The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1890-11-20
CHAPrER &c.
NOVEMBER STORMS.

NOVEMBER STORMS.
Old Doctor B0crbave, Of rough-and-resdy
memory, informs as that cold water is. after
all, the only natural drink for adult human
beings" and reading his dissertation on the
evils OF drunkenness, one would be tempted 20
believe that there were teetotalers before the
time OF the Kansas Legislature, IT 10 were not
for the astonishing concluding sentence OF his
argument; In Choosing our daily beverage"
he says, we should avoid all stimulants what
ever, excepting, perhaps, glass Of good old
scLiedam schuapps.'
With similar beWilderment foreigners must
often read the current comments Of our coun-
| trymen on the sanitary effects OF our northern
climate Perfect health we are often told
can be enjoyed only in q land Of perpetual
| Summer, Of daily, genial sunshine. With the
increasing length Of cur Winter nights, with
more and more frequent fcOsts and snow-stOrms
diseases, too, increase, though a steady cold
climate like that Of Minnesota, is, perhaps, the
| hcalthiest in the world"
If frost is an enemy to health why should a
| daily full dose Of it be so conducive to lon
geyity? Why should the steady severe frosts
OF January DO less dangerous than the occa-
siOnal "COld snaps" Of November
The explanation that all regularity, for bet
ter or worse, IS beneficial to human health ia
analogous TO the old time maxim that the
/ method Of steady hard drinker" is less dan
I
IN little spree.
ltshouid indeed, be supposed that during thu
warm spells-the Indian summer" weeks
| OF November, tho s0Fciy-tried organism Of a
noFthlanCer would nave a fair chance to re-
cover from the effects Of previous frosts, but
the fact remains that November. like March,
/ IS a month marked by the prevalence Of mani
toId disorders, aud the chief explanation can
be found in the circumstance that indoor dwell
lers continue their cold-wcather precautions
from October TO April and come to griefduring
the unexpected periods Of warmer weather
At such times q combination OF outdoor warmth
and stuhy indoor heat gives disease germs their
best chance for development, while during
steady cold Winter the all-pervading frosts Of
each night UNDO the mischief Of each day. In
cabins and castles the hOgse-warmiDg fires, in
nine eases out OF ten, are permitted TO go out
before midnight, and between midnight and
morning the influence Of the frosty outdoor
air expurgates the impurities OF the indoor
atmosphere, and the lungs of a sleeper in a
cold bedroom get q chance Of relief in spite Of
closed windows. But closed windows and
glowing stoves get a chance to work their full
mischief during the exceptionally mild days,
when, nevertheless, fires are kept I'D on ae-
count Of the season, Just as the coIored brake
man OF every little HarroW-gage railway
thinks it bis duty to keep the atmosphere OF
the passengar-car at the roasting point during
OF the popular almanacs.
One other reason Of the increasing sick-Iist
OF November IS the difficulty Of persUadiag
patients Of feeble constitutions 90 take outdoor
exercise in q drilling rain. Tn Summer tha
sun rarely fails TO break through the dripping
clouds at least once a day, and a clear frosty
Hlnter-day IS positively inviting TO outdoor
sports, but in November disc0uraging state Of
the atmosphere may last for weeks together
with consequences seen in the relapse Of dys-
pep5ia and the temperance Of half.healsd
sore coughs DiO Lewis, ia his sanitarium for
cOnsumptiVes, used to insist on three hours of
daily exercise as long as the mercury kept on
the tolerable side Of zero. Rain-sh0wers were
never accepted as any excuse at all indiyid-
ual5 who had not outfit for roaghiug it we're
furnished overcoats and rain-proof hats from
the hospital wardrobe, and the doctor says that
his patients themselves were obliged TO admit
their agreeable disappointment in their expecta-
tion OF horrible consequences from three
hours tramp through sIeet-storms and deep
mud. On their return home they rubbed down
with hot towels, dressed from head to heel in
thoroughly dry, warm clothing and were called
to dinner IN nicely-warmed but airy room
with the result of their oWu confession that
they had never felt so good on the brightest
Summer-days.
That ehangeable climate is not incompati-
bic with perfect health, is demonstrated By the
mOuutalncerS. In the western highlands of
Old Virginia there are districts where the state
OF the weather can hardly ever be predicted
for six hours in advance. Dry, clear days, with
glorious sunsets, are followed by streaming
nights; rain-elouds lowering and laundering
all around the horizon, clear away before noon
and usher in a genial evening. The most ap-
proved weather--ules fail fOgs rise and vanish
without trace, and violent showers break out
without minutes warning. Every east wind
seems % unload its moisture in those shaggy
uplanGs, and IN Winter snOw-5tOrms may alter
nate with rain storms a dozen times day.
Yet the natives of that capricious climate thrive,
and local proyerb credits the officers OF the
Revenue Department with a mission to termi-
nate tho otherwise limitles5 existence Of tough
old mountain boomers" A similar kind of
weather seems 70 prevail on the island of Chloe
on the coast Of South America, and there, too
death by disease is included among the uunat-
ural modes of departure.
The healthiest and hardest men Of modern
Europe are probably the natives of western
Norway, yet more variable climate than theirs
cannot be found anywhere on this side Of the
Atlantic. The contention Of polar waves with
the influences Of the warm Gulf Stream pro-
duCes the most incalculable alternations Of
Summer and Winter, but the natives are as
stout as bears, though, or rather because they
mostly make their living out doors, hunting.
England weeps five days in the week, and grins
only when you have taken your umbrella along,
yet the children Of that ftful atmosphere have
proved their superiority On the battlefeds of
five different continents.
So much for the myth Of sickness resulting
from chaugeful climates. The only tenable
basis Of that theory can be Obyiated by a very
simple plan, viz, by providing an arrangement
for fre5h-air exercise under shelter, a we'll
rooted wood-shed, or an airy barn, with an
outfit for carpenters work. Artificial heat to
amend the temperature Of chilly rain-days is
. secondary consideration. In loose-ftting
wooden jacket any abIe-bodied man can work
himself warm enough in three minutes to pass
the next three hours in tOlcrable comfort, for
the fact Of drilling rain not yet having turned
into snow implies temperature of at least
32-but more properly 40-degrees above zero.
Indoor gymnasiums are more expensive aud
practically much inferior expedient, since not
one man of hundred can hope to enjoy a
series of eontortions in empty air half as much
as he would enjoy a few hours work with a
practical purpose and with the reward of a
visible result.
Ito Be c0HtjHusd)