st. Au-
gustine, Florida, in this despairing spirit.
There hemorrhages seemed TO take away the
little strength he had left, and for days he lay
unable to speak above a whisper. But the en-
fprpa1 raa in Jaliaipnc oil hrpugbf ba a,lr
strength, and after repeated halts in Florida,
Georgia and Virginia we finally reached New
York late in June. The gain continued dur
ing the summer, and in October we again
went SOUTH this time with more hopeful
hearts and with more intelligence as to what
it was best to do. From that time our win
ters have been passed at different points in
the CarolinRs or Georgia, and our summers at
the north, until stimulants and medicines
have been discarded and, with renewed
strength, active brain, good color and firm
pulse the listless and nearly despairing pa
tient of five years ago has been able to re-
sumo business with old-time activity and the
hope of returning to the north to live and
work
In our Ignorance We made frequent blum
ders, which OF course retarded convalescence
For instance, we spent one June at Beaufort,
S. c., hoping by sea-bathing to restore vigor
and health to our children, who had been very
i'll with catarrhal fever. They improved very
rapidly, but my husband contracted Country
fever" which Lighting up the lung trouble
again brought him very low, forcing us to
take refuge in the nearest mountains. At an
other time we were induced by an enthusias-
tic friend to go the mountains of northwest
Georgia We found a delightful climate, but
literally nothing that We could eat, the cook
had and ba hptal garyipa
Bluuders of this kind are constantly made by
northern invaids Sometimes their physi-
clans are at fault oftener trustworthy infor-
nation respecting popular and welladvertised
resorts cannot be had. One must also make
allowance for the fact that the recognized
standard OF comfort is lower at the south than
at the north Our story has been a long one,
with many sad chapters but there has also
been a bright side, and amusing incidents and
cOmlcal experiences have helped us through
many dark days, while We have never failed
to meet with kind hearts and gentle minstra-
tons from strangers so that, on the whole,
our life at the south has been well worth liv-
ing.
That, under favorable circumstances, pul.
monary disease, if not hereditary can be cur
ed, seems 10 be admitted by physicians of ad
vanced ideas. Even if it be desperate strug-
gle, it is not hopeless one, especially at en-
early stage of the disease and the consump-
tive can make better fight in mild climate
than in the north, simply because he can live
out of doors during the winter If a hemorr-
hage occurs at the north in midwinter long
weeks, even months, must be passed in the
| dreGry sick-room whereas at the south, be-
fore the patient is allowed to speak, he can be
carried into the open air to spend long days.
The south, therefore, offers striking advan-
/ 90, ipvaltls tbax Nv1 bpo he, .
find the right place and do not start too late.
| Ignorant as heath-seekers are in regard to
localities, they are not SO reckless as many
northern physicians, who send their hopeless
| ly sick patients to suffer the loss of home
comforts, the pain of homesickness, and often
to die away from those they love best. Some
| times it is a mistake to send them at ALL but
oftener the error consists in sending them too
late in the season. While it is we'll to wait
until there have been white frosts at the south,
so as to avoid the danger of malaria, still by
November it is well for weak lungs to be pro
| tected from cold winds and raw air. At the
south this is lovely month, aud even in De-
cember one can sit without wraps on sunny
piazzas. remember spending a week-it
was the week before Christmas-near Augusta,
Ga, when the evenings were so warm that We
could sit out on the plazzas in the moonlight
| "a Judean Christmas indeed, and one thai
suggested the shepherds keeping their watct
| by night. In January one may expect cold
rains, dull days. furry of snow, and even
icicles at the fountains. Roses will be brought
in enerusted with ice, and one must beware
of draughts and heap up the logs. But the
darkness soon breaks away, and spring standi
smiling at the door. Spring at the south il
ideal One realizes what "etherial mildness'
can mean, and the cold days can be bornt
patiently, and forgotten when the sun BURST
out and trees and shrubs Are crowned will
the glory of yellow jessamine. Even at New
Years, when the sun shines, one may picl
| handfuls of sweet violets and listen with tn,
hope of hearing mocking- bird sing.
''The sunny South" This expression ha
indeed meaning when summer days come
and one longs for the darkness of night t.
bring relief to heated brains and exhausted
bodies but it excites false expectations 81
far as winter tourists are concerned. Tn
rain falls just as heavily in the south as in tn
north, there are hard frosts and storms o
sleet, snow is sometimes in the air and icicle
hang from the caves of houses, the win
howls, the mercury falls below zero, and ther
are as sudden changes in temperature in GeoI
gia as in New York. Besides, we'll bull
northern homes unfit the invalid for souther
houses which seem to be expressly fashione
for the diffusion of draughts. / have sutfere
more from cold at the south than l ever hav
at the north. The houses are made for tn
longer season of heat, and good building
rare. The illusive expectation of perpetut
sunshine sometimes causes restlessness, an
the patient hurries from one point to another
only to lose ground. l recall party VII
went to Augusta, Ga, expecting to sit unde
orange trees in the thinnest of muslins. Ii
stead, they arrived after heavy storm, an
after few days of disappointment and con
plant they departed for Florida, where the
doubtless picked frozen oranges off the tree
In Florida the days may be hot, but one mu
have firewood close at hand, for the rains al
sudden and heavy, and have known the me
curry to fall twenty degrees in as many mil
utes. One may dream of Spain under S
Augustine's beautiful skies, and sudden