New-York tribune., 1907-09-01
4 "IUNGER,S" EXPERIENCE
TO Keep Busy He Found the Best
Prescription.

Harry, you seem to be growing weaker all the
time, and you'll have to change climate if you get
any better. Get ready and 60 West or Southwest
as you can
This the decree that DR. Good our old fam
lily physician. had handed TO me Not so very
comforting to be sure but the directions said to
take it There were great many cOnsumptives in
that part of Indiana where I lived. and it was the
fashion TO bundle them up when they We're on
their last pegs and send them out West 1t
would have been considered idotic to have sent
one of these invalds any other direction; SO 1t
was toward the setting sun that turned my pale
face 1t a serious matter with me, this leav
ing of home and friends. and l rather doubted
whether l would look upon the familiar scenes and
faces again l had many of my friends
come back in box get back just in time to
die that the situation appealed to me differently
than it had ever before The hope and optimism
of Consumptives often commented upon; how
they lay plans for their little worldly affairs up
until almost the moment of their death. Well, that
is because they want a little something to occupy
their time something pleasant to think about, and
il is easier for the Consumptive to be cheerful
than morose. He is more dead than alive anyway:
his nerve cells and centres do not respond readily
TO such ordinary stimuli thoughts OF dying and.
the whole he is not capable of worrying very
much If he wanted to. Nevertheless, the gravity
of the situation fully apparent with me
began to take stock to just how I stood in
the matter of vitality and to count the forces that
weighed against me.
commonly called heredity-had not dealt kindly
with me. I was born of parents whose stock or
vitality below par. My mother had been car
ried off at early age by the arch enemy OF the
race tuberculosis. Ny father. while not manifest
ing tubercuIar tendencies. nevertheless possessed
inherent weakness which caused him TO Sue
cunlb in his prime To attack Of pneumonia
had arrived at mans estate in the home OF
generous uncle and had acquired fair education
but my store OF physical strength was scant- My
chest. delicate features. eyes or unusual
Iustre. TO say nothing Of more convincing signs
impressed even the casual observer that 7 was
doomed TO be another victim Of the great white
plague" I tried teach school. but was com
PEELED to give it up. The consensus Of medical
opinion at that time that the extreme south
western part Of the United States was the most
favored spot for consumptives and thither I went,
after a hasty closing up OF affairs at home. was
weak and wan, and my friends hardly expected me
TO stand the arduous trip, If I may express n
candid opinion But then they would not have
been performing what they considered bounden
duty had they not shipped off to some promised
land for consUmptves. I had little tissue 10 excite
fever and invite a rapid action Of the disease. SO
I was enabled to stand the journey better than
had anticipated.
In my new surroundings I met with many OBJ
stacles. Things were not as expected could
not get desirable room or any accommodations
for n reasonable price. Board alone cost me go
a month. Ny room was anything but inviting, but
I paid well for it. I found that the man who
occupied the before was health seeker ana
lost his life at the Job
The water was bad, the sand storms were dis
agreeable and the torrid sun. while perhaps de-
structIve to germ life in q way. was also enorva-
ting TO an unaccIirnated invalid wondered at
first why I did not improve now that was out
West I weighed myself frequently, and found
that wag hardly holding my own / consulted
every day with doctor Of reputed Skill He oc-
cupied paIatiaI rooms AID drove one Of the highest
priced automobiles But ] soon discovered lhat
this man was not palnstaking like the home physi-
rfFrr~ uaE ada
confirm in positive manner my true condition
although paid the doctor we'll for his ersey told
advice. In fact 1 soon learned that every service
cost many times what 1t was actually worth
was growing very Respondent. and with my
other Affections was coupled bad case of home
sickness. This malady-if such we may call tive
are told by old soldiers is often responsible Tor
the death OF healthy young men who are called
upon their country How much more ap-
Mailing then. is the doomed consumptive
q way from home and friends on Il mission 50 de-
void Of hope.
This town of LungvilIe-only that wasn't tg real
narle--was full of 'Iungers." Being widely adver-
tfsed as a health resort the afflicted hocked here
in great droves. only TO be shorn Of their cash
These health seekers all came from the North ana
East The native consumptves were sent elsewhere
another case Of the hills being green far away.
1 found that consumptives were ostracized from
all save their kind. They were generally speak
ing. colonized TO themselves for citizens shunhed
them as they would lepers- They were graded ac-
cqrdina the size Of their pOcketpophS anu ii-S
stage OF the disease. There was a sort OF social
distinction that would be hard TO define, and II
puzzled me a little at first TO know just how 10
classify myself. Some had plain consumption
but more were simply suffering from lung
trouble" Many had asthma" and not Few
had bronchitis" Many had tuberculosis while
few persons possessed of more erudltion than tle
rest Of US had 'incpient tubercular tendencies.
Many claimed have only 'neurasthenia, ana
all seemed inclined to deny their true condition.
perhaps because a eonsumptivc was regarded as
an outcast and something 10 be avoided one crude
affair which was dignihed by being called a sahh-
forum sheltered about hundred in the last
stage They were called the IL and q. OF b. l.
This INTERPRETED meant Ladies and gentlemen OF
+ta F,usted lungs" Nothing is too serious Tor
levity and jest.
when I was about TO give up in despair, one Gay
chanced to fall into conversation with d III
Goodwin who. afflicted himself, had for years
travelled for his health and incidentally STUDIED
climate for consumptives. He said that every state
from Maine to Mexico and from washington |"
t1orida had at some time been tried and lauded as
the ideal climate. But. after ALL, ne concuded'
...ood r,,re air is composed of oxygen and nitro
.en About all the difference there Is IN air Is It's
drvness or humidity, its heat or cold one CHI
mate has few advantages over another Inc pest