Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-01
LIFE IN HIGH PLACES
HEART MUST GET USED TO RARE
FLED AIR.
Scientific Observations Where There is
an Atmospheric Pressure of 121z
Pounds to the Square Inch.
From the London Nail.

| A man in Fleet street or Hyde Park Is
surrounded by an atmosphere which presses
upon him with a weight of more than four
| teen and half pound to the square inch
| A man in Davos is incumbered by pres
| sure of only twelve and a quarter pounds,
| or thereabouts.
Putting the matter otherwise, the London
| atmosphere Is SO heavy as normally to
| counterbalance a column of nearly thirty
inches of mercury in the barometer, while
the Davos air supports a column OF but
| about twenty-five inches. After the first
| few hours at Davos-for nature does not
| adapt herself instantaneously-you become
| conscious of the difference, and having, as
| 1t We're, less burden to carry, you grow
proportionately more active and enduring
| than you would be if you remained in Lon
! don. But you must not too quickly give
way to this feeling of increased lightness
| and energy.
| Your heart must first be allowed to accus-
| tom itself to the new conditions, and unless
| you allow 1t to do so gradually you may
| find yourself suddenly overcome by faint
ness, If by nothing more serious When,
! however you are acclimatized, which Will
| be in a day or two, you will be astonlshed
at what you accomplish without IA
| tgue A long walk, which in England
| would be almost beyond your powers, will
| leave you untired and fresh. Four or five
| hours skating will not weary you in the
| least. On the other hand. very hard labor
| Of any kind will try your breathing appa-
| ratus severely, and you will soon real
| ize that given quantity of the rarefed air
| of Davos does not afford you the same sup
| port as the same number of inhala tons OF
| the air of London. You will have to learn
| to breathe both more often and more deeply
| in order to maintain yourselr IN comfort,
| though unless you exert yourself severely,
| you will probably not be conscious of the
| effort.
The Davos Air.
As for the Davos air, it is quite different
from that to which the Londoner is accus-
toned. In consequence Of its comparative
| rarity it holds very little moisture in sus-
pension, and is therefore extraordinarily
clear. 1 recollect once sitting with some
newly arrived English people slpon the bal
cony of the Hotel Victoria on a fine WIN
ter's day. and pointing out to them the sum-
nit of the Tinsenhorn-a very conspicuous
object.
How far off, 1 asked. "do you suppose
1t to be?" One man, an officer Of Royal
Engineers said, Ten miles at the outside
Another, also soldier, laughed and de-
clared, why, it isn't yard above seven
miles" Measured on the map, the distance
Is fourteen miles, or perhaps rather more;
yet both these men were accustomed to
Judging distances, and the engineer had been
in South Africa, where the atmospheric con-
ditionS are somewhat similar. This clear
ness and rarity of the air has the effect of
giving Davos unusual amount of sun
shine, and even in midwinter remarkably
hot sun, together with a wonderful dry
ness.
The winter heat of the sun may be
gagged by the fact that when the shade
| tempera ture is as low as ten or fifteen de-
grees below zero Fahrenheit, people walk
| abroad quite comfortably without over
| coats, while ladies carry parasols and
| skaters or curriers' strip to their shirt
| sleeves. This sort of thing would be i'm
1 i'll, ~ h,,{
| 1t is well protected on north, east and west,
| there Is often for weeks at time no at
mospheric movement worthy Of the name.
A Winter Paradise.
| Even at night when the temperature falls
occasionally to 40 degrees below zero, and
| shows 20 degrees of frost, you can sit and
| play cards In the open air without discom
| fort, provided, of course, that you be very
| warmly wrapped up. I have known the
ink in my fountain pen freeze while I
| was in the act of writing near an open
| window, and this when I myself exper-
| fenced no inconvenient sense of GOODNESS.
| AS for the dryness of the air, it is some
| times painful in it's results, ones skin. and
| especially that of ones lips, having ten
| dency to crack and bleed unless 1t be kept
| soft with some sort of salve. On the other
| hand, thanks to the general absence of
wind, frost-bite is exceedingly rare.
Davos, when once the visitor has become
|
year round, except in April. May and June;
but it Is most delightful in midwinter,
| when, for several successive months, II is
probably the best place in Europe for skat-
| ing, tobogganing, curling and skiing.
| There are few more delightful places for
skating than the Dutch polders. but you
| can never count upon finding frost, even in
| Friesland or Graningen.
| DavoS does not disappoint in that way.
| In November or early December, after a
| few preliminary calls the winter frost ar
rives to stay. Thenceforward each night
| adds to the thickness of the ice on lake and
| rink, and rarely does the sun, in spite of its
| great power, again moisten the surface un-
| til March. AS a place in which to spendta
| winter holiday there is nothing like it on
this side of the Atlantic. But thoroughly to
| enjoy it you should be young. healthy and
able-bodied. DavoS has it's uses as a cura-
| tive or amelorative resort for certain forms
| of disease but it is as a winter paradise
| for the hale and strong that it best de-
| serves notice. The combined charms of
| snow, ice, an air like champagne, the deep
| est blue skies and the most brilliant sun
| shine must be experienced there they
! can be fully understood.
Life in Mars
| The conditions of life in Mars have often
| been portrayed for us by speculative sclen-
| lists and scientific romancers. We know
| that if beings approximately like ourselves
| exist upon the surface of that planet they
| must be creatures with abilities and dis
abilities quite different from those which
| belong to on earth. They have to con-
| tend with much less of the attraction of
| gravitation; they have bitterer winters and
| briefer summers; they live under lighter
| atmospheric pressure, and consequently In
| a more rarefied air than we and while their
water, If they have any. boils at a temper
| allure which would be scarcely intolerable
| to the human hand, they possibly find COM
| pensation In the facts that. other things be-
ing equal, they are far more active and en-
| during than their cousins on earth; that our
record high Jump or cricket ball throw
| would be considered by the Martians but
poor performance for any healthy child
| and that Mars has less cloud and more
| sunshine than earth.
At present there are no facilities for trav-
| cling to Mars and for enjoying to the full
conditions different from those of the.
| sphere to which we are accustomed. But in
| a modest way we can experience an ap-
proach to the conditions by going up in a
balloon or by gaining the summit Of high
mountain. Neither in a balloon however,