The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-05-05

WOTlu, Wherever InaJ may De. An, inc
mistaken kindness of those dear friends
who feel that they have left duty un-
fulfilled if they do not ransack their
memories for some remedy or resort to
urge upon the invalid! If he goes to
Mexico, they assure him that Manitoba
is just the place for him; if he takes
one medicine, they ask him why he
does not try some other; and in thou
sand ways they vex the little comfort
and quiet which is possible to his wan
ing days, and then are almost offended
if he does not follow their counsel to
the exclusion of all others. In the
fullness of their health they may know
no more of consumption than a sailor
knows of theology, while the sick man
is strangely lacking in intelligence if,
with his vital interest in the matter; he
has not learned all that books and eX-
perience can teach him; but, n'importe,
none are too ignorant to give advice.
The consumptlve cannot too soon dis
abuse his mind of the fanciful idea that
in some distant locality the veins of
earth run with some peculiar ichor, or
her atmosphere is charged with some
e-giving force, to which he is stran-
ger at home. Air and water are made
up of pretty much the same constitu-
ents all the world over. Bad weather
as well as good is found everywhere.
They have fogs in California, billiards.
in Minnesota, sudden changes of tenn
perature in Colorado, and chill wintry
rains on the tropical islands. l once
knew champion of health-resort to
be so beset and cornered by illustrations
of the unhealthfulness of his climate
that he was obliged to retreat behind
the apologize remark: ''Well, after
you once get acclimated, this is no
worse than some other places"
A life of hunting and fishing is often
prescribed for the patient who is too
feeble to lift a rifle; but the milder pur-
suits of the botanist or mineralogist are
healthier and safer. In the excitement
of the chase he is liable to find his
strength suddenly fail him in the depths
of the forest, or the sun may PROSTATE
him or the storm overtake him when he
least expects it; and if he be jealous
fisherman he is sure sooner or later to
take an unprecedented bath, from
which chill and congestion may ensue
Besides, it is hardly consistent for the
man who makes so much ado about his
own precious life to amuse himself by
taking the lives of other animals, which
are perhaps of equal importance in the
grand scheme of nature.
The act of roughing it is not the Ar
cadian picnic that the fancy paints it.
The process does not belle its name
Roughing it means to get lost from your
party in an unknown country; it means
hardship, privation and exposure such as
only the strongest can bear, illness with
out care and death without ceremony,
summer heat by day and winters cold
by night with adequate protection from
neither, bed so thin that the invalid S
protuberant bones feel every stone be-
meath, a diet of potatoes soaked in
grease, bread half done, and coffee tast-
ing of the tin, served by a cook who
erst was stable-boy, and the company
of coarse men, whose gross words are
particularly offensive to one whose soul
has been purified by pain. The invalid
can easily rough it at home by joining
partnership with the first tramp who
comes along.
AS long as comfort is not sacrificed
in the exchange, no one doubts that the
pine-clad mountains are better than the
malarial swamps, the country with its
clover blossoms better than the CITY
with its sewer-gas and decaying pave
ments, the open air better than the
close office, and bracing atmosphere
better than one which debilitates; but
beyond this a change of climate is of
doubtful efficacy to the consumptive.
As every section of our country has its
mountains, fields and pure air, any jour
ney to distant lands is really unneces-
sary. If theinvalid has plenty of money,
prefers motion to rest and excitement
to calm, has no fears of sudden prostra-
ton or death by the way, is bound by
no home attachments, and finds one
clearinghouse as good as another, there
is no sufficient reason why he should not
amuse himself during the short time
that amusement is possible to him, by
testing the merits of one sanitarium
after another and congratulating him
self on some imaginary improvement
in his condition. 1t is one of the re-
compenses of his misfortune that his
heart grows strong as his lungs get
weak, and, like the ostrich, he blinds
his sight with the sands of confidence
even while the pitiless pursuer is hard
upon him. This effectually disproves
the popular theory that plucky deter
mination to live will battle any disease.
But if sympathy is necessity to the
patients nature, let him stay at home.
No amount of ozone in the atmosphere
will atone for the unfamiliar faces of a
strange land. A hygienic hotel is like
battlefield; the sympathies of the at
PENDANTS are scattered too widely over
the multitude to be felt by any one indi-
vidual, unless by lavish system of fees
he can secure the consultations of paid
mourner. Should he be poor in this
worlds goods and rich independent re-
lations, it is doubtful if he has moral
right to take the bread from the future
widow and orphans in order to incur the
heavy expenditure of the health-resort,
where, at the best, he may continue the
semblance of living for a brief period
longer. This may seem cruel doctrine
to the devoted wife, children, or parents,
who would willingly be cast penniless
upon the world for the sake of securing
a respite, however short, for their loved
one; but it is recommended for the I'M
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