Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-09-22
our Section a. . sanitarium.

Mr.. henry L. tlnck, In his paper on
1.-THE Future of Southern California" in
The Nation o. the 18th instant, discusses
the hygienic properties of our climate
with remarkable clearness and striking
force. He illustrates his argument by
showing that January, February, March
and April, the four most disagreeable
months in the East out of the twelve,
are here the most perfect. Or, to use
his own words: "The sky is of the
deepest blue, the air neither cold nor
warm, but exhilarating, and laden with
the perfumes of orange blossoms and
wild flowers" There are of course dis
agreeable days here during our rainy
season-that is disagreeable days for the
invalid, but welcome and golden days
to the farmer, when the pearly
drops come down in great volume. But
the number of these days, compared
with the bright and pleasant ones, is
small. DIR. @. B. Bates mentions in the
Southern California Practitioner the case
of consumptive who kept record of
the weather, and found that in one year
there were but fifteen days in which he
was confined to the house, ten of them
being rainy and five windy. In this i'm
munity OF Southern California from con-
tinuous and excessive rain storms, Mr..
Finck thinks we possess a great adj
vantage over other winter resorts for
invalids; but this he considers only one
of half dozen advantages which our
section possesses as a sanitarium. He
says:
The first and most important is the
dryness of the atmosphere, which favors
the rapid radiation of the earth's heat,
20 that the nights are always cool enough
for refreshing sleep, even in midsummer,
and sleep is the best of all medicines.
So dry is the air that strips of beef can
be jerked in it by simply hanging them
out doors till desiccated. And the
strangest part of it is that the sea breeze,
which always blows during the hottest
hours of the day, is dry wind too-a
circumstance which some have tried to
account for by considering it sort of
undertow, or q wave of air which came
from the dry desert lands to the eastward
and returns thither, absorbing but little
moisture during its brief contact with
the ocean. But whatever the cause OF
this dryness, it is great hygienic factor,
which this region can play out as one OF
it's highest trumps against Florida and
Italy. No enervating, malarial swamp
winds, no sultriness, such as often makes
suicide welcome thought in the East,
| Ill iy fhyo Wncfarn
sanitarium, not even during the rainy
from yellow fever, like Florida, or from
the cholera, which is a constant menace
in Spain, Italy and Sicily. Again, on the
shores Of the Mediterranean, in Europe
as well as in Africa, the invalid will find
it almost impossible to obtain comfort
able lodgings and proper food, except in
the large cities, while in California he
can find home comforts in any village
and many farm-houses in the midst of
the widest scenery and purest air.
Never will his nostrils be offended here
by the pestilential odors which poison the
air within a radius of several miles of
Italian and Spanish cities nor will he
ever be compelled by the muddy condi-
ton of the streets to take his walks all
winter long on the roof of the hotel, as
the proprietor OF the Continental at Tan
gier told me some of his invalid winter
guests did. What life compared with
the floral walks, the hunting, fishing and
picnicking on the dry ground and under
the blue rsinless sky of Los Angeles or
San Diego county! Surely, Southern
California is destined to become the semi
tarium, not only of America, but of
Europe as we'll.
This vindication of the superiority of
our section as o sanitarium over the
Wanted resorts of Europe and Florida,
is confirmation of what the HERALD
has claimed for years. We have had
repeated proofs of the great advantage of
our climate for invalids by the curative
effect it has exercised upon thousands of
sufferers who have come here and been
restored to health. Many come here
when it is too late, when there is nothing
left in them for nature to build upon.
These die as they would have died any,
where. But those who come in time are
invariably benefited.