Year: 1879

A letter from Leadville, Col, the
great mining town, says: | saw but very
few cases of intoxication in the streets,
| though the 300 saloons in the city held
out their best inducements. / was sur
prised at this, as one Of the notable
effects of the great altitude of the place
| 90, 300 feet above the level of the sea) is
that all fermented liquors intoxicate
much more quickly than at lower eleva-
tions. The boiling point, owing to the
decrease of atmospheric pressure, is
much lower than at Chicago, and the
alcohol is sooner vaporized and taken
into the circulation, producing intoxi-
cation much quicker.


The boiling point of water here is
about 100 degrees, instead Of 2I2 degrees,
the effect of which in boiling beans,
eggs, potatoes, etc., is that it requires a
longer time to cook them in an open
vessel, and it is necessary to keep the
pot well covered or the water will va
porize and escape before being raised
to the requisite degree of heat for
thorough cooking. At this elevation
much more air is required 10 fill and
satisfy the lungs, and breathing must be
quicker in order to properly oxygenize
the blood. 1t is said, too, that after one





matter of the blood becomes darker.
being changed from the peroxide to the
sesquioxide of iron. With a person suf-
fering under any difficulty or disease of
the heart, the effect of any severe or
long exertion is to cause a
dangerous degree of palpitation, and
even with persons entirely well the
pulse runs extremely high.


There are other and notable facts con-
nected with this altitude There are
very few birds seen here-perhaps for
the reason that flying is difficult in the
light air. The common house fly, the
summer pest of our Eastern housekeep-
ers, is unknown here. There are some
of the outdoor bluebottle variety, but
they seem languid and tired. 1t is said,
also, that cats cannot live here This is
probably owing to their delicate organi-
zation being unable to resist the rigor of
the night air. So the "voices of the
night are not heard in this locality,
and bootacks are reserved for their
natural uses.


Another result of the lightness of the
air is that, having so little density, it is
easily heated by artificial means Our
nights are uniformly cold-so cold that
it is uncomfortable to sit without fire;
but a few pine chips OF small sticks will
warm an apartment very quickly. At
the same time the suns rays do not seem
to have the heating power that they dc
IN lower elevations. This seems to con-
firm the theory that there is no substan-
tial caloric in the raysof the sun, but
that the heat is the result of chemical
action generated by the direct rays with
the elements of the atmosphere-the





with the direetness of the rays and the
density of the atmosphere. While
standing high upon these mountains,
even at a distance from any snow-drifts
and where the air Is still, the summer
sun has only sufficient power to make
the air refreshing and pleasant, while
you on the plains are sweltering under
a torrid heat. In the shade of rock or
two it is always cool enough.


The effect of the altitude is the same
rs that experienced by balloonists, who
in ascending from the surface of the
earth, even on the hottest day, soon finds
it necessary to don his overcoat and
warmest clothing In the night here Il
good sur ply of blankets is always neces-
sary; and nearly every morning heavy
frosts are found, and sometimes thick
scales of ice are formed. The crests of
some of the mountains and many Of the
deep ravines upon their sides are still
full of masses of snc W so compact that
one can walk over them without sink
ing. A day or two ago, in visiting
mine close to the summit of Mount
Bross, I was compelled to cross a field of
snow hanging over the edge which must
have been mile in length and probably
in places twenty-five feet in depth.