The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-08-08
C,NSUMP TON IN RUSSIA
Fermented Mares Milk Used
AS a Bases of Cure.
MANY ARE BENEFITED


Drink Enormous Quantities of kou.
miss Each Day - Life There Far
From Unpleasant.
Janetovka, the Russian consumptive
resort in the Samara steppes, is the
uueerest "cure" in all the world. 1t is
based on the "koumiss treatment"
Koumiss as every one knows, is
formerly practising in st. Petersburg;
this has been found to possess mar
velous nutritlve and restorative pow
ers when combined with clear strong
air and sunlight. Janetovka is due to
DIR. G.. l.. Carrick, British physician
formrly practising in st. Petersburg:
years ago he was one of the surgeons
at the Brompton Consumption Hospi-
tai in London.
The season at Janetovka lasts only
from June till the end Of August Sum-
mer on the steppes is excessively hot
often 105 degrees in the shade-yet
In the night it may sink to As de-
dew falls except about an hour before
sunset so that the nights left cool
and dry--a delightful change after the
blazing sunshine Of the day. And
these long silent nights have no in
considerable part in the cure, for
many restless patients are almost fore
ed into slumber by the heavy, mysteri-
Gus silence Of the great steppes.
No fewer than 10 persons are en-
gagged in Janetovka, largely herders
for the great troops of milch mares.
The servants in the cottages are odd
little Bashkir walters, clothed in
smart uniforms. They get some $3.50
for their three months of service. or
course they make a good deal out OF
the tips from patients and finally slip
home to their native hamlet over the
Asiatic border staggering in new
clothes and as proud as peacocks.
There are large stats of horse herds
and koumiss makers-the one men,
and the other women. The koumiss is
made in three qualities-weak, medl
um and strong. The former is of
less than twenty four hours fermenta-
ton, the medium between twenty four
and forty eight and the strong well
over forty eight.
Koumiss is made in thousands of
gallons every day at Janetovka; the
output being calculated on a basis
Of six full champagne bottles every
day for each patient. This may seem
q pretty liberal allowance, but the
milk is partly digested or peptonized
during fermentation, thus enabling the
patients to consume immense guam
titles without any feeling of reple-
tion.
Some patients, indeed, consume nine
bottles a day comfortably, drinking
chiefly between meals and never after
in the evening. Far from satisfying
the appetite koumiss seems rather to
sharpen it and in this way real zest
is created for the gigantic meals.
During fermentation the koumiss ac-
quires quite champagnelke quality,
aud is elevating to those unaccustom-
ed to it. The strong variety will often
burst the stout champagne bottles with
bomblike report and on that account
servants handling 1t are protected with
wire masks.
1t is interesting to watch a general
muster of the vast herds Of horses
and mares out on the steppes near
Janetokva. Riding about among the
playful animals the indefatigable DR..
Carrick himself may be seen, con-
spicuOus in his smart Glengarry cap.
The Khirgiz and Bashkir horse herds
are armed with curious lassoes, con-
sisting Of loops OF hide at the end of
six foot poles, and by means Of these
any animal required may be taken out
from the mob.
Agricultural work Is done entirely
by camels In this cure resort OF the
acres under wheat and other varieties
of grain for the needs Of the great
establishment. For fourteen hours
out of the twenty-fo the mares are
out at pasture with their foals, and
spend many hours besides In their sta
bles feeding continuously until milk
ing time. The long feathery kovil
grass Of the steppes is their favorite
food
The patients profiting by their milk
are surprisingly cosmopolitan. You
will find Americans and Britons, semi
Asiatics from the banks Of the Amur
and the borders of China; and Rus
slams from as far north as Archangel.
And from as far south as the Riviera
and Spain men and women come thi-
ther In search OF health and strength.
The number Of cures varies consid-
erably from season to season. but usu-
ally runs into four or five hundred.
Some Of these gain enormously in
weight-as much as thirty or forty
pounds in three months.
One of the features Of Janetovka is
the absence of system. AT many re-