The Washington critic., 1890-05-20
MEDICAL LAKE.
A Stretch of Wafer With Miraculous
Healing Power.

From the Boston Post.
Twenty-Five years ago a Frenchman
crossed the continent with a large flock
Of sheep. He lost great numbers while
moving through the arid region, and
when he arrived in Washington the
sheep that still lived were covered with
various skin diseases. One evening as
he was preparing for an encampment he
got glimpse, through the woods, of
beautiful lake, and he FASTENED forward
to Its shores. The sheep rushed into the
water and began TO drink copiously. He
was still more astonished when he tasted
the water and found 1t bitter and dis
agreeable, as well as dissimiiar to any
thing he had ever tasted. Fearing the
sheep would be poisoned, he drove them
out of the water, but in spite of his ef-
forts they returned again.
The sheep were in such condition
from disease that he had small hope of
them to drink what he believed to be
the poisonous waters as pleptifully as
they would. Next day he could not
drive the sheep away from the vicinity
of the lake, and in few days more he
was utterly astonished to find that his
sheep were restored to a wonderfully
healthy condition. Thereupon the
Frenchman thought he had roamed far
enough, and he fixed himself home.
stead besides the shores of the lake
For long his home by the lake was a
solitude, but the shores of that lake tc-
day are the scenes of busy and thriving
industry. On the Frenchman's rauch
the town of Middlebaugh is building
up, and this pioneer Frenchmtn sill
lives and rejoices that he was the Tirs
discoverer of these wonderful waters,
which the world will hereafter know as
Medical Lake.
These WI ters contain salts of sodium,
potassium, lithium, iron carbon, magnes-
ium, calcium, aluminium, silicon, sulphur
and borium. They are either in com
bination with one another or linked by
oxygen. The solution of these various
salts in the waters of Medical Lake pro-
duces results which a dozen years
| ago would have been deemed miracu-
| lous.
The lake covers rather more than a
thousand acres, and in places is a hun
dred fathoms deep. Its source is the
surrounding hills and mountains, and
| periodically it falls and rises. tits sur
rounded on every side by low wooded
hills and forms beautiful and pic
turesque dark sheet of water embosomed
in rolling woodlands. The waters
! cleanse and feel like water with solu-
ton CT soap. They taste disagreeable
| and nauseous.
visited the lake for the first time
| five months ago. then procured a
quantity of the salts obtained from the
waters of the lake by an evaporating
process. Some of my journalist friends
use them regularly as remedy against
dyspepsia or for purifying the blood,
and they tell me that they are wonder
fully beneficial.
A syndicate has already got hold of
Medical Lake. They have erected
| evaporating and drying establishments
for the preparation of these salts, and
also factories for the making of soap
and bottling the water of the lake.
Hotels are erecting, and the little town
Of Middlebaugh is having veritable
boom, in the belief that it must become
one of the health resorts of the world.
| The lake is but dozenmiles or so from
Spokane Falls. There is fine country
surrounding IL, and 1t enjoys that
| glorious summer climate with which
the States west of the Rocky Mountains
are blest. The winters are shorter and
far less severe than you endure in New
| England.