The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-02-14
THEORY ABOUT COLDS.
Places in the World Where it is I'm.
possible to Catch one.

possible 10 eaten one.
Correspondence OF London Spectator:
Many people may be surprised to hear
that even in this world there are places
where 1t is impossible to catch cold.
simply because there are no colds TO
catch. There are facts. however, which
seem to prove this. For example, Nan
sen and his men during the three years
which they spent in the Arctic regions
never caught cold, fatigue, and wet to
degree which we at home can hardly
realize. The members Of the Jackson
Harnsworth expedition. who stayed for
three years In Franz Josef Land. never
once suffered from colds. Yet they also,
With only two exceptions, suffered from
severe colds directly they reached cIvili-
cation.
Very interesting. too. Is Sir Martin
Conveys account OF his experiences.
For two months, when exploring Spitz-
bergen. he and his four comrades were
exposed 10 conside-a bic prlvatioas, were
almost constantly wet through, and
frequent: had TO sleep in their wet
clothes; yet their health never suffered
In any way from this. But at the end OF
that time they went down to Andree's
settlement on the coast, where some
forty men were living, and where more
over. there was almost constant inter-
course with thc> ma;nlard Within two
days Of their arrival Conway md his
companions all developed violent colds.
Still more striking were his experiences
In the Himalayas.
TEen there Is the classical instance OF
the st. kilda cold. On that rocky. lone
IL island. lying some forty miles be-
You'd the Western Hebr!des, there are
nigh upon a hundred Inhabitants. who
keep I few sheep and COWS, cultivate
some forty acres. and collect the eggs.
feathers, and young OF the numerous
ea-fowl. Their coast Is so p.ecipitous
and their seas were so stormy, that for
eight months out of the twelve they are
practically inaccessible. Formerly they
were visited only once year by n ship
from the mainland. Now several call
there during the summer. Including ex-
cursion steamers from Liverpool and
Glasgow. The curious point Is that
whenever ship reaches the island all
the inhabitants. including the very in
fantS at the breast. are seized with a
cold. This fact has been known for
nearly two hundred years. and greatly
interested Dr. johnson when he and
Boswell were making their famous tour
OF the Heb-ides.
The problem Of this St. Kilda cold
long puzzled learned men, who seem
| never to have suspected the simple cS-
PLANTATION OF the mystery. One solution
suggested wns that the steward always
brought whIskey with him. and that It
| was the intemnerancc and jollity which
| took place on the occasion which caused
| the epidemic. Another explanation was
| that a ship could only reach the island
| from the mainland when the wind was
| from the northeast. THE wind. not the
strangers. caused the cold" This cold
| is still characteristic of the island, and
| is called by the inhabitants the "stran-
gers cold" On the arrival OF the FIRST
steamer every summer all the Island
folk fall victims: afterwards many OF
| them escape. The attack lasts eight or
ten days, and Is often accompanied By
bronchial catarrh. The inhabitants af-
firm that II the ship comes from Liver
| pool or Glasgow the cold they catch IS
more severe than ifiit comes from the
| Hebrdes.
All these instances, and y there are
many such, go TO show that n cold is an
| infectious disease. prevalent widely. no
doubt. but only where man. perhaps on
ly where civilized man. exists. Also
| that IN some favored spcts. as In ST.
Kilda. the disease. r'hen 1t has been In
troduced. rapidly becomes extinct. This
| Is known to be the case On sailing ves-
sells during a long voyage Is often benc-
fetal to patients suffering from con-
sumption. who are so sadly liable, after
| any catarrhal attack, 10 lose the ground
thet have been slowly gaining. II would
seem, too. that the infection Is generally
carried by human agency.anG It Is note
worthy that some. at least, of every
ships crew or 20 sscnscrs must take 1t
with them when they 20 abroad, Tor APP
parently every ship which reaches ST.
kslda brings the cold. Probably those
who carry 1t are often quite unconscious
that they have anything wrong With
them. the diseoSe being. as It were.
latent. 1t would seem. 40. that prac-
tically all human beings. irrespective OF
age OF sex, and even when in good
health, are highly susceptible to colds.
II they have been for some time free
from them, and so have lost Immunity.
ALL the healing balsamic virtues OF
the Norway pine arc concentrated In DR..
| Woods Norway Pine Syrup. Natures