Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-10-01
ONE-LUNGED PEOPLE.
The High Attitudes of South
California.
A SICIAN'S VIEW s.
How Phthisicky People Are Affected
in Our Mountain Regions and
Dry Atmosphere.
BY WALTER LINDLEY, NJ. D.

friend, lett Los Angeles Tor the san
Jacinto mountains. A four hours ride
on the Santa Fe road took us to the town
of San Jacinto where we were met by a
patient of mine whom had considered
to be at deaths door from phthisis. He
was postoffice clerk in Kansas City and
came to me nearly four years ago with
daily rise of temperature to 103, night
sweats. hard cough, purulent expectora-
ton, marked emaciation, dullness in left
apex, rales quite general over both lungs.
He remained quite close to the Coast for
a year, but lost ground, and suddenly
determined to go to San Jacinto, where
he "took up" a piece OF government
land. There was steady improvement
almost from the first. He has
this season worked in the bayfield,.
While he is by no means well man, yet
the change for the better has been won
derful. San Jacinto has an altitude Of
about 400 feet. 1t is too warm for COM
fort in in the summer, yet numerous con-
sumptives claim they gain most during
the hot season. Here we hired two
horses and buggy for $3.50 per day, and
drove ten miles to the east, to what is
called 'the foot of the grade," where we
stayed over night. The accommodations
would have been real good, but for the
fact that the beds were all engaged. The
consequence was, we had to sleep on
straw pile in the barn, but the food was
good, and, like the straw, was clean.
At O'Clock A. NJ. the next day we
started up the grade. The rise is said to
be about thirty-three feet in hundred.
A six-mule team has all it can do to haul
800 pounds up this steep road. The
grade is two and half miles long, and
it usually takes at least three hours for
mule team to reach the top. 1t seemed
to be the business of every person We
met to try to frighten us, and we came
near not attempting to drive up, but
finally did try, and our little team pulled
us up in just an hour. We gave them a
rest every twenty yards. Once in a
while, when we dared to take our eyes
from our horses, we would glance back
at the magnificent landscape below us.
Whe we arrived at the top of the
grade we found ourselves at an altitude
of 5000 feet. and in the edge of beauti-
full forest cf towering pine and fir. For
four and half miles we drove over
charming road aligned by the refreshing
green trees, enswarded by grasses,
bushes and many varieties OF flowers
the rose and wild fuchsia predominating.
Our horses slaked their parched throats
and cooled their dry and heated feet in
musical mountain stream. The blue
bird, the mocking-bird and the quail
were omnipresent, while the road walker,
with his long tail, marched along majes.
tically before us, and the gray squirrel
ran into his hole near the top OF the tree.
The SUN rose as we drove, and we felt
that we were indeed in the heights. The
cool, invigorating atmosphere, brought to
us through the pine boughs by gentle
breeze, famed our foreheads and filled
our lungs.
A few cabins picturesquely located, in
dicated that our morning drive was end
ed. 1t was 7 80 o'clock when we sat
down with excellent appetites to rural
breakfast of oatmeal mush, bread, milk,
ham, butter and coffee, all of the best
quality, in primitive hotel.
Here was passed delightful, dreamy
day. The place is called Strawberry
Valley. About two hundred persons
were living here in tents and cabins, but
they leave by the middle of October.
Then the SHOWS begin. Consumptives
and asthmatics are here in considerable
numbers, and when the SHOWS fall they
hasten to the valley, $500 feet lower.
We made arrangements to 60 to the peak
of Mt. San Jacinto, IL 100 feet high, ac-
companied by Warner, the guide. Bright
and early we were up the following
morning, and soon had our horses
packed for going up the trail, but alas
for the propositions of man! Our horses
began to buck and run around in cir
Gle, and soon our we'll arranged packs
were flying in all directions. Strange to
say. this discouraging episode evoked
expressions of unbounded mirth from all
of the campers, who had gathered to see
our brilliant cavalcade depart on its ad-
venturous mission. l very much feared
that convulsive laughter would causs
hemorrhage from the lungs of
some of the valetudinarians who stood
gaping on. How sad that would have
been! We saw that our mistake was in
not asking to have saddle horses hitched
to the buggy at San Jacinto. l would
advise persons making the trip to insist
on having saddle horses, and have sad
ultS puI III tuo UuSSy W uS0 WAOA qua NJ
berry Valley is reached.
started by O'Clock. 1t is fifteen miles
from Strawberry Valley to the peak.
The first three miles is through rolling
pine forests by mountain stream.
Then we began to climb, and for an hour
we were going upward until we reached
the Tauqwitz Valley, $500 feet high.
Here ag ain were thousands and thou
sans of acres of pine forests, and rich
lands we'll watered by never-failing
mountain springs. In the center of this
valley there is peat bog. The horses
passed readily through it, but the burro
on which, to my regret, was mounted,
absolutely refused to take step in the
yielding, marshy, grass-covered bog.
As I sat there whipping, coaxing and
hallooing all to no purpose, might we'll
have been dubbed, like Don Quixote de
la Mancha, the Knight of the Sorrowful
Figure. By going circuitous route l
avoided the swamp, and we were soon
climbing higher and higher; we went
until we passed over ridge and into
another magnificent combination of for
est and grassy plain called
TAMARACK VALLEY.
Here we are 5000 feet above the level
of the sea. AS we passed through 9
beautiful meadow where the foot of man
had scarcely trod, deer ran before us
and was soon hidden in the timber
Again, after about four miles ride, We