The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-10-30

II Makes You Drunken Than in Lower Alti-
tudos-Cnt Line Two Miles High.

~ lAuhOu " AAuHNo AHh ia -uWC =
tudes-Cat Line Two Miles High.
Leadville. they tell you in Colorado. is above
the cat line. Water line. timber line. snow
line. these are all more or less familiar. Cat
line. however. is now and seems to suggest a
practical joke somewhere in conc ealment.
Yet II is not so meant. Old residents say that,
because of the altitude and the attenuation
of the dir, cats cannot keep alive In the car
donate city. Other animals have been known
to feel the effects OF the thin air; from exhila-
ration to a high old time is an easy passage.
II 1t had not been for an unscheduled trip
to Leadville n certain woman somewhere. in
New England could not lay claim to sympathy
with q certain class of social offenders. Pos
sibly she makes no such professions. but she
has at least earned the right to sympathize.
Something had happened on the line ahead.
and there was only one way Of getting to Dem
yer. and that was a mountain circuit bY way Of
Leadville. All the way from San Francisco
this New England woman had kept rigidly with
her companion In their own section. They
were prim in appearance, precise in their man
ncrs. repellant OF the little amenities Of trans
continental travel which one finds west of the
Missouri River. They manifestly- had their
position definitely assured them in the First
Orthodox society OF whatever their town may
have been. and they were not going to have
bildJ SpOlltu ny uHUtuullB 10 any VI LuOSo
Western people who seemed to think nothing
of telling you all about the scenery without the
least introduction.
Particularly they felt it advisable TO preserve
a chilling demeanor toward the woman in the
opposite section. who soon proved herself ca
pable of being discouraged in endeavors to add
to the comfort Of inexperienced travellers
iceberg Of deportment. On this unexpected
side trip, by way Of Leadyille one of the prim
persons from DOWN East felt the rarity of the
air uncomfortable 10 RDmp Dnonln II d0aa
cause a sickness which is very annoying. al
though not dangerous at such comparatively
modest elevations as are accessible by rail-
way. In this case the woman's. plight was
such as TO cause her companion TO be alarmed.
slapped her hands. she gave her spirits of
hartshorn and then the limit OF her assistance
WIS Fea sbe fe Tl'h 20 a me sgfre OF cough Not to@ ona nt
these things had any beneficial effect upon the
sick; person. who lay back in the corner Of her
section decidedly pallid and gasping. Then
the Yankee women were glad to call on the
Western woman whom they had snubbed in
fore forgivinR. she soon found somebody with
a flask. and. set herself the task of convincing
vile a great many things that were frowned
d DO IN in MassaGhusetts, and nit that it vas stupid
to light IN mountain n n ax nos Sickness ne So With cough lozenges
1t is quite likely that the Puritan lady had
no very good working knowledge of whiskey.
| effectof spirits. in fact. the paraiyzing power OF
WnlSkel.. lucTeuSeS mOSt Thpluly WIN the att
tude. nh sick woman helped herself: she
that would have proved e~ffectual at tidewater.
At the high altitude of Leadville. which is
roughly two miles up in the air, the benefit
was immediate. The sickness passed. the
pallor vanished, the prim woman perked up
most conspicuously. She even recognized
that she owed some acknowledgment to her
%neighbor for kindness after preceding rebuffs.
This started her talking. My. how she did
talk for a while. 1t did not matter what IL was
that she said. anything that buzzed into her
mind flew to the tip of her tongue. which kept
on milling mt a great rate.
"Leadtille." she said. didactically. Lead
vile is said to be, the tallest city in the world.
No. that's not right. it can't be the tallest city.
high time we got there; there used to be high
old times-no, that's not quite right. either.
Can you sing? l know you can sing. This is
a great thing TO go up so high, We should all
join. in an appropriate air.. No. you needn't
hush me. I'm all right. and I'm enjoying the
trip. Let us sing of the noble Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men and marched them up
q hill one day, and then he marched them
down again. That's just what is happening to
us on this trip to Leadville. Oh. when you're
up you're up. up. up. and when you're own
why don't you. all sing. because it's Just what
we're doing. And when you're neither up nor
seem Just all right somehow. Still. it's a singu-
larly appropriate song for u.s."
Then the whiskey, plus the altitude. got in
the rest OF its work. and the prim traveller
went to sleep. Somewhere in New England
there is a woman who ought to have a chari-
table sympathy for the poor people who drink
too much. for she knows what 1t Ia.