The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-04-06
AIR OF A
30 Pure and Tracing That 1. Might He
utilized For n Sanitariuu,.

30 Pure and DracinE That L. Might De
Utilized For n Sanitarium.
In The Century there is an article
On Tine Mammoth Cave of Ken.
tucky"b by John r. Proctor, former.
ly state geologist of Kentucky. Mr..
Proctor, i'll describing the tour of
the cave, says:
some Instance Oh we come upon
two stone cottages built against one
of the walls of the avenue. These
are the remains of 4 number that
were built i'll tho cave III ISL for
the abode of consumptivu patients.
1t was believed that tho pure air of
the cave would effect Il cure, and IL
consumptives took W their abode
here, and remained for five months
without going outside. 1t is said
that when they did go out three died
before they could reach tho hotel.
Something more than purity is re
quired-sunlight. 1t is said that
the s%altretcr miners had remarkable
health while working in the cave.
and persons with weak lungs are
certainly benefited by short walks
Ill this atmosphere. l believe, i'll
time, that those immense reservoirs
of dry, pure antiscptic air will i've
utilized for the cure of consumption
and asthma, not by sending the pa
tient into the cave, but by bringing
tho air into sunlit sunituriums OH
the dry, well drained elevated sand
stone platcaus above the caves.
We know the air is dry, because
the timber carried in in 1912 has not
decayed, and iron hinges have been
hero since 1S43 and show no sign Of
rust. We know the air is pure, be-
cause here animal matter does not
decay, but simply dries up. The
mummies found in the caves were
not prepared mummies, but simply
dosiccated bodies. The uniform
temperature Of from 53 degrees to
81 degrees the year round has been
demonstrated. Consumptives take
long sea voyages ard visit high al
titudes to get the benefit of aceptic
atmosphere, but they suffer from
variations Of temperature, from
storms, and at high attitudes exer-
else cannot be taken, while the cave
air p%redisposes one to take exercise
with little fatigue. I have known
delicate women to walk for nino
hours in the cave, clambering up
steep ascents and over rocks, and
come out of the cave feeling no
n of fatigue until they reached
the warm, impure air outside,
charged with the odors Of dccayed
vegetation, when they would al
most faint and would require as.
sistance iii ascending the path to the
hotel.
We think the atmosphere in the
! glen at the entrance remarkable for
purity before we have become sensi-
tive by hours in the pure atmos-
phere Of the cave. IOnce went with
a friend and q guide to Roaring
river and several other remote
places, which required remaining in
the ave overnight. 1t was night
when we came out, and we had be-
come so sensitive by our stay of SO
hours in the pure air of tho cave
that we we're almost by
the suffooating mephitic odors and
oppressiveness Of the outer air. We
dreaded to inhale it into our lungs
and returned again and again into
the pure air flowing from the cave.
| Air freed from bacteria is one of
the main reasons for success in
modern surgery and a sanitarium
into which this air could be pumped
would doubtless be resorted to for
difficult surgical operations. Con-
sumptives in high attitudes are com.
p0iisd 60 remain indoors IL winter
weather and breathe the vitiated air
OF closed rooms, while in sanitari-
m supplied with cave air, by let
ting the air in at the upper part of
the rooms and out at the lower part,
all e%xhalations would pass out and
pure air would be constantly rush
ing in eat a uniform temperature,
winter and summer. Then it would
be a boon if we could escape the op-
pressive heat of summer into hotels
kept cool and pure by the mir from
these great dry caves.
hospitality That Paid.
GOmh1iu0 clubs, ~ Lc:.-~ -o:1>7