The evening times., 1898-03-02
4 Santa rum in Mammoth Cave.


Some distance on We come upon two
stone cottages built against one of the
walls of the avenue These are the re-
mains of a number that were built in ;he
cave in 1873 for the abode OF consumptive
patients. II was believed that the pure
air of the cave would effect "a cure, and
fifteen consumptives took up their abode
here. and remained for fiye months with
out going outside. Ii is said that when
they did go out three died before they
could reach the hotel Something more
than purity is required-suElight. It is
said that the saltpeter miners mad re-
msrka BILE health while working i'm the
cave. and persons with weak lungs are
certainly benefited by short walks in this
atmosphere. | believe. in time. that these
immense reservoirs of dry. pure. antisep-
tic air Will be utilized for the cure of
consumption and asthma, not by sending
the patient into the cave. but by bringing
the air into sunIighted sanitariums on the
dry. Well-drained elevated sandstone
plateaUS above the caves.
We know the air is dry. because the m
her carried in i'm 1872 has not deca yed. and
iron hinges have been here since lS43 and
show no sign of rust. We know the air
is pure. because here animal matter does
mummies found in the cave were not pre-
pared mummies, but simply desiccated
bodies. The uniform temperature of from
- to II degrees the year round has been
demonstrated. Consumptves take long
sea voyages and visit high attitudes To
get the benefit of aceptic atmosphere:
but they suffer from variations Of tenn
peratuTe. from storms. and at high afti-
tudes exercise cannot be taken. while the
cave air pFedisposes one to take exercise
with little fatigue.
| have known delicate women to walk
for nine hours in the cave, clambering
up steep ascents, and over rocks and
come out of the cave feeling no sense of
fatigue until they reached the warm i'm
pure air outside. charged with the odors
of decayed vegetation, when they would
almost faint. and would require assist
auCe in ascending the path To the hotel. I
We think the atmosphere in the glen
at the entrance remarkable for purity be-
fore We have become sensitive by hours |
in the pure atmosphere of the cave.
once went with a friend and a guide to {
Roaring River and several other remote |
places which required remaining in the
cave overnight. 1t was night when We |,
came out. and we had become so sensi-
tive by our stay of thirty-siX hours in I
the pure air of the cave that We were al !
most overcome by the suffocating me- /
pHltC ouofS ana oppreSSlNeHeSS or the i
outer air. We dreaded to inhale il 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 sur
gerry. and "A sanitarium into which this
air could he pumped would doubtless be
resorted to for difficult surgical opera
tons. Consumptives in high attitudes
are compelled to remain indoors in win
ter weather and breathe the vitiated air
of closed rooms while in sanitariums |
supplied with cave air. by letting the air
in az the upper part of the rooms and
out at the lower part. ali exhalations !
would pass out and pure air would be
rushing in at uniform tenn
perature. winter and summer Then it
would be a boon IT We could escape the
heat of summer into hotels |
kept cool and pure by the air from these
great dry caves.