Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1898-01-28
A GOOD AUTHORITY
DIR. A. F. Mckay, of Chicago, Tells What
He Thinks of Our Climate and
Mineral Waters.

DIR. A. F. Mckay, of Chicago, Tells What
He Thinks of Our Climate and
Mineral Waters.
Lying in a canyon, by a brook, which
"slips and slides and CLEANS and glldes''
all the year, untrammeled by ice, ac-
companied by the croaking of the frog
in January, is the principal portion of
Hot SPRINGS, among the Black Hills of
South Dakota. Climbing the some
what precipitous but altogether pic
turesque sides ofthis canyon toa height
of perhaps one hundred feet, you find
upon either side Il plateau or table
land, extending backto the foot of the
hills, which on all sides rise to the
height of from LOCO to 200 feet, afford
ing the shelter from the storms and
billiards., which give the chilling i'm
preston so universal when Dakota is
mentioned in polite society. The
characteristics of the waters of this
brook or river, as it is dignified with
the name of Fall River, are what gives
to Hot Springs its name and fame.
Yelling out from mother earth in
many places for a distance. of some
four miles,s'a + springs of varying size
and qualities, but all of Il temperature
sufficiently above that of ordinary
spring water to be designated as hot
springs, the temperature averaging
about 81 degrees Fair. These springs
vary in mineral qualities, and accord
ing to the traditions of the Indians,
and the Oldest inhabitants, just as
much in their curative virtues. Evil
dences are nero that these waters
were held..in highest esteem by the ma
tives long before the advent of the
white man, and during my visit quitea
band of Sioux came to rejuvenate them
selves in "Minnekahta" (the hot waters)
and replenish their "waupum" with
the white mans silver by parting with
precious Siouxvenirs. 1t is but little
over a decade since the Black Hills
passed from the formal possession of
the red man, yet within that short per-
iod the entire region has been trans
formed into civilized communities,
teeming with agricultural, manufac.
turing and mining life, while Hot
Springs has been transformed into a
a veritable "Csrlsbad of America"
where meet doctors, clergymen, rail-
road magnates, and people from every
walk in life and every state in the
union to drink and battle in its waters
in search of health. That many re-
markable cures have been effected
there can be no question. In the days
of crude and u%nscientific means of ap-
plying the waters, there were SO many
invalids who bathed and we're made
wbole.that the average citizen of Hot
Springs. tells the invalid who comes to
try the virtues of the waters, that he
or she has only to drink and battle to
recover. health and strength. This un-
bounded faith leads many visitors to in
dulge too freely, and without due pre-
caution in the baths and water, which,
if properly regulated, would prove ben
e%ticial, but which, in excess, may prove
injurious.
Hot Springs, with it's fine hotels, it's
great plunge bath, it's numerous mod
ern bath houses, it's substantial public
and private buildings. it's electric
light, telephone and water systems, is
a surprise to tourist OF invalid, who has
imagined the Black Hills to be only the
home of the Indian, the miner and the
cowboy, and entirely beyond the pale
of modern civilization.
For years many invalids have visited
Hot Springs annually, and the major
ity have gone away greatly identified or
cured of the ailments for which they
came. Now the place has assumed al
SO the air of Il pleasure resort as we'll,
many visiting it for no particular reas-
on, but to enjoy a pleasant outing and
rec%uperation.
CLIMATE,
Hot Springs is in South Dakota.
This fact is sufficient to condemn it's
! climate in the minds of those who can
only associate the name Dakota with
extreme heat in summer and extreme
cold in winter. Now the fact is that
but very few people who have not per-
sonally experienced the climate of Da-
kota, cal do it justice, but he who con-
founds the climate of the Black Hills
with that of Dakota in general, lacks
that specific information which only
should be the basis of judgment upon
the climate of any place. Likewise he
who confounds the climate of Hot
Springs with that of the Black Hills
region in general. depending upon the
statistics of the weather service accu.
mnlated at Deadwood, where the SER
vice was located for many years, and