The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1891-01-16
AN OK Y DRUNK.
TIE story n Young Nan Told of His Tx.
p~erIences IN IN is Line.

periences I'm tn is Line.
4 slim young man walked briskly up
Broadway last evening. There was moth
ing striking about lis personal appearance
except his chest, which swelled out as If it
would rip the buttons off bis coat. At Can
al street the crowd blocked his way. He
scowled, looked angry. and then a great
white cloud issued from his lips.
Twenty, be muttered. His chest slow
~ fell to normal size, nut only for a
moment for disengaging himself from the
hurryiog throng, he caught bis former
swinging gait, his shoulders went back,
his chest rose again to its full prominence.
A Sun young map recognized him as a
lawyer in the Equi. able building with
whom lie had an acquaintance. He tapped
him on the arm and said: Taking your
CONSTITUTIONAL"
mo, | am out on my daily drunk. |
see you look surprised. Yes, you're right;
| don't drink, but | nave a way to get ex-
hilarated on oxygen; and so | take an air
spree every day. ! learned the trick by
accident a year age. | live in Clinton
place. As / had been confined in the Office
every day, last Thanksgiving a year ago |
found myself suffering from symptoms of
pneumonia. | believed breathing would
cure me, and one evening in walking from
Park place home | tried on how many ex-
halations could walk to Clinton place,
twenty-five blocks of varying size, making
a distance of nearly a mile and a half.
eat first | found it difficult to bold my
breath for more than a few PAGES, but by
the time | reached Prince street my lungs
were working better. I was in a profuse
perspiration from head to foot. It seemed
that | had discovered depths in my lungs
| never thought existed. Every Inhalation
seemed to go down to my very shoes. My
feet felt light, aud I seemed to eat up the
distance.
AS | neared Clinton place ! began TO
feel distressed. know now that I dis
too much at first. Various coIors flashed
before my eyes. When my breath went
out ! felt peculiarly empty. On arriving
at Clinton place aad a sharp shooting
pain across my temples. When I stood
still it seemed as if my head would burst.
But this feeling gradually passed away,
and in half an hour [ was feeling splendid.
l noted down the count OF breaths that
first night. Here they are: From Park
place to Canal street, %; to Prince street,
Go; to Cliuton street, 9s.
Il kept up the practice from that day,
and my lung capacity has so increased that
last Thursday l walked the same distance
on So breaths. having nearly doubled my
breathing forces. My chest measurement
a year age was 81 inches, now it is 40. l
have not had a touch OF pulmonary trouble
since that day. a few days after my first
trial | tested my lungs ia a trip over the
Brooklyn Bridge. The walk of 8, $50 feet,
700 feet over a mile, y.s made on ST
breaths. Last week l did the same dis
lance on so hreaths in the face of a stiff
raw wind"
HAS your increased lung capacity
been ofany other practical benefit to you?'
Eyes. 4 few months ago | was in a
hotel fire in the West. Twas one of the
las. awakened. Ny room was fnll of
smoke. Iput a wet towel over my mouth
and through it drew one of my long
breaths. On that single Inhalation I made
my way through smoke-illed halls. Had
l taken one breath of the smoke I would
have become confused and would never
have got out alive. I ana firmly convinced
that il people knew how to hold their
breath there would be fewer deaths at
fires.
Again, last summer, l was a commuter
on the Lackawanna, living at Orange. The
train occupies about a minute and a quar-
ter in passing Though the Hohoken tun-
mel. Instead of breathing IN the smoke
and eInders during the passage, / went
through comfortably on one breath drawn
at the entrance. I can now hold my
breath over a minute and a half, where a
year ago forty.fve seconds was my usual
limit. Ny tendency to become round
shoaldered has entirely disappeared, my
step has become elastic, and my appetite
ravenous. have all Of my clothes very
loose, to give room for expansion IL my
walks. N Y. Sun.