The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-08-09
Rock Alum Springs.
THE PROPOSED MEDICAL CONVENTION
ABOUT VICTORIA FURNACE, &c, &c.


Editorial Correspondence
The last week in September will
witness a notable gathering at thesRock-
bridge Alum Springs. By invitation of
the President of the company, Mr.. j.
Fred Effinger, the Medical Society OF
Virginia will assemble in annual conyen-
ton here. 1t will be an occasion OF much
Importance to the Springs, as well as to
the afflicted of the State. 1t will acquaint
the medical fraternity with the medicinal
virtues of these waters and their curative
properties, by actual inspection and al in
structive explanation of their Alternative
qualities by DR.. J. Staige Davis, the med
ical director, and one of the most learned
and accomplished physicians in the South.
One object had in view for this conyOca-
ton is to ascertain whether the sanitary
advantages of the Alum Springs cannot
be utilized on the grounds, by those suf-
ferng from such complaints as experience
has proven may be remedied by the
waters. If in the judgment OF the
Convention. the suggestion Is prac-
ticable, then it is proposed to open
one of the mainf hotels for the winter sea-
son, especially for the benefit OF those who
may wish to avail of the opportunity thus
to be presented for restorationfto health.
1t is held by medical men who have long
been familiar with these Springs and the
cures they have effected, that the waters
GRO ctroprar ond mora afioapi ions i'm the
winter than in the summer, and with this
belief, or rather knowledge, they have no
| hesitancy in endorsing the proposition of
a winter season, and recommending it to
| the Society. If the Society shall concur
in the suggestion, and give assurance OF
| the cooperation of its members in secur-
| ing IN attendance of such of their pa
tients as would likely be benefited.
the management here will make the neces-
sary preparations for their accommodation
and comfort.
Observation and inquiry since | have
been here, convince me that three-fourths
of those who come.here in impaired health
are the victims of overwork Men in mid
die life and those past the..meridian and on
the shady side, who ought to be in the
are here seeking relief from maladies
which have been brought upon them by
too close application to business. Many
of them, by incessant.- labor and exacting
care have accumulated completeness, but
are in no condition to enjoysthem, because
in the eager pursuit of wealth they have
broken down health They.;lre now COM
PEELED to spend almost us fast as they made,
and sadly realize the folly of subordinating
all else to the gain of worldly goods. 1t is
a popularity of the American people that
they rush heedlessly on in the channels of
business, regardless of consequences to
mind and body, and when too late are
brought face to face with impaired con-
stitutions, which money, too frequently. is
powerless to restore. We find them in all
the walks of life, presenting a striking
contrast with the inhabitants of England
and Germany, especially with the prOmi- |
nent characters in State-craft. Here our
statesmen are actually burned out before
u,
leading and most prominent men in letters, |
in legislation, i'll the armies. and the coun-
ellis of the nation are scarcely matured in |
their faculties before that period. A par
tial explanation of this difference may be |
found in the fact that in the old countries
estates and honors are inherited, and do |
not require to gain them the labor |
and toll necessary in America, where |
every man has to make his own for |
tune and fame. We have no ances-
trail munimentS that avail much I'M
der our free institutions. The hod-car-
rier, OF rail-splitter, or canal-boatman of |
to-day may be the statesman of tomorrow,
and the favorite of fortune in the start of |
life, may be the financial bankrupt and |
mental wreck at its close. 1t is not how
long we may live, as it is numbered by
years, but how much may be achieved in
the years we live, be they many OF few. 1t
is this constant abrasion-incessant con-
test and friction that bring on premature /
decay and shadow the after years with dis
ease and suffering.
Among the five hundred visitors here
are two noted s-distinguished
as much for their learning as they are by
their modesty and simplicity. | allude to
DIR. J. Staige Davis, the Medical Director
at the Springs and Professor of Materia
Medica at the University of Virginia, and
Prof. John A. Campbell. of the chair of
Mineralogy, Geology and Chemistry at
Washington and Lee University. The
former is in one incesSant round of visits to
the sick, administering to the relief Of the
afflicted through his attainments in his
profession as well as by his gentle and
winning disposition and sympathetic ma
ture. Although his fame may not be
trumpeted abroad, his learning and emf
nent qualifications in his profession are
such as in others or in other countries,
would place him among the first OF the
worlds great men, The latter is here for
his health, having suffered the amputa-
ton Of his left arm below the elbow caused
by embolism, resulting in gangrene OF
the diseased part of the limb. He, like
Hugh Miller, has founded his fame in the
Testimony of the Rocks, and opened the
marvellous hidden wealth OF his beloved
Virginia to the inspection of the world
Whether his life work has been finished OF
not, his researches and labors already ac-
complished will hand his name down to
future generations, as one of the benefac-
tors of his race and examplars OF the W.
tues and attachments of the great men OF
his day.
These remarkable men move among the
visitors innocent of the reverence and .af-
lection with which they are regarded by
those who know them, not only because OF
their vast learning in their respective
branches of science, but for the unaffected
simplicity and nobility of their charac-
tiers. A great thinker and worker is ben
efactor of his kind and however much in
herent modesty may shade, for time, the
rich store of knowledge he has gained by
unremitting and unselfish TOLL the world
will be the wiser and the better when the
full measure of the good accomplished is
irresistibly forced upon it. sit must be in
the order of time, for such lights cannot
be hid under bushel.