Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1898-03-18
GOOD AUTHORITY,

DR.. A. F. Mckay, Of Chicago, Tells What
He Thinks of Our Climate and
Mineral Waters.
Lying in a canyon, by a brook, which
sslips and slides and CLEANS and glldes"
all the year, untrammeled by ice, G
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 of this canyon toa height
of perhaps n hundred feet, you find
upon either side a plateau or table
land, extending back to the foot of the
hills, which on all sides rise to the
height of from 1000 to 1000 feet, afford
ing the shelter from the storms and
billiards., which give the chilling inn
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 it's name and fame.
yelling out from mother earth in
many places for a distance of some
four miles, care springs of varying size
and qualities, but all of a temperature
sufficiently above that of ordinary
spring water to be designated as hot
springs, the temperature averaging
about "a 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 numerous 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 t~o 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 "Carlsbad 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 it's waters
in search of health. That many re-
markable cures have been effected
there can be no question. In the days
of crude and unscientific means of ap-
plying the waters, there were.so many
invalids who bathed and were made
wholesthat 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 bathe to
recover.health and strength. This I'M
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
eficial, but which, in excess, may prove
injurious.
Hot Springs, with its fine hotels, it's
great plunge bath, its numerous mod
ern bath houses, its substantial public
and private buildings, it's electric
light, telephone and water systems, is
a surprise to tourist or 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 benifted or
cured of the ailments for which they
came. Now the place has assumed al
SO the air of a 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, can do it justice, but he who con-
fonnds 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