The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-29

pltal with expert physicians and trained nurses, and when the men are sick they are well cared for or are sent down the hill" The words down the hiIl''. and up the hill" meaa to and from the sea coast. The distance is about POO miles by railway. and the hill from which they drop or ascend is above the top of Pikes Peak.
 Most Of the Americans and other for eigners whc live here In the Andes tell me they are healthy, and that this IS so Of men, women and cbildren There are however some who come who cannot stand the rarity of the air ana many are afflicted with pneumonia ana nave to be sent back post haste oii speclai trains. I know of employees mho nave come up three or four dif- 1erent times, and, going down sick, have at last mad to give m in despair
 AS to soroche, or the mountain sick ness that seems to attack every one wren he hist reaches an altitude of s swo niies or more above the sea. Every foreigner l nave met has been more o,. less afflicted with it. If usualI,y oo,,o. the nrst day after the arrival. and may .as' s"o or three days or two week 6 ihose Who have weak hearts are likely To drop insensibie and if sometin,a, eae oaeses oeatf' As rule. most people get over 1t. although if will returr at any overexertion or imprudence ana mat after months Of freedom and health. ..-i S'1ii anu
 The first symptoms of this illness arc pans Tn tlo head ard nausea. Then ,s Soiiies Vetugo, din,nsss of sight and th,',s' falnt1nS fits may follow, and , .ne piooa may How from your eyes nos1 and lips. Those who have wal, 1,nrr, aie ,iApie to bemorrhages, and many telJ me they nave a gain at the heart pau ny hrst attaciS 15 years ago. when s5aseu o'ernighT at the Casapalca sh Whicn Is less than 14000 feet apoNe the sea l thought I was sa fe at Ssiro de Pdsco, although it is 200 feet highef' but the morn.ng after my arr iiVai, after sleepless night. felt Q. though tfe top of nv head was bain. pried of with a crowbar. while a steam ensine Was runnin" away inside my e ai.,t wien l trlcd to get up I almost Ialnted, but I persevered, and that aft erhoon vas able to go about by rest iHs every few steps. As it is now. my poots are heavy ard my five-pound camera weighs a ton. In riding mv mule over the mountains this afternoon made hin go on the walk, and when He once started tc gallon my beart seemed to oe hitting the crown of nv head. u oi my
 ne soroche attacks different persons in olHerent ways. My stenographer had ], snent attack when we reached inc smel- .ei' put tnls soon passed off and ha .ioue,he , ne was proof against further ooupie He walked six miles that day. anu 'nen spent an hour in the club bowl / iis aiieNs- At the same time he ate ike virginia razor-back hog and tbe ras,,lt is t,iat ne mas now beautiful case of so- foehe- He is the color of Canadian eiteese, ne does not take three steps with oe, reseihg' and he loathes all manner oi meat. A man named Cutler who capoa Nlth me says that his head began to acbs ouring the night and his pulse jumped 'o i". The soroche affected his feet qua s. they kept rising and falling underl 'ne ped clothes. young mining engi- n"er Who came here last week to taka charge of the big Morococha conner nron- ertv was met at the depot with borsa, and he galoped about a mile to ths ,iihes' This sent his pulse to 120 ana ne was kept in bed for . week. Growin~ n" better. he went down to Lima fo spend awhile on the coast On his way naek ne will stop at Matucana at Seoa- i',s o, ieVei' ana then take easy stages higher up to the mines.
 nave talked with the doctors here as to the cause of the soroches Tbey saN 1t comes from the rarity of the air &nd the lack of oxygen in the amount or ar taken in hy your ordinary work ifg machinery. The system has been ac.
 
 zen With each breath. You breathe inst as last here as at the coast but YOU get . itss oxygen, and as result your blood becomes impure and there is a loading ur, or refuse here and there throughout tha hodv caaaing auto-intoxication. This goes on untll you finally have the sorocbe If t is in your head you haxe headache if In the stomach nausea and if in the bow els you have diarrhea. The pressure ia Very much less here than at the seq coast. At Lima it is about 15 pounds f. ii the square inch and here 1t is less than nine pounds. It is so light that if af. { fects everything. It takes six minute. to soft boil an egg, and you may boii beans all day and not have them cooked through.
 Many of the wiseacres disregard whet the doctors say when they first come f, the mounta iI5s. They do not take tha ordinary precautions and the result is pneumonia or serious soroche. The otbsr day we had doctor visitor who was toil he must not go out without his coal Ha rerlied that his business was medicirs anc he knew what to do. He then straipbt- way trotted about in the rain. The res,,y+ i. was he got pneumonia and within fou-y days he was taken back to the coast ,n a coffin. AA