[Illustration: MINNEHAHA, LAUGHING WATER. ]

MINNESOTA;

ITS CHARACTER AND CLIMATE. 

LIKEWISE

SKETCHES OF OTHER RESORTS FAVORABLE TO INVALIDS;TOGETHER WITH COPIOUS NOTES ON HEALTH;

ALSO

HINTS TO TOURISTS AND EMIGRANTS. 

BY LEDYARD BILL, _Author of "A Winter in Florida" etc. , etc. _

1871. 

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, BY LEDYARD BILL, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 

TO

MY NIECES

THIS VOLUME OF SKETCHES

_IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED_

BY THE AUTHOR

PREFACE. 

By general consent Minnesota has enjoyed a superior reputation forclimate, soil, and scenery beyond that of any other State in the Union, with, perhaps, a single exception. 

The real ground of this pre-eminence, especially in climate, has notbeen well understood, owing, probably, in part, to the slightacquaintance with the general features and characteristics of the Stateitself, and, in part, to that want of attention which the subject ofclimatology and its effects on the health of mankind has deserved. 

Lying to the north of the heretofore customary lines of travel, theState has been visited by few comparatively, except those whoseimmediate interests necessitated it, and even they have gleaned but animperfect knowledge of either the climate or of the unusual beauty andinterest which so distinguish Minnesota from all other Western States. 

Instead of the low, level, treeless plain usually associated with one'sideas of the West, there is the high, rolling country, extending manymiles back from the eastern frontier, while the general elevation of theState is upward of one thousand feet above the sea--abounding inpleasant and fertile valleys, large and valuable forests, together withmany beautiful lakes, nearly all of which are filled with the purest ofwater and with great numbers of the finest fish. 

While the attractions of Minnesota for the tourist and emigrant havebeen duly considered in these pages, those of the climate for theinvalid have received especial consideration, and we have added suchhints and suggestions as circumstances seemed to demand; together withobservations on other localities and climates favorable to pulmoniccomplaints. 

BROOKLYN, N. Y. , 1871. 

CONTENTS. 

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

LEADING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STATE. 

The water system of the State. --Its pure atmosphere. --Violations ofhygienic laws. --A mixed population. --General features of thecountry. --Intelligence of the population. --The bountifulharvests. --Geographical advantages. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI. 

The source of the river. --The importance of rivers to governments aswell as commerce. --Their binding force among peoples. --The rapids atKeokuk. --Railroad and steamboat travelling contrasted. --Points at whichtravellers may take steamers. --Characteristics of Westernsteamboats. --Pleasuring on the Upper Mississippi. --The scenery and itsattractions. 

CHAPTER III. 

RIVER TOWNS. 

Brownsville, the first town. --The city of La Crosse. --Victoria andAlbert Bluffs. --Trempeleau and Mountain Island. --The city ofWinona. --Its name and origin. --The Winona and St. Peters Railroad--TheAir-Line Railroad. --Her educational interests. --Advancement of theWest. --The towns of Wabasha and Reed's Landing. --Lake Pepin and Maiden'sRock. --Romantic story. --An old fort. --Lake City and Frontenac. --Red Wingand Hastings. --Red Rock. 

CHAPTER IV. 

ST. PAUL. 

As seen from the deck of the steamer. --The pleasant surprise it givesthe visitor. --Impressions regarding new places. --The beauties of thecity. --The limestone caves. --Père Louis Hennepin. --The population of St. Paul. --Its public buildings and works. --A park wanted. --The geologicalstructure of the country. --St. Paul, the Capital city. --Its railroadconnections. --The head of navigation. --Impressions. 

CHAPTER V. 

CLIMATE. 

The climatic divisions of the country. --Periodical rains. --Prevailingwinds of the continent. --Changes of temperature. --Consumption in warmclimates. --Cold, humid atmospheres. --What climate most desirable for theconsumptive. --The dry atmosphere of the interior. --Dry winds of theinterior. --Table of rainfall of the whole country. 

CHAPTER VI. 

CLIMATE--_continued_. 

The atmosphere of Minnesota. --Its dryness. --Falling snow. --Equability oftemperature. --Rain-fall for spring. --The constitutional character of theclimate. --The lakes and rivers of the State. --The northeastwinds. --Where the northeasters begin. --Their general direction andlimit. --The atmospheric basin of Iowa. --Neglect of meteorology. --Itsimportance to the country. 

CHAPTER VII. 

CONSUMPTION. 

Consumption mapped out. --The east winds. --Comparativestatistics. --Number of original cases of consumption inMinnesota. --Consumption can be cured. --Rev. Jeremiah Day. --Fresh air thebest medicine. --The benefit of a dry atmosphere. --Equability oftemperature. --The power of the mind over disease. --Kinds ofconsumption. --Danger in delays. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION. 

Prevention better than cure. --Local causes of disease. --Our schoolsystem objectionable. --Dr. Bowditch's opinion. --Location of ourhomes important. --Damp soils prolific of lung troubles. --Badventilation. --Value of sunshine. --City girls and city life. --Fashionablesociety. --Tight lacing fatal to sound health. --Modern living. --The ironhand of fashion. 

CHAPTER IX. 

HINTS TO INVALIDS AND OTHERS. 

Indiscretions. --Care of themselves. --Singular effect of consumption onmind. --How to dress. --Absurdities of dress. --Diet. --Habits ofpeople. --How English people eat. --What consumptives should eat. --Thingsto be remembered. --The vanity of the race. --Pork an objectionablearticle of diet. --Characteristics of the South. --Regularity ineating. --The use of ardent spirits by invalids. --The necessity ofexercise. --The country the best place to train children. --Examples inhigh quarters. --Sleep the best physician. --Ventilation. --Damprooms. --How to bathe. 

CHAPTER X. 

WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO SEE AND EXPECT. 

The best localities for invalids and others. --The city ofMinneapolis. --Its drives and objects of interest. --Cascade and BridalFalls. --Fort Snelling. --Minnehaha Falls. --The city and Falls of St. Anthony. --Anoka and St. Cloud. --Fishing and hunting. --Wilmar andLitchfield. --Lake Minnetonka. --Experience in fishing. --Some "bigfish. "--White Bear Lake. --The Minnesota Valley. --Le Sueur--St. Petersand Mankato. --Minneopa Falls. --Southwestern Minnesota. --Its agriculturalwealth and capabilities. --Northern Pacific Railroad and itsbranches--The Red River country. --Trade with Manitoba. --Western life andhabits. 

CHAPTER XI. 

DULUTH. 

Its location and rapid growth. --Who named for. --Enterprise of itspeople. --Its fine harbor. --Duluth Bay. --The steamship connection witheastern cities. --Pleasure travel up the lakes. --The Lake Superior andMississippi Railroad. --The shortest route East for grain. --Publicimprovements. --The fishing, lumber, and mining interests. 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

The Northwest. --Its great extent and character. --J. Cooke, Esq. --TheNorthern Pacific Railroad and its advantages. --The general line of theroad. --The shortest route to Asia. --The Red River valley. --PugetSound. --The future of our country. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

OTHER CLIMATES THAN MINNESOTA. 

Sketches of other climates and localities favorable toinvalids. --California. --Mortuary statistics of San Francisco. --The wetand dry seasons. --San Diego the best place. --Florida and itsreputation. --Nassau as a resort. --Fayal and its climate. --English andAmerican visitors. --Means of access. 

MINNESOTA. 

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

LEADING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STATE. 

The water system of the Stare. --Its pure atmosphere. --Violations ofhygienic laws. --A mixed population. --General features of thecountry. --Intelligence of the population. --The bountifulharvests. --Geographical advantages. 

The interest attaching to the State of Minnesota, as compared with otherof the Western States, is two-fold. While all are well known for theirgreat fertility and prosperity, Minnesota alone lays special claim toprominence in the superiority of her climate. How much this may be dueto her peculiar geographical position is not wholly evident, but itsinfluence must be great; and it is important to observe that theposition of the State is central, being, in fact, the very heart of thecontinent. 

It is likewise remarkable for the vast water systems which have theirorigin within its boundaries, and their outlet through three of thegreat interior valleys, namely, the Red River, northward to Hudson'sBay; the St. Lawrence, eastward through the lakes; the MississippiRiver, southward, and all having one grand terminus where, through thepowerful agency of the great river of the ocean, the "Gulf Stream, "their reunited waters are borne away to the tropics, again to bereturned, in gentle rains, to this central and elevated plateau known asthe State of Minnesota. 

Since the first settlement of the State it has become gradually known aspossessing an extremely salubrious climate. There was no scientific orofficial board of weatherwise people to proclaim the advantages of thisyoung State, either in this or any other particular; but, by a continuedsuccession of extremely favorable reports from the early settlersimmigrating from adjoining districts, and from unhealthful and malariouslocalities in the older and more eastern States, her reputation steadilyincreased until the sanitary fame of this "far northwest" is nowcoextensive with its civil history. 

The chief characteristics of a healthful climate are pure atmosphere andpure water. These are seldom found in conjunction, except in thetemperate latitudes; though there are a few localities in thesub-tropical regions where these conditions may be found, such as Fayal, off the coast of Spain; the high altitudes of some of the Bahama andPhilippine islands; also at San Diego in California; and likewise at St. Augustine, on the east coast of Florida. There are others which do notas readily occur to us at this writing. These two elements are alwaysabsolutely necessary to insure a good degree of health, but they do notsecure it; quite far from it, as is well known, since the most carelessobserver must have noticed the varying sanitary degrees of localities intemperate latitudes, that are even contiguous to each other; the one, perhaps, being highly malarious, while the other is measurablyhealthful. And, again, great districts, occupying a half of a State, areso detrimental to sound health that half their population are whelmedwith fevers--bilious, intermittent, and typhoid--from year's end toyear's end. Such a locality is the valley of the Wabash River, inIndiana. In passing through that country, after a season of prolongedwet summer weather, we have seen more of the inhabitants prostrate fromdisease, incidental to the climate, than there were well ones to carefor them. 

It is seen that the selection of a home for ourselves and families is amatter of the very highest moment to all who desire to prolong life andenjoy the full possession of all their powers. Very trifling attentionhas been given this question, as a rule, since we see on all handsmultitudes crowding into unhealthy precincts, to say nothing of thosemore pestilential-breeding apartments which are everywhere inhabited bythe poorer class, as well as by thousands of the well-to-do andintelligent people of both town and country. It is noteworthy, however, to observe the increasing interest manifested of late in all thingspertaining to the laws of hygiene; and yet the alphabet of the subjectremains a profound mystery to the greater masses of men. Much praiseshould be awarded the daily press for its dissemination of valuablehints and arguments upon all the vital questions of health; and, but fornewspapers, indeed, there would be no practical means of reaching themillions who, more than all others, so much need to be taught theseinvaluable, first lessons of life. 

The tide of emigration from the seaboard to the West has usuallyfollowed parallel lines; so that we find the State of Texas settled, forthe most part, by people from the States lying upon the Gulf, while inMissouri they hail largely from the Carolinas, and from what were onceknown as the border slave States. Going farther north, to Minnesota, apreponderance of the New England element is found; though people fromall the various States of the Union are encountered to a greater extentthan in any of the others lying in the Northwest; and this fact isimportant as one of the circumstantial evidences of the great reputethis State bears, _par excellence_, in the matter of her climate. Wecannot suppose that this minor and miscellaneous population wereattracted hither from any special attachment either to the people or theinstitutions of the commonwealth, but rather in quest of that healthand vigor lost within their own warm, enervating, or miasmatic homes, which so abound in all the central and southern portions of the Union. Finding their healths measurably benefited by a residence here, theyhave brought their families, engaged in their various callings, and maynow be found settled permanently in their new homes throughout all thetowns and villages of the State. 

Minnesota is known as the New England of the West, this appellationgrowing out of the fact that the great preponderance of her citizens, asbefore stated, are either of New England birth or origin; and thiswell-merited _sobriquet_ has, likewise, an additional application, sincethe general face of the country is diversified and quite in contrastwith the endless stretch and roll of the shrubless prairies of some ofthe other great western and adjoining States. 

The traveller has but to pass over the flat surface of the State ofIllinois, and the nearly treeless country of Iowa, to duly appreciatethe pleasing contrast which the State of Minnesota affords. While thereis an utter absence of anything like mountain ranges (excepting upon thenorth shore of Lake Superior, where a belt of granite lifts itself abovethe surrounding woodlands), yet there is, everywhere, either a patch oftimber, a valley bounded by gently receding country, or some gem of alake set in the more open rolling prairie--all adding beauty andendless variety to the generally picturesque landscape. 

It might be entirely safe to assume that the people of Minnesota, as awhole, are distinguished by a more aesthetic character than theirneighbors living in the nearly dead level country below them. It is butreasonable to suppose that some, at least, in seeking new homes, wouldgive a preference to attractive localities, even at the sacrifice ofsomething of fertility; which is, to some extent, the case; as the lowflat lands of the rivers below are unrivalled in their power ofproduction--whether it be of the grains of wheat or disease. It is wellknown that scores of those moving into the West seek only the rich levellands which are easily manipulated; requiring no application, duringtheir natural lives, of any restorative. And, if it only be free fromsurface obstructions at the outset, they are content--asking noquestions relating to the more important matters of life, such asconcern the health, companionship, and education of either theirfamilies or themselves, and accounting all the influences of thesurrounding prospect as of no value. 

Perhaps the ratio of increase in population is not greater in Minnesotathan in some of her adjoining sister States, notwithstanding hersuperior attractions of climate and scenery. Yet, if this be true, it isreadily accounted for in that the majority of the people movingwestward do not readily consent to make their new homes north of theparallel of their old ones. On the contrary, the general tendency is todrop southward, desiring to escape as much as may be the protracted coldof winter; forgetting, or never knowing, that the isothermal lines havea general northwest direction as they cross the continent. Many, also, as before mentioned, who seek solely a fertile soil, or those who wishto engage in a purely pastoral life (where the open and unreclaimedcountry is so favorable), move, as a rule, to points south of a due westcourse; thus leaving the more northern latitudes to such only as have aneye for them on account of their varied attractions, and who are quitewilling to exchange a few dollars of extra income for a few pounds ofextra flesh, and who count health as first-rate capital stock and thefull equivalent of any other kind which a settler can possess. 

Notwithstanding this general tendency of things, we believe the netincrease in both population and wealth, for the last decade, to berelatively as great in the State of Minnesota as in that of any otherState in the Union; or, at least, far above the average in theaggregation of those things which make up their power and importance. 

It would be a grave error, however, if the mind of the reader was leftwith the impression that this State was lacking in the fertility of hersoil, and in those other elements so essential to the foundation, trueprosperity, and greatness, such as can only come from a well-orderedsystem of agriculture and from prolific fields. Far from this, --on thecontrary, she is widely known at home and abroad as presenting as manyinducements on the score of husbandry alone as any of the most highlyfavored of States. There doubtless is a percentage of advantage inrichness of soil; but this is more than counterbalanced by the livingsprings and flowing streams that everywhere dot and cross her surface. Ask the farmer on the distant plains what consideration he would givefor pure and abundant water as against soil. Her grasses are more tenderand sweeter, and her beef better than is that of those localities whichrival her in fertility. Go walk through the waving fields of goldengrain in summer-time, spread almost endlessly up and down her beautifulvalleys, and far out over the rolling prairies, and then answer if eyeever beheld better, or more of it, in the same space, anywhere this sideof the Sierras. 

Wheat is the great staple product of the West, and is the chief articleof export. It is this, more than all things else, which puts thethousands of railway trains in motion, and spreads the white wings ofcommerce on all the lakes and oceans. This important grain is, in thevalley of the Mississippi, nowhere so much at home as in this State. Thesuperior quality of the berry, and the abundant and steady yield of heracres, long since settled the question of her rank as a grain-producingState. The future has in store still greater triumphs in this samedepartment for this young and noble commonwealth. She is at present inher veriest infancy, and, indeed, can scarcely be said to have taken thefirst step in that career which is so full of brilliant promise andgrand capabilities. 

Lest it be thought we have an overweening love for our subject, beyondits just deserts, let us add here that the State has, in itsgeographical position, most extraordinary advantages, which, at present, are little known and of little worth, but which the future mustinevitably develop. The vast and fertile region lying to the northwestof Minnesota, drained and watered by the Red. Assiniboine, andSaskatchawan Rivers respectively, and well known to be capable ofmaintaining a dense population, must draw its supplies, and seek outletfor its products, always paying tribute at the gates of thiscommonwealth in both cases. 

Then there is the great national enterprise known as the North PacificRailroad, on which already the iron horse has commenced his race, andwhich is being rapidly and determinedly carried forward, giving auguryof a successful and speedy conclusion. This road passes through thecentral zone of the State, and, with its briearian arms, must cumulateuntold wealth and power, only to be emptied into this "lap of empire. "

CHAPTER II. 

THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI. 

The source of the river. --The importance of rivers to governments aswell as commerce. --Their binding force among peoples. --The rapids atKeokuk. --Railroad and steamboat travelling contrasted. --Points at whichtravellers may take steamers. --Characteristics of Westernsteamboats. --Pleasuring on the Upper Mississippi. --The scenery and itsattractions. 

The great central watershed of the continent is found within theboundaries of the State of Minnesota, and the rains precipitated on thiselevated plateau move off in opposite directions, becoming the sourcesof some of the principal rivers of this vast interior basin, with theirwaters flowing both to the Arctic and Equatorial Seas. 

The chief of these is that of the "Father of Waters, " rising in LakeItaska, and emptying in the Mexican Gulf, separated by a distance ofmore than two thousand miles, washing in its course the shores of nineStates, all embraced by this, the most fertile and important valleyknown to mankind. As an aid to civilization and to commerce, its valuecan never be fully estimated or completely comprehended. 

Rivers are frequently important, in connection with mountain ranges, assupplying natural boundaries for governments and peoples who dwell oneither side; but, they likewise perform the more important office ofbinding with indissoluble bonds communities living along their banks andtributaries, from origin to outlet, making their interests common andpopulation kin. 

The European Carlyles and believers in the divine rights of kings have, in view of the influx of discordant races and the jarring elementswithin, together with the cumbrous machinery of our government, prophesied that disintegration and ruin would ere long be ours. But theytook no note of the harmony and fraternal feeling that must come betweenpeoples so differing, when all have equal share in a government foundedin justice, and on the broad principles of human right; and, last butnot least, the important influence of those commercial relations whichwe sustain to each other, growing out of the general configuration andaccessibility of the country occupied and governed. 

The Mississippi River is the natural outlet and grand highway to theNorthwest, and contributed everything toward its early settlement; sothat a sketch of it seems indispensable in connection with that of theState in which it has its rise, and with which its chief interest andhistory are intertwined. 

It is practically divided into two sections, that below Keokuk beingknown as the _Lower_, and that above (the part of which we now proposeto consider) as the

UPPER MISSISSIPPI. 

This designation comes from having well-defined boundaries, inconsequence of a ledge of rocks lying across the river immediately abovethe city of Keokuk, which, during the lower stages of water, whollyprevents the passage of the larger class of steamers plying on the riverbelow. 

From this point, there are about six hundred miles in one continuousstretch of navigation, up to the city of St. Paul. On this upper river asmaller class of steamers are usually employed; though, at good stagesof water, the larger boats are abundant; and, indeed, one of the mostimportant lines in the upper river, the Northwestern Union PacketCompany, employs five large steamers, which run between St. Louis andSt. Paul, except in the very dry seasons. The small steamers, so called, are really large and commodious; but so constructed--as are in fact allof the steamers plying on our western rivers--that they draw but littlewater, being large and nearly flat-bottomed, sitting on the surface likea duck, and moving along, when lightly loaded, with apparent ease and ata comparatively high rate of speed. 

It is always a pleasing reflection to the tourist, and a comforting oneto the invalid, to know that at least a portion of their journey may beperformed on board of a well-kept and convenient steamship. Theycontrast so favorably with the dusty train, that we wonder the latterare half as well patronized as they are, when the two means ofconveyance are running on parallel lines. But then we know very wellthat the man of business and people in haste do that which saves mosttime, regardless entirely of themselves, and more frequently of theirneighbors, who have, in consequence of open windows, taken a thousandcolds, and suffered pains, neuralgic and rheumatic, sufficient to haveatoned for the sins of a world of such as these--their inconsideratefellow-travellers. Then the quantity of dust and smoke and cinders to beswallowed and endured, the damage to eyes of those who would beguile themind into that forgetfulness of self; so painfully reminded of both thestrait-jacket and the old-time, cruel stocks. Then the utterobliviousness to all hygienic law in the packing of a score or more ofpeople, like so many herrings in a box, into sleeping cars, over-heatedand worse ventilated, and not--if measured by the rules of any commonsense--more than sufficient for a fourth of the number occupying. Howoften have we risen in the morning, after spending the night in thismanner, with a feeling akin to that which we fancy would come from beingknocked in the head with a sack of meal, then gently stewed, and all outof pure fraternal regard to supply any deficiencies in our originalbakings. The operation is certainly quite neat, and entirely successful, since all who have tried it are left in no sort of doubt as to theirhaving been, at least once, thoroughly cooked. Perhaps a philosophicalview is best, and all feel grateful for the double service rendered, while the charge for transportation only is incurred. 

This is, however, too serious a business for much of jesting, asthousands are made to feel who have had occasion to travel much; and whois there of this restless, moving population of ours that does not, either on business or pleasure, make, sooner or later, extensivejourneys? We are not unmindful of the many and important improvementsmade in the construction of railway carriages within the last decade, greatly tending to the conservation of both the health and comfort ofthe passenger; but there is still a good chance for inventors to attainboth fame and fortune, if only the dust and cinders be kept out andfresh air kept in, without hazarding the health of any one by exposureto its draughts. 

These drawbacks to health and comfort in travelling are measurablyavoided when journeying in or to the Northwest during the season ofnavigation. The Ohio River furnishes such an escape to the invalidseeking this region from the central belt of States; and the great lakessupply a more northern range of country; while less than a half day'sride from Chicago places one at either Dubuque, Prairie du Chien, or LaCrosse, where daily boats may be had for St. Paul or any of the townsintermediate. 

These steamers differ widely from those in use on any of the rivers inthe Eastern States, and while not as substantial, seem better adapted tothe trade and travel on these interior rivers. Beyond occasional violentwinds there is nothing in the elements for them to encounter, and hencethey are built low to the water, of shallow draft, and an entire absenceof all closed bulwarks used to keep out the sea by those plying instormy waters. These western river boats would scarce survive a singlepassage on any large body of water, yet, for all the purposes for whichthey are required here, they seem admirably fitted. 

In making the journey from Dubuque to St. Paul and return, one of thesesteamers--and yet not of the largest class--requires a supply of fivehundred bushels of coal, and full one hundred and twenty-five cords ofwood, to keep its devouring furnaces ablaze and its wheels in motion. The round trip between these two points is made, including the landings, in about three days. The _up_-trip is performed with as great speed asthat is down, owing to the greater economy of time in making thelandings. In going up these are easily made, with bows on shore (theyhave no wharves); in coming down stream the ship is compelled, for herown safety, to turn in the river before reaching the landing, and thenrun "bows on, " the same as when going up, else, if this was not done, the current of the river, which is often quite powerful, might drivethe vessel too high on the shore, or wheel it around to its damage. Thisevolution requires a few minutes for its performance at each landing, and thus the whole time is about equally divided in the going andreturning. 

The average dimensions of the class of steamers employed in this trademay be said to be about two hundred and forty feet in length andthirty-five in breadth, drawing from two to four feet of water, withaccommodations for about one hundred and fifty cabin and as many moresecond-class passengers. 

The first deck is wholly devoted to the machinery and freight; and allis exposed to view from every side. The great furnaces occupy the centreof this deck, and their lungs of fire roar and breathe flames eagerlyand dangerously out, like a serpent's forked, flashing tongue. The sidesglow and swell from the increasing heat, and the iron arms of themachinery tremble and quake with the pent-up and rapidly accumulatingforces, running unseen to and fro, only too ready to lend a helpinghand--at anything. The seat of power in all this is, like the seat ofpower everywhere, hot and revolutionary, and those who occupy it must bevigilant, as only one head can control, though that is not unfrequently, on these western waters, the Cylinder head. 

The fuel is in front and along, next the furnaces; while the freight isstacked on the bows and along the sides and aft, which is likewise theplace where the ship's crew sleep, in bunks ranged on either hand aboveeach other, like shelves, sheltering the sleeper only from the rains. The live stock is usually crowded into close quarters on the after andoutlying guards, having a high railing and strong supports. By astaircase from the main deck in front the grand saloon is reached. Thisis the interesting feature of all these large river steamers. Fancy asaloon one hundred and fifty feet in length, richly carpeted andupholstered, having large pendant chandeliers, glittering with all theknown prismatic colors, the whole overarched by fancy scroll-work inpleasing combination with the supports to the ceiling and floor above;and, as is frequently the case, all being highly ornate, makes a fancyscene not unworthy of association with the famous palace of Aladdin, asgiven us in the charming stories of the _Arabian Nights_. 

This, with some slight exaggerations in style, perhaps, is the home ofthe traveller while journeying on this upper and most interestingportion of the entire river. 

At night, with the saloon and ship all lighted, the scene is bothinspiriting and brilliant. Above the roll of the machinery and noise ofthe dashing waters comes the grateful melody of happy voices, lullingthe tired traveller to repose and chasing away from other faces allrecollection of painful responsibilities and cares. 

A sail on this upper river is a beautiful one, and all who can shouldmake it. The scenery is not as varied or striking as is that of theHudson, of which one is constantly reminded; but it is neverthelessattractive and quite peculiar. The banks of the Lower Mississippi haverisen here to high towering bluffs, giving a highly picturesquecharacter to the landscape. This is the region of the lower magnesianlimestone; and as it builds up these bluffs and crops out along theirsides and at the tops, worn by the winds and rains of centuries--theserock exposures, gray and moss covered, have rounded into strikingresemblances of old ruins, as if buried by convulsions in some unknownage, the homes of some possible race of Montezumas, of which these arethe only monuments and records. 

They often rise to the height of four and sometimes five hundred feetabove the river, standing singly or in groups, and again stretch forlong distances like the Palisades of the Hudson, differing from them inthat they are not as abrupt and have their sides covered with the mostluxuriant sward. 

Those who can should climb to the summit of one of these cliffs and geta glimpse of as lovely a picture as it is possible to find in a journeyround the world. The winding river, dotted all over with islands andfringed along its shores with forest-trees, expanding now into someminiature lake, then lost and broken by some intervening bluff, to theright or left of which stretches the distant prairie; the whole forminga panoramic view unrivalled in interest and beauty by any we have everseen elsewhere. 

It is impossible for us adequately to describe to the reader thesevarying scenes of beauty in the landscapes which present themselves aswe sail. They should come and see for themselves, and bask in the pure, bracing atmosphere, and the genial sunshine of these bluest of blueskies. 

CHAPTER III. 

RIVER TOWNS. 

Brownsville, the first town. --The city of La Crosse. --Victoria andAlbert Bluffs. --Trempeleau and Mountain Island. --The city ofWinona. --Its name and origin. --The Winona and St. Peters Railroad. --TheAir-Line Railroad. --Her educational interests. --Advancement of theWest. --The towns of Wabasha and Reed's Landing. --Lake Pepin and Maiden'sRock. --Romantic story. --An old fort. --Lake City and Frontenac. --Red Wingand Hastings. --Red Rock. 

The first landing in Minnesota, going up the river, is made at

BROWNSVILLE, a very small village, nestled close in under the hillside, andovershadowed by the high bluffs which seem to threaten its existence, and would quite exterminate it should land-slides ever become possiblewith these silicious limestone battlements. Beyond being an outlet forsurplus products of the back country, it has no importance and noattractions. The traveller is now one hundred and thirty miles aboveDubuque, one of the points of embarkation for those from the East whovisit the State by the way of the river. If the sail is made by daylightbetween these places, most suggestive impressions are made on the mindof the immense area of Iowa; for, while constantly expecting soon tocatch a glimpse of "Dakota Land, " you are all day baffled by thepresence of this intervening State, which, somehow, seems determined totravel with you up the river, and, by its many attractions, woo you toresidence and rest. 

The fertile fields of Wisconsin, on the other hand, do not seem at allobtrusive, since you expect them on your right soon after leavingDunleith; and, when the city of

LA CROSSE

comes in view, its bright aspect of industrial life, its busy streets, spacious warehouses, fine shops, and thronging commerce, challenge ourlove of the good and beautiful in civilized life. Indeed, this handsomeand prosperous city is one of the most pleasant and interesting placeswhich attract the traveller's attention along the two thousand miles ofthis navigable river. 

Many, in coming to the "Northwest" by the way of Chicago, travel as faras La Crosse by rail, where abundant opportunities are had for steamtransportation to St. Paul, and all intervening towns. 

The islands have now so multiplied that here, and for some distanceabove, the river seems more an archipelago than anything else. Islandsof all sizes and shapes, wooded and embowered with a great variety ofshrubs and vines, so that in springtime they seem like emeralds set inthis "flashing silver sea;" and when summer is ended, and the frost-kinghas come, they are robed in royal splendor--in crimson and purple andgold--seeming to be the fanciful and marvellous homes of strangestfairies, who, during this season of enchantment hold, it is said, atmidnight, high carnival on the islands of this upper and beautifulriver. Be that as it may, they certainly add to the attractions of asail along this "Father of Waters, " and give picturesqueness to thelandscape which, before seeing, we had not credited with so much ofinterest and beauty as we found it to possess. 

A couple of hours' additional steaming brings us to the lofty peaksstanding on the left of the river, one of which, from the resemblance ofits crest to the crown of England, has given rise to the names ofVictoria and Albert. They are over five hundred feet in height, andbelieved to be the tallest of any of the cliffs along the river. Beyond, on the right, stands boldly the lone sentinel of Mountain Island, at thebase of which is the small village of Trempeleau, where a moment's haltis made, and the wheels of the great ship splash through the wateragain, all tremulous with nervous energy and pent-up power as they bendslowly to their slavish labor; and, the only labor that man has anyright to make a slave of is that with iron arms and metallic lungs. Hemay compel these to work and groan and sweat at every pore with honor tohimself and the added respect of all mankind. 

A few miles further and the city of

WINONA

is in view. This is the most populous town in the State of Minnesotasouth of St. Paul. It occupies a low, level tract projecting from thebase of the bluffs, which circle its rear in the shape of an ox-bow, and, in times of high water, becomes an island, owing to its greatdepression at its junction with the bluffs. The town stands on the frontof this low plateau, along the channel of the river, and has apopulation of nine thousand people, counting the nomadic lumbermen, wholive half the year in the piny woods many hundred miles to the north, and the other half are floating on the rafts down the river; a rough butuseful people, who betimes will lose their heads and winter's wages in asingle drunken fray, which they seem to consider the highest pleasurevouchsafed to them each season as they return to the walks of civilizedlife. 

The pleasant sounding name of Winona is one of the many Dakota wordsabounding along the river and over the State, and was the appellation ofthe beautiful Indian girl who so tragically ended her life by leapingfrom the top of Maiden's Bluff, bordering the eastern shore of LakePepin above, and of which we shall presently speak more in detail. 

It is a name always given by the Dakotas to the first-born female childof a family. As was the maiden, celebrated in song and story, so is thetown, quite handsome and interesting in many points of aspect. It is theobjective point for great quantities of freight by boat up the river, tobe from thence distributed through the whole southern section ofMinnesota by means of the important railway line extending from thiscity to the interior, tapping the St. Paul and Milwaukee road atOwatanna, and the St. Paul and Sioux City at St. Peter's and Mankato;draining one of the most fertile districts in the commonwealth of itsimmense stores of wheat and other grains seeking an outlet and aneastern market. This road is known as the Winona and St. Peter's, and isa trunk line, with the sure promise of increasing importance to theState and profit to its projectors. By means of it the great lumbermarts of Minneapolis and St. Anthony, and likewise the Capital, arebrought in close proximity to this commercial city of Winona; and muchof the trade and travel of the fertile valley of the Minnesota Rivermust, by means of this line, prove tributary to the rapid growing town. 

The march of progress is never ended in the life of the West; and, erethe present year passes, an entirely new line both north and east willhave been completed, and then a new era of prosperity will beinaugurated. We refer to the St. Paul and Chicago Air-Line Railway, which, starting at St. Paul, follows the river banks to this place, where it is to cross to Wisconsin, thence direct to Chicago, leaving LaCrosse forty miles below, and out of the line. Heretofore the means oftravel to Chicago and the east has been either by rail to Owatanna, farto the west, or the more common practice of going by steamer in summerand stage in winter to La Crosse, thus of necessity paying bothcompliments and costs to this rival town, which has not been highlyrelished by the Winonians. The new route will make them entirelyindependent of the denizens of La Crosse. But both places have resourcespeculiar to themselves and quite sufficient to insure prosperity andfame. 

Those visiting Winona are impressed with the general neatness of theplace, and the number and finish of its business blocks and privateresidences. There are many fine churches erected, whose capacity, thoughlarge, is not much greater than seems demanded by the church-goinginhabitants, which affords both a commentary and index to their generalhigh character. Among the public buildings worthy of special attentionis that of their Normal school, recently finished at a cost of over onehundred thousand dollars, being a model of elegance and convenience. This is a State institution, free to pupils of a certain class, and isone of three--all of the same character--erected under the patronage ofthe State, and for the location of which towns were invited to compete. Winona secured this, Mankato another, and St. Cloud the third, all noblebuildings, as we can personally testify, and which give to the people ofthis State opportunities such as those of the older commonwealths wereutterly destitute, and are still, so far as scope, scale, and affluenceare concerned. Then there is the city school, costing over half ahundred thousand dollars, and likewise highly ornamental, as well asuseful. 

New England long boasted of her superiority in the rank of her schools;especially was this the case in Connecticut, where a school fundexisted, reducing somewhat the expense attending their maintenance; butthey used no part of this fund toward the building of school-houses, andit is a question if it has not had there an opposite effect of whatoriginally it was intended to accomplish. The same old shabbyschool-houses, fifteen by twenty, still do duty, and the districtcommittee annually figure with the many youthful candidates forteachers--who, it used to be said, came there on a horse--to make theper-head allowance of the school fund, with boarding around thrown in, pay for their three months' services. Had the people understood theymust hand out the whole school expenses, and seen personally to theeducation of their children, they would have had a livelier interest inthe whole business; and this, with compelled liberality, would havepaved the way for greater expenditure and effort. Neighborhood rivalriesof suitable buildings would have followed, and, instead of incompetentteachers being the rule, they would have been the exception, and thoseof us whose fortune it has been to be born in New England would not nowbe such "jacks of all trades and masters of none" as we are. The Westdeserves great commendation for their lively interest in all thatrelates to the education of the young. Why, almost any of these Statesexcel those of New England in school matters, outside of two or three ofthe great universities which they happen to possess. Several years ago, in passing through Indiana and visiting several of the village schools, we were surprised and astonished at the superior class of text-booksthat were in use, and the improved methods of teaching in practice; and, likewise, the prompt and intelligent manner of the scholar in hisexercises and examples, as compared with similar schools at the East;all a proof of the superior methods and facilities in vogue. 

The new States have had it in their power to do what most of the olderones had not, and after all they cannot claim all the credit of theiradvancement in these matters, for the general government shares part ofthe honor in this wise provision for the education of the people, havingdonated one section of land in every township in some of the newerStates. This was the case in Minnesota. These lands are to be used inestablishing a school fund, and this has already amounted to a largesum--two million five hundred thousand dollars; and these normal schoolbuildings are an evidence alike of the wisdom of the measure andmagnitude of this fund. 

The site of the town--while ample for a large city, having an area ofseveral miles in extent--seems rather too low to insure that drynessessential to good health, though we believe its general sanitaryreputation is as good as any of the towns along the river, and this ismore than could be expected, since its general elevation scarce exceedsa dozen feet above the river when at a fair stage of water. Its leveeaccommodations are extensive and excellent, and the place must alwaysremain the most important in southern Minnesota. 

Passing several minor towns and landings, along the river, we next cometo

WABASHA, a village of about fifteen hundred inhabitants, with the prettiestlocation of any that we have yet seen. It stands on an elevated table, about forty feet above the river, and invites the tourist and invalid, by its pleasant quietness, to tarry and inspect the place. Thehospitable-looking hotel, with its ample lawn and grounds close by thebanks of the river, give promise of abundant rest and recreation. 

The grain interest is the all-absorbing one at this point, as it iseverywhere along the river. 

A short distance above, and

REED'S LANDING

appears. This town is at the foot of Lake Pepin, and likewise at thefoot of a huge bluff. This place becomes in spring the terminus of thesteamers which are prevented from proceeding farther in consequence ofthe heavier ice of the lake remaining an obstruction to commerce for aperiod of ten days or two weeks longer than that in the river proper. 

LAKE PEPIN

is nearly thirty miles in length, with an average width of about threemiles, presenting an unbroken sheet of water; bounded on both its sidesby tall perpendicular bluffs, with here and there isolated peakstowering far above their companions, having something of the dignity ofmountain ranges. 

This lake is famed for its great attractions of natural beauty, and isnot disappointing to the traveller. It is a singular body of water, andwhile it is a part of the river still it differs from it in so manyaspects that it is fairly entitled to be termed a lake. Below, the riveris divided into numerous and devious channels by intervening islands ofan irregular and picturesque character, uniting to give a grand, kaleidoscopic variety to the journey; but here, at Lake Pepin, thewaters have free scope, and rise and swell under the pressure of stormssufficient to move and sway the heaviest fleets. The water is remarkablyclear and cold, and is said to be over a thousand feet in depth at somepoints. It is a tradition among the Indians that the bed of the river, with its islands, sank during a great storm, in which the earth trembledand shook for many leagues around. This seems quite possible, and thegeneral formation of the lake indicates that their tradition is foundedon actual fact. 

The chief point of interest attaching to this locality is that known asthe Maiden's Rock, a perpendicular cliff midway of the lake on theeastern shore. Were there no legend connected with it, the eye would bearrested by its lofty and impressive form, as it stands alone frowningon the dark, deep waters of the lake below. 

Chief Wapashaw, whose village once occupied the site of the present cityof Winona, had a daughter, _Weenonah_, the beauty and pride of all histribe. This fair maiden had been thwarted in her affections by powerfuland cruel hands, and rather than submit to unite her young life withone, other than he whom she so fondly loved, resolved to sacrificeherself. A fishing party, of which she was a member, proceeded to thislake, and while resting on the eastern shore she fled away, and to thetop of this high eminence, where, discovering herself to the companybelow, she recited the story of her broken heart and undying love forhim whose name she had been even forbade to speak, and, closing bychanting a wild death-song, flung herself down the sides of thisterrible precipice, and was dashed in pieces. Her father and friends, guessing her intent, on being hailed by her from the top of this rock, dispatched, as the story goes, their fleetest of foot to her rescue, butunavailingly. No Indian passes by this place of tragedy without utteringmournful wails in memory of their beautiful and loved Weenonah. 

Along the base of these cliffs are numerous caverns, once the abode ofwild beasts, and, even as late as Carver's visit, in 1766, numbers ofbears were found wintering in them, and in the minor caves numberlessrattlesnakes were seen by him. In his explorations in this immediateneighborhood he discovered, on the edge of the prairie, the outlines ofan old fortification, which was distinctly traceable, and extended fornearly a mile, in its sweep enveloping an area ample for five thousandmen. Its form was semi-circular, with the flanks resting on the river. The whole appearance was as if it had been built full a century beforehis visit, and while the ditch was indistinguishable, its angles were, and "displayed as much of science as if built by a pupil of Vaubanhimself. " What race could have originally constructed it is a mystery, certainly not any of the known tribes inhabiting this country. Carvercould not have misjudged the character of these intrenchments, since hehad himself received a military education, and was therefore, of allexplorers, not likely to be misled in his estimate. 

The pleasure seeker will find it convenient to visit any portion ofLake Pepin from any of the villages along its shores. From Lake City asteamer usually plies to all interesting points, up and down the lake. Those wishing to halt in a locality of rare beauty and refined society, will choose FRONTENAC above. 

Half a dozen miles above the north end of the lake comes

RED WING, named after one of the great Dakota chiefs. It is attractively situatedon the esplanade adjoining the famous Barnes' Bluff, with anamphitheatre of hills in the rear completely sheltering and hedging theplace from view as it is approached from the south. The bluff is betweenfour and five hundred feet in height, and on its summit lies buried theremains of the great chief, Red Wing. 

The place has an increased importance, now that the "Air-Line" railwaybetween St. Paul and Chicago passes through, giving speedy and constantcommunication to those cities all the year round. 

On reaching the mouth of the St. Croix, thirty miles above, both banksof the Mississippi belong to Minnesota; the former watercourse fillingout the eastern boundary of the State. 

THE ST. CROIX RIVER

is an important tributary to the Upper Mississippi, and penetrates oneof the great pine districts of the northwest. The principal businessdone on this stream is lumbering, which gives employment to manyhundreds of people, and amounts in the aggregate to many thousands ofdollars annually. Navigation extends to Taylor's Falls, some sixty-fivemiles from its mouth. 

There is a regular line of steamers plying between St. Paul and the headof navigation, making daily trips, and doing a prosperous business. Theyare, however, quite small and apparently inadequate to the increasingtrade. 

The most important of all the towns on the St. Croix is

STILLWATER, with a population of several thousand souls. The chief object ofinterest, statewise, is the penitentiary, which we did not careparticularly to examine. The city can boast, however, of a noble schooledifice, and county court-house, either of which would adorn any placein the country. 

There is at present no rail connection with St. Paul, though this wantis soon to be supplied, and when completed it is expected to extend theline toward the railway system of Wisconsin and the East. 

The St. Croix is famed among tourists for its beautiful scenery andattractive falls at the head of navigation. Pleasure parties makefrequent excursions from St. Paul, and the trip is truly enjoyable ifyou are always sure of so urbane and obliging an officer as is CaptainWilliam Kent. 

Just above the junction of these two rivers is the town of

HASTINGS, one of the great wheat marts of the northwest. It has several thousandinhabitants, the foreign element preponderating, we should judge. Thereare no specially interesting features either in or about the immediateneighborhood, if we except the Vermilion Falls. 

The only remaining object worthy of attention, aside from the scenery ofthe river, between this town and the city of St. Paul, is

RED ROCK

camping-ground, situated on the east shore, on a level stretch of landsix feet above the river at high water. This tract is quite extensive, and for the most part free of any timber beyond a grove or two, all ofwhich is now owned by the Methodist Association, and occupied by themannually as a camp-ground. 

This same ground was formerly used by the Indians as a camp-ground onthe assembling of the various tribes of the Dakotas in general council, or on grand holidays, celebrated by all the various national bands. Itderives its name from a rock, which is about six feet in diameter andnearly round, lying a few rods only from the river and in plain sight asthe steamer passes. This rock was mysteriously striped with red paintevery year by the Indians, and was known by them as the Red Rock. Longafter the occupation of the country by the whites, the custom ofpainting it was regularly kept up while any of the race remained, and itstill bears marks of their work. No one ever saw them paint it, and itis believed the work was secretly done at night. It was held sacred bythem as the abode of some good spirit, and received a certain homage, such as these superstitious, polytheistic people were accustomed torender their gods. 

CHAPTER IV. 

ST. PAUL. 

As seen from the deck of the steamer. --The pleasant surprise it givesthe visitor. --Impressions regarding new places. --The beauties of thecity. --The limestone caves. --Père Louis Hennepin. --The population ofSt. Paul. --Its public buildings and works. --A park wanted. --Thegeological structure of the country. --St. Paul, the Capital city. --Itsrailroad connections. --The head of navigation. --Impressions. 

Our first visit to the Apostolic city was on the morning of one of thosegolden days in early autumn, any one of which might have inspiredLongfellow's little poem, "A Day of Sunshine, " they were so perfect. 

The goodly ship on which we came was rounding a tract of lowmeadow-land, skirted by some forest growths, when suddenly the streamingsunlight was flashed back to us from the spires of the city of St. Paulitself, sitting like a queenly crown at the head of this noblest of allrivers. 

All were surprised and delighted to find that, in the matter of itslocation and general appearance, it so far exceeded what our fancies hadpainted it. No correct idea had been conveyed by any representation ofit that we had ever seen, nor had any sketch sufficiently outlined itfor the imagination to fill up; yet we were prepared to see a _pretty_city, though not looking for a _grand_ one. The view from the deck ofthe steamer, as the traveller approaches the place, is one of the best. The river makes an abrupt turn to the westward, in front of the city, which is situated on the northern side of this elbow, immediately at theturn, with its face full southward down the river. It would, after all, fail to be as imposing as it is but for its location, which is greatlyelevated above the river, rising from it in irregular grades, withintervening tables, back fully a mile to the summit of the high bluffsforming the rear of the city. 

The common impression in relation to all towns in the new States, andwith reason, too, is, that they are of such rapid growth, underspeculative influences, as to often possess no solid elements ofprosperity, and that, after the first wave of excitement dies out, theycollapse; but if they have real advantages of position and enterprisecombined, the prize is as surely theirs. The critical period for St. Paul has passed, like that in the life of its great namesake, and thevisitor, as he walks along the streets of the town, finds evidences ofits substantial and permanent growth on every hand. 

Probably no place of the same population in the entire valley, from NewOrleans up, can boast of as many substantial and costly stores, or asmany elegant and tasteful houses, as can St. Paul. The fine prospect tobe had from every portion of the town is likewise a noted featurepeculiar to itself, and is what neither wealth nor art can create. Back, on the edge of the bluff, which surrounds the city in a semi-circularform, runs Summit Avenue, already a fashionable quarter, but which, erelong, must be famed as commanding one of the most interesting landscapesin a country abounding in many natural beauties. 

From Dayton's Bluff, on the left, likewise an attractive point initself, the best view of the city can be had. Under this bluff is acave, which was used as the council-chamber of the red men, and has beenthe witness of many a notable event. It is a subterraneous cavern formedby the running water wearing away the soft, white, calcareous sand, which, everywhere in this section, underlies the strata of bluelimestone next to the surface. There are several of these caves near thetown, but of no great interest beyond serving to while away an idlehour, or to give some additional zest to a morning's ramble. 

St. Paul received its name from Père Louis Hennepin, a European, belonging to the Order of Franciscans, who landed on the present site ofthe city while on a voyage of exploration and discovery up theMississippi River, in April, 1680. He was an extensive traveller andprolific writer; but of all things done by him, that of giving the nameof the famous Apostle to this locality, and now city, was by far thebest. The next hundred and fifty years passed by and still all a blank, and not till 1850, the year following the territorial organization ofMinnesota, can it be said to have assumed the appearance of a permanentsettlement, with a population of perhaps a thousand adventurous souls. 

The present enumeration of St. Paul, as given by the census of 1870, just completed, shows a trifle over twenty thousand. This is not as higha figure as the people had hoped for and counted upon; but yet thisshows an increase of about seventy-five per cent. For the last fiveyears. No one can walk the city and not believe that this recent andrapid growth has substantial foundation in the enlarging business andincreasing importance of the town itself. 

The public buildings and works of the city are worthy of note in anysketch; and we would first call attention to the Capitol, which standsobscured from the river, and back of the centre of business, on thetable between the front and rear bluffs. It is a plain structure ofbrick, in the form of a cross, with wings of equal length. This musteventually give room to a more suitable and dignified structure, yet forall present needs, and during the infancy of the State, it is not at allinappropriate. 

The most costly building, when finished, will be the Custom-House ofthe General Government. It is being built of granite, brought from St. Cloud, and is estimated to cost the handsome sum of three hundredthousand dollars. 

The interests of education are well looked after in the half-dozenpublic school buildings; and the religious element has abundantspiritual food dispensed from the full score of costly and well-orderedchurch edifices, some of which contribute much to the architecturalgrace and ornament of the town. 

A notable feature in the landscape, as the city is approached by eitherrailroad or river, is the wooden bridge spanning the river just at thesteamboat landing. It is over a fourth of a mile in length, and builtupon an _inclined plane_, at a cost of one hundred and fifty thousanddollars. The first abutment on the side of the city starts on a levelwith the bluff, giving seventy-five feet between the bridge and theriver, and then falls rapidly away, supported by nine stone piers, tothe low flat land on the opposite shore. This is used as a carriageroad, and connects St. Paul with all the adjacent country on theopposite side of the river. A half-mile beyond this bridge, thecompanion bluff to that on which the city stands begins, rising to anequal height with it. These bluffs, however, it should be stated, arenot of such imposing appearance as are those on the river below, andconcerning which we have written in a preceding chapter. They seem togradually lessen in height from four and five hundred feet at LakePepin, where the greatest altitude occurs, to about one-third of thathere at St. Paul. 

The city's supply of water is fine, and at all times abundant; a lakeback of the town being the natural reservoir of this supply. What hasbeen to many towns a great labor and burden, has here required but atrifling expense. 

Hotels are usually the traveller's thermometer by which he judges theculture, beauty, and general characteristics of the town. It is quitesingular that people remember a town either with delight or disgust, just in proportion as the entertainment furnished at their hotel is goodor bad, but there is more of truth in this than any of us would care atfirst to acknowledge. The good people of St. Paul have, however, nothingto fear in this respect. There are several fine establishments, chief ofwhich is the "Metropolitan, " and then the "Park Place, " with its cooland ample verandahs, inviting travellers to repose and rest. 

The question of a Public Park is being agitated, and with every hopethat it will be carried to successful results. But little attention hasbeen given this matter by any of our cities until a very recent period;and now their beauty and utility having been established, many towns aremoving in this most important matter. St. Paul can afford to issuebonds liberally to this end; and should the district underconsideration be secured, including the beautiful Lake Como, littleelaboration will suffice to make it immediately a notable feature of thetown. 

The strata of blue limestone near the surface, and on which the citypractically stands, is of great value, and quarries can be openedanywhere, from which good building material in unlimited quantities canbe had at small cost; easily competing with lumber in the market, whichis likewise plentiful, as we shall see when we come to look into thehistory and growth of the sister city on the river, above. 

This stone already constitutes the chief material used in the erectionof all the better class of buildings in the city, and, indeed, ThirdStreet, the principal business thoroughfare, has even now little elsethan this honest and solid-looking material to represent it. 

The sandstone underlying the magnesian limestone, and which is so softas to be easily crushed, could be used we judge in the manufacture ofglassware at great profit to the manufacturer; but as yet, there isnothing done that we know, and it is not strange when we reflect that itis but a score of years since St. Paul was really occupied and settled. All of this various strata of rock and sand belongs, geologicallyspeaking, to what is known as the lower silurian system, extending fromnear the western shores of Lake Michigan, and sweeping over all thelower half of Minnesota, westward and upward along the valley of thegreat Red and Assinniboin Rivers to the north, marking one of the mostprolific grain growing belts on the continent, if not in the world. While this limestone underlying the surface is valuable for the purposesheretofore named, it performs a still greater service to mankind inhaving contributed much of those qualities which have given in certaindepartments of agriculture, highest prominence to the State. 

St. Paul is both the political and commercial capital of Minnesota, andmust always remain such without doubt, though it does not occupy acentral geographical position, still it is the practical centre of thecommonwealth, made such by the enterprise of her people in extending thesystem of railways in all directions, with this point as a pivotalcentre. There are already seven important roads[A] radiating from thiscity, either completed or in rapid course of construction, giving at thepresent time a total of about seven hundred miles of finished road, overwhich daily or more trains run, and all within the boundaries of theState. Other lines beginning and ending elsewhere, yet likewise in theState, are not included, of course, in this consideration. These roadspenetrate already, or will when completed, the principal centres oftrade and agriculture lying in the Northwest. 

Daily communication is already had by rail with the cities of Chicago, Milwaukee, and Duluth, and in the near future another, and, perhaps, insome respects; the most important link of all, that connecting St. Paulwith Omaha and the Union Pacific Railway, known as the St. Paul andSioux City Road. This line traverses the most fertile district in theState, as well as the most populous, following up the rich valley of theMinnesota to Mankato, where it leaves the river, holding a southwestdirection for Sioux City in Iowa. The road is now completed as far asMadelia, one hundred and twelve miles from St. Paul, leaving a gap ofabout one hundred and fifty miles to be finished in order to make theproposed connection with the great central trunk road to the Pacificcoast. We do not think that there is a single township of poor landalong its entire route. On the other hand, speaking from personalobservation, we know that the land is uniformly above the average infertility, productiveness, and beauty. 

Another, a more recent link of road, binding the city to the northeastand east as firmly as does the other to the southwest, is that known asthe Lake Superior and Mississippi Road, reaching one hundred and fiftymiles to the young city of Duluth, standing at the head of the greatlakes, whence cheap transportation to the Atlantic seaboard may be hadfor all the products of the Northwest. 

Then there are the two lines in progress, which, with the one alreadyrunning, will make three routes to Chicago and Milwaukee. By the presentone, the St. Paul and Milwaukee, a whole day is consumed in making thejourney, while by either of the others, sixteen hours only will berequired. This saving of time will insure to the new routes a prosperouscareer. One of these new roads, the St. Paul and Chicago, nearly anair-line, is already done as far as Red Wing. This road follows theriver to Winona, where it crosses, thence to Madison, making connectionwith a completed line to Chicago. When done, this will be the mostdesirable _all rail_ route from the latter city to St. Paul and theprincipal towns along the river in Minnesota. 

These truly great enterprises, of which St. Paul is the centre, form ajust commentary on the prescience and industry of her people, who, whilewatchful of their own, do not forget the general interest of all, thereby giving to individual life a zest and recompense which mark onlythe highest and best purposes of our race. 

Thus we see the iron arms of this possible future capital of the nationreaching out in all directions from this central seat of empire, bindingfirmly to it the great resources and vast wealth of the outlying andnow tributary country, which as yet is only in the alphabet of itsdevelopment. 

Time was when a visit to St. Paul was accounted an era in the life ofthe traveller, since its remoteness and general inaccessibility involveda special journey; but now, few fail to make the tour while passingthrough the West, since both the facilities and pleasures are so great. 

To stand at the head of two thousand miles of steamboat navigation alongthe line of a single river is in itself, were there no city, aninspiration. And when we contemplate that more than ten thousand milesof inland navigation attaches to this great river and its tributaries, at the head of which stands the beautiful city of St. Paul, we do notmarvel at the dreams of splendor and of power already haunting thethinking population of this vast interior valley. A few brief years andthe sceptre of political empire will have passed forever into the handsof this people without question, and ere long thereafter we confidentlypredict that the seat of government will surely follow. We know that thepopulation along the Atlantic coast deride this idea; and, while havingshared heretofore like opinions with them, yet, on reflection, webelieve the child is born who will live to see this an accomplishedfact. 

FOOTNOTES:

[A] We have counted the Pacific Main Line and the Branch Line asseparate roads, and likewise have assumed, that the Milwaukee and St. Paul terminates here. These roads are now owned by the North PacificRailroad Company. 

CHAPTER V. 

CLIMATE. 

The climatic divisions of the country. --Periodical rains. --Prevailingwinds of the continent. --Changes of temperature. --Consumption in warmclimates. --Cold, humid atmospheres. --What climate most desirable for theconsumptive. --The dry atmosphere of the interior. --Dry winds of theinterior. --Table of rain-fall of the whole country. 

Until a comparatively recent date the climate of the continent was held, by all of the more learned in matters of physical geography and climaticlaw, to have but one general characteristic; but these conclusions havebeen found to be utterly erroneous, and now it is known to besusceptible of division into three great and entirely distinct areas, each being highly marked, and leaving, on these various surfaces, peculiar evidence of their existence. 

Instead of an _oceanic_ climate prevailing over the entire continent, itis found to have but very narrow limits along the Pacific coast of theUnited States, being broken entirely from the interior by the elevatedmountain ranges, conforming to them throughout their entire extent, andhaving a sweep from near the thirty-sixth parallel to Sitka and theAleutian Islands, away to the extreme northwest. 

The second division embraces the great interior basin lying between theranges of one hundred and twenty degrees and ninety-two degrees westlongitudes, having a general trend from the southwest, at San Diego, toHudson's Bay in British America, in the northeast. This vast district isparalleled by that of the interior climate and character of thecontinent of Asia in its elevation, aridity, and great extent, and maybe known as the true continental or Asiatic climate of the UnitedStates. It is on the edge of this district, and visibly under itsinfluence, that the State of Minnesota, for the most part, lies. But wepass, for the present, to the brief consideration of the third granddivision, embracing the entire country east of a line drawn from nearCentral Texas to the centre of Wisconsin, including the immediate regionsurrounding all the great lakes. Here we have an association of elementsconstituting a highly variable climate, which prevails over all itssurface at all seasons, with remarkable uniformity. The wide range inboth vegetable and animal life over this area is one of its chiefdistinguishing characteristics, partaking of the semi-tropical on theone hand, with a low winter temperature on the other, but traversingneither range so far as to prove directly destructive in its effects. All over this eastern area are scattered lakes and rivers, with anocean boundary line, and uniform forest ranges with a great variety ofdeciduous trees known to the temperate and sub-tropical latitudes; andit is quite remarkable to note that some of the latter forms extend intheir acclimation to near the northern boundary lines of the Union, while the pine, walnut, and chestnut may be found at or near the extremesouthern limits. 

In all of these three grand divisions of climate, however, exceptionallocalities exist where there is a marked nonconformity to the prevailingcharacteristics. The peninsula of Florida is such an exception, owing toits peculiar location, and the great humidity of its atmosphere during aconsiderable fraction of the year. Here we have a fully developed seasonof periodical rains, beginning usually in June and ending in the latterpart of September. The winter is the dry season, being contrary to thegeneral rule applying to tropical and sub-tropical areas, and forms, with the mild temperature, the principal ground for the reputation whichthat State has as a resort for special classes of invalids. [B]

The sudden and extreme variations of temperature in this easternclimatic tract, whether from local disturbing causes, as is notunfrequently the case, or otherwise, are usually accompanied by colddraughts of air, chilling and generating all manner of ills, of whichrheumatism and consumption are the separate and highest types. 

While it is generally understood that the prevailing winds of the wholecontinent embraced within the limits of the United States are uniformlyfrom the west, still, over this eastern division, counter-winds of alower character disturb, modify, and elevate the course of this greatwesterly current, giving rise to the exceeding variability of thesurface winds, which, as is well known, may blow within the brief spaceof twenty-four hours from all directions of the compass, at almost anytime and point whatsoever. 

Changes of temperature, while essential in some circumstances to health, may be, if of a certain specific character, infinitely damaging, andsuch are the cold humid winds from the northeast with easterlyinclinations. These are the dreadful scourges of all the Atlantic slopeabove the Carolinas, and there is scarce any portion east of theMississippi Valley free from their occasional visitation. In the extremesouthern limits, along the Gulf, and on the Peninsular State, thepoison, so to speak, of this wind, is so far modified by the greatertemperature of these localities as measurably to disarm it of danger;yet, even in those latitudes, it is to be (during and after a prolongedstorm) avoided by all, and especially weak and enfeebled constitutions. 

The cases of consumption found in these warmer climates have been citedas disproving the heretofore accepted theory that this disease waslimited in range to the middle and eastern portion of the Union; and ithas been further assumed that the liability to its attack was as greatthere as at any point further north. 

These conclusions have little foundation in fact, as is well known byall who have taken pains to investigate the question with thatthoroughness which the subject demands. The catalogue of ills belongingto all warm climates is not only long enough, but likewise sufficientlydreadful, without adding to it that scourge, which is the child of thenortheast winds, with its home in the changeful temperature along theupper Atlantic coast. It is quite true that cases occur in even tropicaldistricts, but they are the stray offspring of some unusual departure ofthe cold and humid northerly currents. It must not, however, be taken asa sequence of this proposition that any and all warm countries wouldprove a sovereign balm and remedy; but, that there are a few localitiesof this condition in temperature, where patients of the class underconsideration may reside with positive advantage, and not unfrequentrestoration to health follow, we both believe and know. 

But there is so great a liability to contract some of the many fatalfebrile, and other diseases of hot countries, together with theirusually excessive humid character and greatly enervating effects, especially on those who have been born and reared in cooler and higherlatitudes, that it comes to be a serious question for considerationwhether the chances of remedy hoped for in a residence at such places isnot more to be dreaded than the disease itself. 

In what direction, then, can the invalid turn with any immediate orultimate hope of either relief or a permanent cure? We answer, that anyplace where a dry, equable climate can be found, all other things beingequal, will give the desired relief and probable cure, if resorted to inseason, and if certain hygienic regulations be carefully andpersistently observed. The next question is, have we a climate answeringthis important requirement, and, at the same time, outside of the rangeof epidemics and fatal fevers; easily accessible, and affording, whenreached, the necessary comforts and aids incidental to a restoration? Tothis we have an affirmative reply to give, coupled with somemodifications, and point to the Central climatic division of thecontinent as possessing, in its dry elastic atmosphere and generallyequable temperature, the requisite desideratum. 

Minnesota lies within this division, and, while upon the outer edge, isstill markedly under the influence of the prevailing climate whichdistinguishes the whole of this middle area. Other sections within itslimits there may be, and, indeed, doubtless are, just as favorable, ifnot more so, than is that of Minnesota, but they are lacking either infacilities for reaching them, or in the needed comforts, and perhaps inthe commonest necessities which are absolute in all cases, --a wholesomediet being one of the great essentials to recuperation. 

Minnesota affords, of course, all of these aids in large abundance, andis likewise quite easy of access, thus answering, in these particularsat least, the ends desired. 

It may now be well to examine the chief characteristics belonging tothis central climatic division, on the northeastern edge of which liesthe State under special consideration. We have already observed that theprevailing and prominent winds of the continent blow uniformly from thePacific toward the Atlantic coast, having a slight northerly tendency. It is important that this fact be kept in mind. This wind is constantlysweeping across the North Pacific Ocean, by which it is tempered andladened with a vast amount of moisture, which is borne to the shores ofthe continent, and, but for the elevated mountain ranges along the wholeof that coast, would be quite evenly distributed over the interior, giving to all of the western and central area such an abundance offertilizing rains as the western half of the continent of Europe nowpossesses, and to which this would then be in climate almost an exactcounterpart. But instead we have only a slender breadth of territoryanswering to the oceanic climate of Western Europe, embracing that whichlies between the Pacific shores and the Sierra and Rocky Mountainranges. Within this belt is precipitated nearly all of the moisturecontained in the atmosphere. The warm, humid westerly winds, drivenagainst the lofty and cool mountain sides, have their moisture suddenlyand rapidly condensed, and the rain-fall on their western slope is foundby measurement to be prodigious, reaching as high as sixty-five cubicinches for the year, being equal in quantity to that falling in manytropical districts, and greatly exceeding that of any other portion ofthe United States. These mountains have a determining influence on theclimate, both of the coast and of that in the interior. They act on theclouds as they sweep against and over them, like a comb, extracting allpossible moisture, leaving a cool, elastic, and arid continentalatmosphere for this central area under present review. The effect is atonce pronounced and everywhere visible. Less than two degrees oflongitude _east_ of these mountain ranges there is but about (taking thewhole line from the thirty-fifth parallel to the northern boundary) anaverage fall of seven and a half cubic inches of rain, a difference ofover fifty-five cubic inches within the year, in districts separated byless than one hundred miles in a straight line from each other. Theconsequence is, that, while in one there is a luxuriant growth in allkinds of vegetation, in the other barren plains (destitute of all exceptthe lowest forms of vegetable life) exist, with a gradual but slowreturn, as the eastern course of the winds are followed, to that normalcondition which prevails in districts where an abundant supply ofmoisture is furnished. This is not fully found till the western limit ofthe third climatic division is reached, where again we see on all handsa general distribution of rivers and forests over the whole of thisarea, with copious rains at all seasons, and humid and cool conditionsof the atmosphere, following each other in rapid alternations; producingwhat we have seen fit to call the Variable climatic district, embracingthe whole eastern half of the continent. 

The extreme high temperature of the interior division equals that ofpoints lying a dozen degrees south in other longitudes, and thedesiccated winds from the west, as they blow over this parched andheated surface, have their aridity rather than their humidity increased, as would be the case in other circumstances; and not till they reachwithin perhaps five hundred miles of the eastern boundary of thiscontinental division do they increase in humidity, as indicated by therain-fall, which rises in quantity from the low minimum of seven and ahalf cubic inches per annum in the "great basin, " and fifteen on the"great plains, " to about twenty in Dakota territory and twenty-five inMinnesota, the eastern limit of this continental climate. 

The effect of these dry winds on the humidity of the atmosphere inMinnesota is unquestioned and demonstrable by the records kept of thevarious governmental posts over the whole country. In contrast, theamount of rain falling annually in this State is shown by thesestatistics to be much below that of any lying east of the Mississippi, in the variable-climatic district; and, indeed, below that of everyother in the entire Union, excepting Nebraska, which averages about thesame amount of rain-fall, though without the same amount of dryness andelasticity, which are such notable features in the atmosphere of theformer State. 

The mean annual amount of rain falling in New England is aboutforty-three inches, nearly double that of Minnesota, exhibiting the vastdifference in the humidity of the two localities, and this, inconnection with the cold easterly winds before referred to as prevailingthere at intervals, together with the severe changes (and which, itshould not be forgotten, add to the quantity of moisture), may beascribed the primal cause of all pulmonic diseases. 

It should not be understood, however, that the _quantity_ of moistureprecipitated in any given district determines of itself the prevalenceor non-prevalence of phthisic complaints; not at all, for we see inFlorida the rain-fall is very great, and as much exceeds that of NewEngland as the latter does that of Minnesota, and consumption has nohome on the peninsula of Florida. Why it has not, inheres in this fact, that the climate does not, or rarely, experience any of those violentand chilling changes of temperature that are almost constantly going on, especially in the fall, winter, and spring months, and which do thefatal work of death. But, some one says, the northeast winds reachFlorida, and why do not the inhabitants suffer from it? For the reasonthat they are greatly changed in character, becoming mild and onlypleasantly cool in temperature, offering no shock as a rule; and reallythe northeast trades, which almost daily blow, are the invigorating andhealthful winds, sweeping away the miasma of the hot season, cooling theatmosphere, and preserving equability throughout the year. Then thereare other matters; the drainage qualities of the soil, which is so greaton that peninsula; then, too, is the distribution of the falling rain, whether it is filtered slowly through all the year, keeping thingsconstantly drowned out, or in a state of flabbiness, or whether it ismainly confined to a single season or an inconsiderable fraction of thewhole year, as in Florida. These become important inquiries, as all havea bearing on the question of the _healthfulness_ of climates. 

We have stated the rain-fall to be less in Minnesota than in any otherState in the entire Union, with one exception; and while this is true, it is still great enough for all agricultural uses, coming chiefly inthe summer months, at a time when the crops are growing; and, by themiddle of September, as a rule, the quantity has fallen off to a verylow mean, accompanied by that elastic, invigorating atmosphere for whichthe State is so justly famed. This season of charming weather continues, with little interruption, only accompanied by a gradual diminishingscale of thermometric registration, up to the advent of winter, and eventhen the moisture falling in snow is less than is generally supposed orbelieved. 

Since these matters are of vital character in determining the salubrityof the climate of this State, we append the following table, both forthe purpose of comparison with other places and definiteness concerningthis. 

This table gives a sweep of country from ocean to ocean, and exhibitsthe rain-fall of the three climatic divisions very faithfully. The greatquantity precipitated at Astoria, in Oregon, is observed, where theOCEANIC climate prevails, with the mountain barriers limiting its extentinland; while, at Port Laramie, in Wyoming Territory, is an averagerepresentation of the whole interior district possessing the dry andelastic CONTINENTAL climate, in which lies the State of Minnesota. Theother portions of the table give a more extended view of the VARIABLEclimate, covering the eastern area as previously defined. 

_Average Annual Fall of Water (rain and snow, given in inches) for aSeries of Years, as ascertained from Official Sources_. 

 ________________________________________________________________ PLACES. | WINTER. | SPRING. | SUMMER. | AUTUMN. | YEAR. ________________________________________________________________ Fort Snelling, Minn. | 1. 92 | 6. 61 | 10. 92 | 5. 98 | 25. 43 Fort Ridgely, " | 4. 11 | 7. 29 | 9. 29 | 4. 83 | 25. 52 Astoria, Oregon | --- | --- | --- | --- | 65. 00 Fort Laramie, Wy. | 1. 63 | 8. 69 | 5. 70 | 3. 96 | 19. 98 Fort Crawford, Wis. | 4. 00 | 7. 63 | 11. 87 | 7. 90 | 31. 40 Fort Gratiot, Mich. | 5. 75 | 8. 02 | 9. 99 | 8. 86 | 32. 62 New Harmony, Ind. | 12. 29 | 10. 51 | 12. 79 | 7. 26 | 42. 85 Cincinnati, Ohio | 11. 15 | 12. 14 | 13. 70 | 9. 90 | 46. 89 St. Louis, Missouri | 6. 94 | 12. 30 | 14. 14 | 8. 94 | 42. 32 Chicago, Illinois | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- Philadelphia, Penn. | 10. 76 | 9. 81 | 11. 93 | 9. 84 | 42. 34 Lambertville, N. J. | 9. 67 | 11. 25 | 12. 15 | 11. 59 | 44. 09 Fredonia, New York | 6. 82 | 7. 24 | 10. 45 | 12. 04 | 36. 55 Utica, " " | 8. 72 | 9. 26 | 12. 83 | 9. 76 | 40. 57 Albany, " " | 8. 30 | 9. 79 | 12. 31 | 10. 27 | 40. 67 Brooklyn, " " | 9. 83 | 11. 75 | 11. 43 | 10. 35 | 43. 36 Providence, R. I. | 9. 44 | 10. 45 | 9. 66 | 10. 50 | 40. 05 New Bedford, Mass. | 10. 42 | 10. 67 | 9. 18 | 10. 76 | 41. 03 Worcester, " | 11. 85 | 10. 89 | 10. 71 | 13. 51 | 46. 96 Cambridge, " | 9. 89 | 10. 85 | 11. 17 | 12. 57 | 44. 48 Hanover, N. H. | 9. 10 | 9. 90 | 11. 40 | 10. 50 | 41. 00 Portland, Maine | 10. 93 | 12. 11 | 10. 28 | 11. 93 | 45. 25 ----------------------------------------------------------------

The fall of snow has been in this statement reduced to a water basis, allowing, as is the usual custom, ten inches of snow for one of water. This calculation is not entirely reliable for all points; as, at theextreme southern snow-line, a less, while a larger amount is requiredfor a more northerly district--say about eleven inches to make one ofwater in Minnesota. This would give a depth of about two and a halffeet (snow) over the surface of the State for the entire winter months, while in Central New York--to which in mean annual temperature Minnesotaparallels--the depth of all water falling, for the same season, would(in snow) amount to full five feet, or double that of the State underconsideration. 

FOOTNOTES:

[B] For further particulars of Florida climate, see _A Winter inFlorida_, by the author of this volume, published by Messrs. Wood &Holbrook. 

CHAPTER VI. 

CLIMATE. --CONTINUED. 

The atmosphere of Minnesota. --Its dryness. --Falling snow. --Equability oftemperature. --Rain-fall for spring. --The constitutional character of theclimate. --The lakes and rivers of the State. --The northeastwinds. --Where the northeasters begin. --Their general direction andlimit. --The atmospheric basin of Iowa. --Neglect of meteorology. --Itsimportance to the country. 

The atmosphere in Minnesota in the winter is like a wine, soexhilarating is its effects on the system; while its extreme dryness andelasticity prevents any discomfort from the cold which is such a bugbearto many. The extreme cold does not last but for a few days, and shouldthe invalid choose to be domiciled during this brief interval, no greatharm would come; but we apprehend that, once there, they could not bekept in-doors in consequence of it. Why, laboring men in the lumberdistricts to the north of St. Paul perform their work without overcoats, and frequently, and indeed commonly, without a coat of any kind, simplyin their shirt-sleeves; nor need this seem incredible, as in a dry, coldclimate the body maintains a much greater amount of animal heat, and ifexercise is had, a profuse perspiration may be easily induced, and afine glow of health inspired; with the extremities warm, sensitive, andthrobbing with life. 

We once spent the winter on the island of Prince Edward, lying in theGulf of St. Lawrence. This island is quite narrow, and between one andtwo hundred miles in length; all the northerly winds having a tremendoussweep over it, and the mercury in winter creeps down for a few days to apoint where it is frozen stiff. On such occasions we found it far lessinconvenient to go out, indeed, it was not an inconvenience at all, butrather a positive pleasure; daily walks and fishing through the ice gaveconstant amusement. But when the mercury was above zero, with the windfrom any quarter, coming damp and chilling, a feeling of discomfortwould drive you to shelter. The raw, damp wind off of the surroundingseas being a natural conductor of both animal and electrical heatrapidly carries of the vital warmth of the body to the destruction oflife. In illustration of this, and as giving greater force to thepractical experience of men everywhere, we are induced to quote thestatement made by Dr. Kane, that often when the mercury was congealed, both he and his men found it not at all unpleasant, and by moderatewalking were able to keep entirely comfortable; while, at and abovezero, with a brisk wind blowing they suffered greatly. 

Let us look fairly in the face this winter temperature in Minnesota, and see how it compares with that of Central New York. The tabularstatement below is from official records. [C]

 _The Mean Winter Temperature at St. Paul and Utica_. 

 PLACES. WINTER. SPRING. SUMMER. AUTUMN. YEAR. 

 St. Paul 16° 1' 45° 6' 70° 6' 45° 9' 44° 6' Utica 24° 5' 44° 5' 66° 5' 47° 3' 45° 7'

The difference in range for the winter between the two points, is afraction over eight degrees in favor of Utica, while the mean annualrange is but one degree and a fraction higher than the yearly average atSt. Paul. There can be no doubt in our minds, that the cold of winter ismore trying to all classes at Utica than it is at St. Paul; and, that agreater amount of warm clothing is necessary to maintain an equalfeeling of comfort, at the former, than is required at the latter place, notwithstanding the mercury ranges through the three months of winter atan average of eight degrees less at St. Paul. The reason is found in thefact of a more humid atmosphere existing at Utica, and, indeed, at allpoints in the variable-climatic district, whether north or south ofeither the thermal lines or latitudes in which Minnesota rests. 

"There is no rain falling during the winter months in the State as arule, the temperature being too cold, while the snow accumulatesgradually, falling in the finest of flakes, and light as down itself. The average monthly snow-fall of the three winter months reduced towater, is but a little over half an inch, or about six inches of snowper month. A uniform line of low temperature--averaging near sixteendegrees, unbroken by thaws except under the occasional warm glare of anoonday sun--usually keeps this thin covering on the ground all winterso dry, that the deerskin moccasins, which many persons habitually wear, are scarcely moistened the season through. There are occasional upwardoscillations of temperature; and, once in a series of years, a thaw inJanuary or February; but these are rare occurrences. Rain has not fallenin winter but once in many years. The whole winter is a radiant andjoyous band of sunny days and starlight nights. This inaugurates thecarnival season when sleighing and merrymaking parties in both town andcountry form one unbroken round of pleasure. "

The advantages of this winter season is that, while a cold climate, itstill admits of the invalid taking constant daily exercise with anentire freedom from liability to "catch cold, " the system freed fromsudden shocks incident to the coquetting climate of the East; the lungsand whole body strengthened and braced by the tonic effect of thiscontinental climate. 

"It is the most normal climate on the continent. No other is soexquisitely symmetrical in its entire annual development. In no otherare the transitions of temperature and moisture so completely in harmonywith nature, so accommodated to the laws of organic life and growth. Thus the entire physical organism of Minnesota is, so to speak, emblematical of the * * * relations which attach to its geographicalposition. "

The advance of spring does not, here, bring those unending floods andwinds which drown men out and blow the universe to tatters, as is thecase in New England and other areas lying eastward. 

The months of March and April rack very low in their rain-fall incomparison with any point situated along the same thermal lines; whileMay is scarce up to the average, but yet sufficient to supply the seedsand grasses with all the moisture required. 

For the purpose of exactness the following table is annexed, giving aview of the question and illustrating it far better than any discussioncan hope to do. 

 _Mean Water Precipitation For Spring (in inches)_

 PLACES. MARCH. APRIL. MAY. TOTAL

 St. Paul 1. 30 2. 14 3. 17 6. 61 Utica 2. 75 3. 17 3. 34 9. 26 Providence 3. 26 3. 66 3. 53 10. 45

This furnishes a most striking commentary on this particular season forthe localities named, and warrants the statement that the firsttwo-thirds of it can be considered a continuation of the dry climatewhich we have now traced from about the middle of September to the firstof May, a period of seven and one-half months, in which the rain-fall isbut a third of the entire quantity precipitated throughout the wholeyear; while that of the entire year, even, is seen to be but a trifleover the half of that falling over any portion of the variable district, occupying so large a portion of the whole United States. 

It is an astonishing development, and would be scarcely credible, butfor the array of actual facts and figures, through a long series ofyears, by persons entirely unbiased, and who in the employment of thegeneral government had no other ends to serve but that of accuracy. Previous favorable reports had gained much reputation for the State, butit seemed to lack official backing, until the searching in the publishedfiles of the War Department set the topic at rest, and proved theclimate of this State out of that division to which the great valley ofthe Mississippi had been assigned, and to which the State of Minnesotahad been thought, heretofore, to belong. 

The great isothermal lines, beginning along the Atlantic coast at thefortieth, forty-first, and forty-second latitudes--with their initialpoints between Long Island and the northern boundary line ofMassachusetts--sweep westward with an upward tendency, strikingMinnesota at the forty-fifth parallel (St. Paul), when a sharp curve tothe north distinguishes their course, thence bearing away graduallywestward along the valleys of the Red and Saskatchawan Rivers to thePacific Ocean. 

If there are any doubts by our readers as to the continental characterof the climate of Minnesota, let them answer how it is that this sharpcurve of the thermal line happens in its westward course just on thefrontier of that State. And likewise the reason of the arid climateprevailing for nearly three-fourths of the year, so unlike that for athousand miles eastward or southward of it. 

Two-thirds of the entire fall of water for the year (whether snow orrain) descends during the summer, with the addition of a part of May andSeptember. The quantity is a trifle over that in parts of Michigan, while much less than the average of all points east or south. Withregard to that of Central New York at Utica, a type of the eastern area, and previously referred to--it is two inches less. Thus the summer, while not a dry one, fortunately, is below the mean of the variabledistrict. 

It would be a wrong conclusion should any one decide that the summer waslacking in those qualities of atmosphere which so happily characterizesother portions of the year. True, there is a diminution of aridity, butno disappearance, and the effect on the invalid is beneficial anddecided. 

The humidity of the atmosphere is not always determined by therain-fall. There may be considerable water precipitated during a singleseason, and the air of the locality be, before and after the rains, dryand elastic, as the case at Santa Fé, in New Mexico, and at other pointswhich might be mentioned. Among these is that of Minnesota. Itsgeographical position and physical structure is such as to insure theseelements in large measure, even for the climate of her summers. 

If the quantity of rain and snow falling at all seasons in a givendistrict depended on itself for the supply, then the amount of waterprecipitated would, were the winds out of consideration, be determinedby the amount of lake, river, and ocean surface within its ownboundaries. In this event Minnesota would among the States occupy thevery highest place on the scale, --with, perhaps, a singleexception, --since the whole face of the commonwealth is dotted all overwith lakes, sliced with rivers, and skirted in addition by a greatinland sea. 

To many who travel over the State it seems a marvel that the atmosphereshould have any elasticity or any tonic properties. 

It is, however, known that countries are usually dependent, for thebeneficent rains falling over them, on oceans quite remote, where thesun, in its tropical splendor and power, lifts high in air immensevolumes of water in a state of evaporation, which, borne on the "wingsof the wind, " speeds rapidly away to supply the drying rivers andfountains of the globe. This aerial pathway supplies the link in thegreat circuit by which all the waters of all the oceans pass over ourheads, returning again under our feet to their natural home. 

Of course the water area of all sections of the temperate latitudescontribute something to the precipitation; yet it is but a fractionalpart of the whole, and quite inconsiderable. Still its influence issufficient to make it observable near large seas like our own inlandsystem, where the quantity falling is, in the cooler portions of theyear, increased in consequence of the then higher temperature of thewater of the lakes over that of the adjacent land districts. In summer, the only effect is to increase the humidity of the atmosphere andfrequency of rains, without adding to the quantity. This phenomenon isseen on the shores of all the lakes, and especially in the Lake Superiorregion. But this influence does not extend westward to exceed thedistance of, we should say, fifty miles, and does not consequentlyeffect to any important degree the climate of Minnesota, except theoutlying rim described. The small lakes and rivers do not contributemuch to the precipitation of rain within the State boundaries. They mayadd slightly to that of the lake district to the eastward, whither theirmoisture is borne by the southwesterly and westerly currents. They doundoubtedly have an influence on the temperature, modifying that of thewinter very much, and in this respect are valuable as well as beautiful. 

The southerly winds, and those having a slight westerly tendency, prevailing a portion of the summer, do not bring hither much ofmoisture, though at their outset they are heavily ladened with it, as itis borne across the Gulf, in a southwesterly direction, to the openvalley of the Mississippi, where, coming in contact with the edge of thegreat westerly winds, and broken probably somewhat by the elevateddistrict of Mexico and by the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, whichextend to the northern boundaries of Texas, this humid wind drives, unresisted by any vertical obstruction, up the valley of the "GreatRiver, " shedding on either hand its waters profusely; but their forceand character, in this long march, become spent, and they add only theirproportionate amount of rain to the Minnesota annual fall, while theintermediate districts are chiefly dependent on them. 

The northeast winds of spring and autumn, which sweep at times halfacross the continent, usually begin at a low point along the Atlanticcoast--driving sometimes furiously, and always persistently, itshurried, chilling current inland, --is baffled by this southwesterlycurrent of the Gulf, and always, sooner or later, turned, as it moves upthe coast and interior by the overpowering and underlying continentalwinds which drive it back, bringing these northeasterly storms to us, nearly always from a southwest quarter. We enlarge upon this class ofrain-storms for the purpose of showing, though imperfectly, theirnon-prevalence over the State of Minnesota. This is important if it canbe, even but partially, established; since it is this particular classof storms and winds, last referred to, that are to be so much avoidedand to which can be traced the initial point of most pulmonic troubles. 

These storms from the northeast may begin in Texas, their course beingnorth and eastward; as that by the time they reach so northerly a pointas New York, their westward limit may not exceed St. Louis; and, infurther illustration, when Quebec feels the force of the storm, Chicagois at its extreme western limit. This supposed course will convey thegeneral idea of the track of a northeaster when it envelops the wholevariable-climatic district of the Union. There is a singular eddy knownto all climatologists to exist in Iowa, where the annual precipitationof water is great, exceeding that of all the surrounding States. Therehas been no positive theory advanced, to our knowledge, explaining thiscircumstance, but the mystery is solved, to our minds, quite clearly. This eddy makes the key-point of contact of the humid Gulf winds withthe cool winds of the westerly current, and likewise being thenorthwestern terminal point of the course of the great northeasters, the contact being the cause of the excess in precipitation. We werefortunate, while visiting last autumn this special wet district of Iowa, to experience one of these triangular storms. We were at Dubuque whilethe wind was blowing gently from the south-southwest, with lowscattering clouds, and before night it began to thicken and rain, while, in the night, the wind shifted to the east, blowing the rain brisklybefore it. This continued a part of the following forenoon, when, takingthe train west to Rockford, northwest of Dubuque, we reached nearly theedge of the easterly storm, which had been here simply a drizzling rain. The next day the rain had ceased, the wind had shifted to the northwest, rapidly drying the earth, and the clouds, both of the upper and lowerstrata, were all driving hurriedly east-southeast. We left the followingday for Fort Dodge and Sioux City. At the former place they had had aslight shower only, with shifting winds; while at Sioux City not aparticle of rain had fallen, the roads being not only dry but quitedusty. This was not a merely local storm, but was the only greateasterly one covering any extent of territory and time, answering to theequinoctial, which visited the United States during last autumn. 

This special limit of storms, this eddy of the winds in Iowa, deviatesmore or less in the district assigned to it, and, at times, some ofthese northeasters undoubtedly blow over Minnesota, but they are few, and much modified in kind and character. The elevation of the State overother portions of the great valley south of it adds something probablyin determining the outline of the Iowa basin of precipitation. 

The range of the thermometer in the hot season is, in Minnesota, abovethat of places occupying the same lines of latitude; this is caused, inpart, by the arid continental winds and by a less cloud-obstructedsunshine, but the heat is not correspondingly oppressive with that ofother localities, since the atmosphere is not as humid. The evaporationunder this heat of summer rises out of the immediate region of thesurface, and is borne away on the prevailing winds to the lake districtand eastward. It is unfortunate that there have been no tests of ahygrometic character maintained through any great period, wherebyreliable data could be adduced, since it would have seemed as easy forthe government to have undertaken that branch of meteorology as anyother, it only requiring a more careful and accurate hand than do theother observations. The delicacy of these experiments have proved toowearisome for private parties, and there is over the whole country alack of this scientific evidence. The last report of one of the cabinetministers at Washington calls attention to the need, and benefitarising from reliable testimony, under this head, and asks anappropriation, which it is hoped may be granted, in the interests ofboth health, agriculture, and science generally. 

The question of climatic treatment and cure for certain ills isreceiving yearly increased attention, and this will continue until aspecific climate is found for many of the most destructive diseasesafflicting the race. 

FOOTNOTES:

[C] The various tables are chiefly from Blodgett's _Climatology_, towhich we are otherwise much indebted. 

CHAPTER VII. 

CONSUMPTION. 

Consumption mapped out. --The east winds. --Comparativestatistics. --Number of original cases of consumption inMinnesota. --Consumption can be cured. --Rev. Jeremiah Day. --Fresh air thebest medicine. --The benefit of a dry atmosphere. --Equability oftemperature. --The power of the mind over disease. --Kinds ofconsumption. --Danger in delays. 

To all who are afflicted or threatened with pulmonic troubles theclimate of Minnesota becomes, in view of its reputed freedom from thisscourge, an interesting subject of inquiry. 

For a long time it was maintained that this disease was not affected byclimate, but that it was the child of other causes, and that its curewas impossible; and dread of its visitation became as great as at theapproach of any of the great maladies afflicting mankind. 

Later and wiser investigation has proved it to be so much controlled byclimate that it may be practically located on a chart of the globe, ifall the climatic conditions are fully known. Of course, it is notabsolutely confined to any given limit, more than is the yellow fever, which sometimes makes its appearance as high as the forty-second degreeof latitude, while its actual home, so to speak, is, on this continent, below the thirty-fifth parallel. 

In a medical chart of this country, which we had occasion to examinemany years since, the district where consumption attained its maximumrange was outlined along the coast, beginning with the State of Maine, having a semi-circular sweep to Fortress Monroe in Virginia, with aninland limit varying from one to two hundred miles. This is well known, now, to all the medical profession, to be the territory where _phthisispulmonalis_ has greatest sweep, and this is conceded to be, for the mostpart, caused by the marked peculiarities of climate existing over allthis area. These peculiarities have, in some of the immediatelypreceding chapters, been duly though briefly set forth, and we nowproceed to the consideration of the sanitary value of the Minnesota airand its effects on lung diseases as experienced by sufferers andobserved by others, together with some of its leading characteristics. 

If it has been sufficiently shown that the temperature of the districtin which consumption prevails most is a highly variable one, passingalmost daily from a low to a high point in the thermometric scale, withthe prevailing winds to be those in which east largely enters; and thatthese winds come laden with a cold moisture, borne from off the surfaceof the North Atlantic, which, when exposed to their sweep, chill theperson and pave the way to colds, catarrhs, rheumatism, pneumonia, and ascore of other ills scarcely less harassing and destructive, and all ofwhich give rise to the "great destroyer, " as it has been sometimescalled. If, as we have said, these points have been proved to be theleading ear-marks of this special locality, what, we may ask, are thecharacteristics, briefly stated, of the climate of the State, which isknown to be comparatively free from, and, in very many instances, tohave wrought for the sufferer a complete restoration of health andstrength? They have been seen to be almost the exact antipodes of thatof the consumptive district before named. Instead of the northeast wind, there is the northwest, or at least the prevailing winds from some pointinto which _west_ enters; bringing, in place of the cold, humidatmosphere of the North Atlantic, the dry continental winds from theinterior, which, in conjunction with the high altitude and peculiargeographical position of the State, give, instead of the extremevariable temperature, an equable and a relatively dry atmosphere, havinga bracing, tonic effect on the whole man, affording opportunity forunrestrained exercise in the open air, causing good digestion to wait onappetite, and with these the advent of fresh wholesome blood, which is_the_ physician to heal the diseased portions of the lungs, and restorehealthful action to all of the inflamed parts. 

In confirmation of the high value of this State as a residence forinvalids of the class to which special reference is made, we extractfrom the last census report the following statistics, showing theaverage number of deaths from consumption in the following States to be

 One in 254 in Massachusetts, One in 473 in New York, One in 757 in Virginia, One in 1139 in Minnesota. 

This speaks for the climate more of praise than it is possible for anyscientific speculation to do, since it is the practical and final testas well as the most satisfactory. 

Undoubtedly, the relative disproportion would be very much greater ifthe number of deaths of those who go from other States, after it is toolate for them to receive any benefit, could be eliminated from theactual number that die from among the inhabitants themselves. Thequestion may arise right here among some of the more skeptical, how itis that any of the population are afflicted with this disease, if theclimate is such an enemy to it? We answer--that full half of the deathsreported from phthisis are of those who come too late--as beforestated--and a fourth of the whole number we know to be from among thosewho are not natives, but yet are of the _regular_ inhabitants, whoselives have been prolonged here, and who from improper exposure orneglect of wholesome rules (which they at first rigidly followed, butgrowing better, neglected to maintain), have paid the penalty. Not overone-third of the entire list of inhabitants of the State, up to thepresent time, are natives; hence deaths from consumption among theremaining two-thirds cannot be attributed, by any fair inference, to thedirect influence of the climate. This still leaves a fourth of the wholenumber of deaths from this scourge to fall on those who "are to themanner born. " This is a very trifling percentage, and might be waived asnot being a fraction sufficiently important to merit much attention; butwe may frankly admit that these cases appear here, and are the result ofa want of a _perfect_ equability in the climate, and to this extent itmust be held answerable. We might, however, conclude that even thisfinal fraction could be accounted for in the hereditary taint, but weforbear, as we likewise do to claim entire exemption here from thiscomplaint. No climate, perhaps, in any portion of the whole habitableearth, could be found to be utterly exempt. Then, too, consumption is togeneral debility a natural sequence, almost as much as flame is topowder when exploded; and as there are likely in all climates, howeverfavorable, to be found worn-out and exhausted humanity, why, there mustbe expected untimely deaths culminating in this disease. 

The curability of consumption is now a settled question. Every medicalstudent has either seen for himself or been assured by his professorthat post mortem examinations have disclosed this truth beyond allcavil. Numerous cases might be cited where, at an early period in life, tubercles had formed, and by-and-by, probably in consequence of a changein the habits of life, these disappeared, leaving naught but oldcicatrices as evidence of their previous diseased condition. Thesetubercular deposits must have disposed of themselves in one of threeways: _first_, they might soften down and be expectorated; _second_, they might soften and be absorbed; or, _thirdly_, they might becomecalcined and remain as inert foreign material. In many cases all theseprocesses might unite in the removal, and a long life follow, as is wellknown in some instances to be true. 

An eminent instance in point occurs to us as we write, and which isworthy of citation in these pages. The lamented Rev. Jeremiah Day, oncePresident of Yale College, when a young man, had "consumption, " and wasexpected to die, but by a rigid observance of the laws of health, andself-imposition of stated exercise of a vigorous nature in the open air, he, by these means and without much of travel, restored his debilitatedframe and healed the diseased lungs, and died at the rare age ofninety-five, having lived a life of uncommon usefulness and activity. Hecould not have accomplished his restoration without many and dailysacrifices compared with the lot of his fellow-men. A post mortem showedplainly that both apices of the lungs had been diseased. 

There are many cases, of which no knowledge exists outside of a smallcircle, of restored health, though with impaired power of respirationand consequent endurance of great hardships, which latter, of course, must be entirely avoided by those thus situated. There is, too, evengreater liability to a fresh attack than with persons who have neverbeen afflicted, but the vigilance necessary to maintain health fortifiesagainst its repetition. 

One of the essentials in effecting a cure is FRESH AIR; and if this canbe had in such form as to give more of oxygen--the vital element--thanis usually found, the healing processes must be accelerated, beyonddoubt. The family physician will tell you this. Now, under whatcircumstances is a larger amount of oxygen found? What climate affordsmost, all other things being equal? It certainly is not a _hot_ climate, nor a variable moist one such as prevails all over the consumptivedistrict which we have indicated at the beginning of this chapter. It isfound in a cool, dry climate, and this condition is had in Minnesotawith greater correlative advantages than in any other section of theUnion known up to this time. The atmosphere is composed of two gases, oxygen and nitrogen, and in every one hundred parts of common air thereare about seventy-five parts of nitrogen and twenty-five of oxygen, subject to expansion from heat and of contraction from cold. Thisaccounts in part for the general lassitude felt in a warm atmosphere, while a corresponding degree of vigor obtains in a cold one. Thecondensation, the result of a cool temperature, gives to the lungs amuch larger amount of oxygen at a single inspiration, and, of course, for the day the difference is truly wonderful. The blood is borne byeach pulsation of the heart to the air-cells of the lungs forvitalization by means of the oxygen inhaled--the only portion of the airused by the lungs--giving it a constantly renewing power to energize thewhole man. If a cold climate is attended with great humidity, or raw, chilling winds, the object is defeated and the diseased memberaggravated, as would also be the case even if the climate was not acold, raw one, but was a _variable_ cold one; as then the sudden changeswould induce colds, pneumonia, and all the train of ills which terminatein this dire calamity we are so anxious to avoid. 

_Equability_ and _dryness_ are the essentials of a climate in whichconsumptives are to receive new or lengthened leases of life. 

The following testimony is of such a high value that no apology need beoffered for its introduction here. It is, in the first case, from onewho was sick but is now well, and, in the other, from a party whoseobservation and character give weight to opinions. 

The able and celebrated divine, the Rev. Horace Bushnell, D. D. , ofHartford, Conn. , in a letter to the _Independent_, says:--

"I went to Minnesota early in July, and remained there till the latterpart of the May following. I had spent a winter in Cuba without benefit. I had spent also nearly a year in California, making a gain in the dryseason and a partial loss in the wet season; returning, however, sufficiently improved to resume my labors. Breaking down again from thisonly partial recovery, I made the experiment now of Minnesota; andsubmitting myself, on returning, to a very rigid examination by aphysician who did not know at all what verdict had been passed by otherphysicians before, he said, in accordance with their opinions, 'You havehad a difficulty in your right lung, but it is healed. ' I had suspectedfrom my symptoms that it might be so, and the fact appears to beconfirmed by the further fact, that I have been slowly, thoughregularly, gaining all summer. 

"This improvement, or partial recovery, I attribute to the climate ofMinnesota. But not to this alone, other things have concurred. 

"First, I had a naturally firm, enduring constitution, which had onlygiven way under excessive burdens of labor, and had no vestige ofhereditary disease upon it. 

"Secondly, I had all my burdens thrown off, and a state of complete, uncaring rest. 

"Thirdly, I was in such vigor as to be out in the open air, on horsebackand otherwise, a good part of the time. It does not follow, by anymeans, that one who is dying of hereditary consumption, or one who istoo far gone to have any powers of endurance, or spring of recuperativeenergy left, will be recovered in the same way. A great many go there todie, and some to be partially recovered and then die; for I knew twoyoung men, so far recovered as to think themselves well, or nearly so, who by over-violent exertion brought on a recurrence of bleeding, anddied. * * * The general opinion seemed to be that the result wasattributable, in part, to the over tonic property of the atmosphere. AndI have known of very many remarkable cases of recovery there which hadseemed to be hopeless. One, of a gentleman who was carried there on alitter, and became a hearty, robust man. Another, who told me that hecoughed up bits of his lungs of the size of a walnut, was there seven oreight months after, a perfectly sound-looking, well-set man, with nocough at all. I fell in with somebody every few days who had come thereand been restored; and with multitudes of others, whose disease had beenarrested so as to allow the prosecution of business, and whose lease oflife, as they had no doubt, was much lengthened by their migration tothat region of the country. Of course it will be understood that a greatmany are sadly disappointed in going thither. * * *

"The peculiar benefit of the climate appears to be its dryness. There ismuch rain in the summer months, as elsewhere, but it comes moregenerally in the night, and the days that follow brighten out in afresh, tonic brilliancy, as dry, almost, as before. The winter climateis intensely cold, and yet so dry and clear and still, for the mostpart, as to create no very great degree of suffering. One who isproperly dressed, finds the climate much more agreeable than theamphibious, half-fluid, half-solid, sloppy, gravelike chill of the East. The snows are light--a kind of snow-dew, that makes about an inch, orsometimes three, in a night. Real snowstorms are rare; there was nonethe winter I spent there. A little more snow, to make better sleighing, would have been an improvement. As to rain in winter it is almostunknown. There was not a drop of it the season I was there, from thelatter part of October to the middle, or about the middle, of March, except a slight drizzle on Thanksgiving Day. And there was not meltingsnow enough, for more than eight or ten days, to wet a deerskinmoccasin, which many of the gentlemen wear all winter. "

The Rev. H. A. Boardman, D. D. , of Philadelphia, writes under date ofOctober, 1868, to a public journal, the following: "* * * The questionis often asked, 'how far is St. Paul to be recommended as a resort forinvalids?' If one may judge from indications on the spot, invalidsthemselves have settled this question. I have never visited a townwhere one encounters so many persons that bear the impress of delicatehealth, present or past. In the stores and shops, in the street and bythe fireside, it is an every-day experience to meet with residents whocame to Minnesota, one, two, five, or ten years ago, for their health, and having regained, decided to remain. I have talked with some who, having recovered, went away twice over, and then made up their mindsthat to live at all they must live here. * * * * *"

The statements of these observing and reflecting men are of the firstimportance, and require no scientific deductions to prove the benefitcertain classes of consumptives may receive by a residence in Minnesota;but if it is found that whatever of data in meteorology there is bearingon the climate of this State, confirms the universal public judgment, this then becomes a matter of most agreeable interest. 

It seems that the _dryness_ and _equability_ are the importantfeatures, as before observed. A gentleman, given somewhat toinvestigation, made the statement to us, while in St. Paul, that he hadcarefully watched the ice-pitcher on his table during the summers, andthat it was rare that any moisture accumulated upon the outside of thesame, as is commonly the case elsewhere. This is itself a mostinteresting scientific fact, and completely demonstrates the greatdryness of the atmosphere during even the wet season of the year, as wehave found the rain-fall in summer to be about two-thirds of the wholeannual precipitation. Physicians have not generally thought that the_summer_ atmosphere of this State was any improvement upon that of otherlocalities of like altitude, judging from the rain-fall, which, being upto the average of this latitude elsewhere, left as much of moisture, they have concluded, floating near the surface as at other points, andthey are led to send patients into less dry districts, or even, as issometimes the case, to the sea-shore. Graver mistakes could not welloccur than these, and it is to be ascribed to the little definiteknowledge we as a people have on medico-meteorology. Except fordebilitated constitutions, which, it is true, precede many cases ofconsumption, the sea-shore is to be avoided, especially in everyinstance of diseased lungs. Doubtless, the habit of advising a trip tothe sea-side for the relief and cure of whooping-cough in children hasled in great part to this error. The trip to the mountains, if alocation is well selected, is likely to be, and usually is, in summer areal benefit. But then, the physician should know something of thereputation of the particular locality to which he sends his patient. Toillustrate:--suppose a patient afflicted with phthisis is sent to theWhite Mountains, and in company or alone, he reaches that region, and wewill assume that he settles down at the "Profile House, " or at anyportion of the hills on their eastern slope, or immediate vicinity, andthe result is almost certain to be unfavorable, since constant showersand violent changes of temperature are transpiring throughout the entiresummer. If, however, a moderate elevation, away from the immediateinfluence of the mountains, out of the range of the frequent showers, with a southwest exposure of landscape, where the cool westerly windshave play, decided advantage will come to the sufferer. It would notlikely be at once perceptible, but a gradual toning up of the systemmight be looked for, with an improvement of the general health. Indeed, any change to either the sick or overworked, for that matter, who areable to withstand the fatigue of a journey, is of benefit, even if theclimate and location are not improved, as it is well known that a changeof scene is a relief and recreation to the mind, which often plays animportant part in the recovery of invalids. We all remember the storyof the prisoner who had been condemned to suffer death, and at theappointed hour was led blindfolded to the dissecting hall, where wereassembled the physicians who were to conduct the experiment. Being dulydisrobed and placed, he was informed that an artery was to be opened, and left to bleed till life expired. An incision in the flesh at theback of the neck was made, as a mere feint, and warm water allowed atthe same moment to trickle slowly down his shoulder and back, when, in abrief time, spasms set in, and death ultimately followed. 

This gives a clear view of the will power inhering in the mental man, and its wonderful influence on the body. Sudden news of misfortune, orgreat attacks of fear, have produced instant prostration and bodilysuffering, and these cases occur so frequent that all within the rangeof an ordinary life are familiar with them. 

An English author speaks of the potent power of the mind over the body, and declares that the act of coughing can be, very often, whollyrestrained by mere force of will. This should not be lost sight of byany who are attacked with colds or bronchial troubles, or even in theincipient stages of lung difficulties; as thereby they may lessen theinflammation, and defer the progress of the disease. We have seenpeople, who, having some slight irritation in the larynx, have, insteadof smothering the reflex action, vigorously scraped their throats, andcoughed with a persistence entirely unwise, inducing inflammation, fromwhich they might date, perhaps, their subsequent bronchial troubles. Itis not in coughs alone that the will exerts a mastery. In a case offever, by which an elder brother was brought very low, scarce expectedby either his friends or physician to survive, a neighbor calling, wasallowed to enter the sick-room. The patient was too ill to take muchnotice of the visitor, and the visitor likely felt that what he mightsay would not effect the result, and, being rough in manners and coarseof speech, bawled out, in a loud tone, that "he wouldn't give much forhis (the patient's) chances, " and stalked out of the room. Happening tobe present, and fearing the effect of this ill-bred visitor's remark, wedrew near the bedside to hear the prostrate invalid whisper out that hewas determined to live, if only to spite the old fellow. His recoveryseemed to date from that event, and in a few weeks he was in possessionof good health. 

Consumption is divided into several classes; the more common forms arethe inflammatory, the hereditary, the dyspeptic, and the catarrhal. There are others, but these suffice for purposes of brief mention of theleading characteristics of all cases. 

The inflammatory is often the more difficult of management than that ofthe others, as its attack is violent and prostrating to such a degree asto render the usual aids of exercise and diet out of the question, forthe most part. Long journeys, for any purpose, are to be avoided, thoughremovals from the immediate sea-coast, to some dry, sandy section in theinterior, within a hundred miles or so, is advisable. The robust andstrong are equally subject to this class of consumption. Contracting aviolent cold, such as might be taken when in a state of excitement andgreat perspiration in a ball-room or at a fire, and without sufficientprotection pass out into the chilling air, inflammation of the lungsimmediately takes place, and the chances are great of either a fataltermination of life or a shattered constitution. 

The hereditary class are more frequent, and, by proper treatment ofthemselves, many may attain to a comparatively long life, and be able todo much of valuable service, if their employment takes them out in theopen air. Of course many, inheriting this disease and having enfeebledconstitutions, cannot be saved, let what will be done, and it isprobably a wise provision that they are not. Consumptives should becareful to remember their great responsibility in forming allianceswhereby this terrible evil is perpetuated. There should be some lawenacted prohibiting the marriage of confirmed cases of scrofula, consumption, and insanity, even though complete recovery be had, asfrequently happens in these difficulties. 

The dyspeptic cases are numerous, and arise usually from generaldebility, caused by insufficient or unwholesome diet, close apartments, a too sedentary life, long depression of spirits, coupled with, perhaps, uncleanliness and irregularities, all contributing to this result. Thesecan all be relieved, and many fully restored, if taken in season, by acounter course of living. 

The catarrhal forms of consumption are more difficult to treat, and, innumberless instances, baffle all medical skill, and that is verytrifling, which can be applied directly to the seat of trouble. Repeated"colds in the head, " taken and neglected, become by-and-by confirmed, and pass from the rank of common colds to that of chronic catarrh. Indeed, catarrh is no more or less than a chronic cold in the head; butafter the lapse of time, and this may vary in different persons, fromone to a score or more of years, it assumes a more virulent character, involving, perhaps, the whole of the breathing apparatus. Itsencroachments are insidious, and often are lightly considered, but thegeneral tendency of all cases of catarrhal affections is to the lungs. Sometimes this approach is by a sudden leap, in consequence, probably, of a fresh stock of "cold, " from the mucous membranes of the nasalorgans to the lungs, and we have in such cases known one of the mosteminent physicians of the country to declare, when examinations weremade at this juncture, that "catarrh had nothing to do with it. " Thisbut illustrates the fallibility of men, and we should never be surprisedwhen confronted with any fresh testimony tending to confirm this truth. 

The dry catarrh, while more aggravating, is less fatal, and life is moresecure, and not as offensive either to friends or themselves, whileother classes of this disease are offensive and more malignant. It isvery obstinate, and yields to no treatment of a specific kind that weknow of. The same general course should be pursued, however, as withdyspeptic consumptives. The entire medical fraternity are at theirabsolute wits' ends, so far as any specific is concerned, for thisalmost universal disease. We say universal, since it is within ourknowledge to be largely true, though, while in a mild form, little heedis given it, and generally the party would deny its presence, even whilemore than half conscious that it might exist. In addition to a generousdiet, fresh air, and other matters, of which we shall speak more indetail as we proceed, a nasal _douche_ before retiring, of tepid water, with salt enough added to make a weak brine, as half a teaspoonful to atumbler, will be in most instances of some benefit. Inhalation and nasalbaths must be the specific means of reaching and alleviating thisdisease. 

Thousands annually die of consumption springing out of this malady. Time, it would seem, must discover to the race some more efficientremedy than is now known. 

Cold, humid, and variable climates give rise to and feed this disease, and a change to an equable, warm, or a cool and dry temperature, isessential. 

Where heart disease is complicated with consumption, a warm, dry climateis best; and in some cases, too, as where bronchitis exists in greatdisproportion to the amount of tubercular deposit and inflammation ofthe lungs, the climate of Florida during the winter would be more blandand agreeable than that of Minnesota, but each individual varies so muchin constitutional character, that no positive rule can be laid down bywhich any one case can be judged. This comes within the province of thefamily physician. 

We cannot too strongly urge upon the medical faculty, as well as thefriends of the afflicted of whom we have written, that delays aredangerous. Early action on the first manifestations of lung troubles andtendencies is necessary if lives are to be saved. It is hard to turnfrom the beaten path and enter new, even when larger health is hoped forand needed, yet that should be resolutely done, though it were farbetter the confining and unhealthful course had not been originallyentered upon. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION. 

Prevention better than cure. --Local causes of disease. --Our schoolsystem objectionable. --Dr. Bowditch's opinion. --Location of ourhomes important. --Damp soils prolific of lung troubles. --Badventilation. --Value of sunshine. --City girls and city life. --Fashionablesociety. --Tight lacing fatal to sound health. --Modern living. --The ironhand of fashion. 

The proverb that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, " hasbeen almost totally ignored in its relation to the laws which governhealth. It seems quite as essential, however, to examine into the causeof disease as it is to seek for remedies which, in many instances, canwork but a temporary cure, so long as the cause is overlooked. One isbut the sequence of the other; and, to remove the malady, or prevent itsrecurrence, they have but to remove the cause. This is freely admittedto be the right principle, yet, is it always the course pursued? Do notpeople mislead themselves much, and, instead of going to the root ofdifficulty, remain content with what must prove but a temporaryrestoration?

How often, for example, does the physician, when called to the patientsuffering from a cold, inquire to see the shoes or boots of the invalid?Never; the thing is unheard of. Their questions in the direction ofcauses would not reach half way to the real goal which should be madethe point of investigation. Not that the insufficient shoes or boots aregoing to have any part in the restoration of the invalid; but it may beshown, on examination, that they were the real cause of trouble, and, bya change, prevent in the future a similar attack, from that source atleast. The same is true of half the diseases afflicting mankind; theirprevention may be assured, to a great extent, by attention to thedictates of hygienic laws, which are no more or less than the laws ofmoderation and common sense, and not, as many suppose, the law ofobligation to eat stale bread, or "cold huckleberry-pudding, " all thebalance of their lives, though this diet might be beneficial ifghost-seeing and spirit-rapping was determined upon. 

Very many cases of fevers can be directly traced to some local cause, which should receive as much attention from the physician as does thepatient, and either the one or the other promptly removed. Indeed, people must learn for themselves to investigate the laws regulatinghealth, and thus be able, without the aid of any professional, to decideintelligently all of the more obvious questions. 

It does, in this connection, seem that there is great want of judgmenton the part of those having the direction of our public schools, in thatthere is so trifling attention given both the study and observance ofthe laws which control our existence. What is education without a soundbody? what is life to the creature of broken health? and what is therewhich is more valuable and priceless to us? The answer is plain to all, and yet the whole advancing generation of boys and girls, beyond a mereinkling in physiology, a possible recollection of the number of bones inthe human frame, and that common air is composed of two principal gases, they know of hygienic law practically nothing. Worthy pupils ofincompetent pedagogues, who, not being required by the public toproperly inform themselves with a full knowledge of these importantstudies, are perhaps in some measure excused for their shortcomings. Instead of the inculcation of these useful and more vital lessons oflife, they are required to fritter away time and health over a Frenchgrammar, or other equally foolish study, which cannot, in a vastmajority of cases, be of the least service to them. They had much betterbe at home making mud-pies (which, by the way, are about the only onesthat ever ought to be made), or learning to bake wholesome bread, oreven chasing butterflies in summer through the green fields, or bravingthe cold of winter by joining in some of the healthful out-of-doorsports. It would, perhaps, be proper enough for such as proposed to fitthemselves for teachers, or who expected to spend their lives abroad, orwho, from pure love of a scholastic life, --with the means to followtheir inclinations, and necessary leisure at command, --thought to devotetheirs to its fullest enjoyment and bent. These form the exceptions; butfor all to essay the task, regardless of natural inclination and of thetrue relation which life bears to their individual cases, is simplyabsurd, and can only be accounted for in this wise, that _fashion_ seemsto demand it, as it does many other outrageous requirements, to some ofwhich, as they concern health, we shall have occasion to refer as weproceed. Life is too short, at longest, and is filled with too practicalrequirements, for the most of mankind to try to master or evenfamiliarize themselves with all the sciences of which the world hasknowledge. Even the Humboldts of the race, favored with long life, goodhealth, and devotedness, declare they have attained to but little morethan the alphabet of knowledge, and they--few in number--haveexperienced few of those restrictions which hedge about the lives ofmost people. All cannot be great linguists any more than all can begreat inventors, and it were just as valuable and reasonable anexpenditure of time to teach a child to be one as the other. Of whatbenefit is a smattering of foreign language, except to make peopleridiculous? and that class is already sufficiently large; far betterthat they learned to speak and spell their mother tongue with acommendable degree of accuracy, or that they learn to train futurefamilies in consonance with the laws of nature, and save to health thetime spent in poorly-ventilated rooms, where, under the pressure of themodern school system, everything valuable and practical seems sacrificedto the ephemeral and non-essential. We do not underrate the good ourschools accomplish, not at all; on the other hand, we feel a just pridein the liberality of the country, and realize that in them lies the onlysecurity for a Republican form of government, and, indeed, our opinionsgo further in this direction than that of most persons, for we wouldmake it obligatory on the part of parents to school their children to acertain degree, and that no one should be eligible to vote who could notread and write in the common language of the country. 

It is the administration of the school system which we deprecate. Hearwhat the famous Dr. Bowditch of Boston says upon this question, namely:--"* * * Not only does our school system, in its practicaloperation, entirely ignore the necessity for physical culture, but it attimes goes farther, and actually, as we believe, becomes the slayer ofour people. * * * We appeal to every physician of ten or twenty years'practice, and feel sure that in reviewing his cases of consumption hewill find not a few of them in which he will trace to _overwork_ in ourschools the first springs of the malady. 

"The result of all this school _training_ is as certain as the day. Every child who goes through these modern processes must inevitablysuffer, but not all alike. Some have one complaint, some another, andsome, doubtless, finally escape unharmed. At times they only grow paleand thin under the process. But not a few go through to the exhibition, and, after working harder than ever for the two or three last weeks ofthe term, they gain the much-coveted prize only to break wholly downwhen it is taken. The stimulus of desire for success is gone. That hassustained them up to the last moment. Success having been accomplished, the victim finds, too late, that what he has been striving for isnothing, now that it is won, compared with the vitality lost and theseeds of disease sown. "

It is true that there are a very few schools in the country wherephysical culture receives, in connection with other duties, its dueshare of attention. We know, personally, of but one--the Howland Ladies'Seminary, at Union Springs, New York, and we understand, on theauthority quoted above, that the Latin and High Schools of Boston are ofthis class. Our colleges, however, as a rule, seem as bad as theschools. Half the students who complete their course come out broken inhealth, and those who do not are about the toughest "horned cattle, " asHorace Greeley says, that can be found. 

Another important item involving the economy of life is the

LOCATION OF OUR HOMES, which has received little or no consideration, judging from what one mayobserve who chooses to look about them. Circumstances entirely beyondthe control of most people conspire to locate for them their places ofabode, and when originally selected no regard was paid to sanitary laws, and the result many times has been the forfeiture of precious lives as apenalty. 

Not till a very recent period has the character of the soil figured toso great an extent as is now conceded. It has been proved by statistics, both in New England and the mother country, that a heavy, wet soil isprolific of colds and consumption; while, on a warm, dry soil the latterdisease is little found. If we stop to consider what has been written inthe previous chapters on climate, and that it was stated that a cold, humid atmosphere, from whatever cause, coupled with variabletemperature, was the chief occasion of consumption, we can the moreeasily understand why a wet soil would tend to produce this disease. Whether the dampness arises from excessive shade, or is inherent in thesoil, which may be so situated as to receive the drainage water of moreelevated surfaces contiguous, is not material, so that it is theprevailing condition, thereby constantly exhaling cold vapors, which sowthe seeds of death in many an unsuspecting household. 

We cannot urge the importance of a right location better than to againquote from Dr. Bowditch what he once wrote with regard to the residenceof two brothers whose healths were equally good, as was that of theirwives, but one chose a home upon a dry, sandy soil, while the othersettled upon a wet, cold plain--not remote from each other. "Largefamilies were born under both roofs. Not one of the children born in thelatter homestead escaped, whereas the other family remained healthy; andwhen, at the suggestion of a medical friend, who knew all the facts, * ** we visited the place for the purpose of thoroughly investigating them. * * * These two houses had nothing about them peculiarly noticeable bythe passing stranger. They were situated in the same township, andwithin a very short distance one from the other, and yet scarcely anyone in the village with whom we spoke on the subject agreed with us inour opinion that it was location alone, or chiefly that, which gave lifeor death to the inmates of the two homes. "

We suppose thousands must continue to pay the penalty of the faultylocations of those who first built, since it is difficult to persuademany to sever the ties which bind them to their early homes, eventhough they are unhealthful, to say nothing of the expense to beincurred in making a change, yet those who have homesteads to establishencounter none of these drawbacks, and should exercise great care inmaking selection of a site for their dwellings. 

A dry soil is indispensable to good health, and if it cannot be found asdry as wished for, it may be remedied by thorough underdraining. A sandysoil, the poorest or dryest on the farm or lot, is the best point toerect a healthful home. 

The habit of embowering the house with a dense growth of shrubs andtrees, even where the soil is naturally dry, defeats the desired end, and provokes disease. There are many places made so cosy and attractivewith these aids that, with persons of culture and taste, the tendency isto run into extremes, and, while they render their homes beautiful tothe eye, they are fatal to life. A few shade-trees and shrubs properlydistributed about the ground can be indulged, and in numbers quiteadequate to give an air of grace and beauty to the home, while notendangering its inmates. They should stand at proper distances from thesides and roof, or not to constantly shadow them through the wholesummer, but allow, instead, the caressing sunshine to have full, freeplay over them. Again, we have often entered dwellings where it seemedto be the study of the good, ambitious housewife to shut out all thelight, and shut in--of course, unconsciously--all the death which comesof dampness and dark, only so that her carpets are kept bright andshining for some--gossip's tongue. 

Sunlight has come to be, of late years, one of the great remedies, andsun-baths are now duly administered in establishments erected for thatpurpose, and there can be no doubt of their efficacy in giving healthand strength to all whose habits of life prevent their exercise in theopen air. 

Next to a proper location, by which health is to be promoted, is

VENTILATION, and this covers a multitude of minor matters, but we have only room forconsidering the subject in its broader aspect. 

In olden times ample ventilation was secured through the massive openchimneys, which, with their generous hearthstones, was such adistinguishing and healthful feature of the homes of our ancestors. Theywere, perhaps, "a blessing in disguise, " but that they were a realblessing there is no doubt. Then, too, they were the grand altars of thefamily, around which the sweetest recollections of childhood and youthcluster, as does the ivy to the walls of old-time buildings, makingthem, though rude and rough, to memory most dear. 

In place of these natural escapes for foul, and the admission of freshair, we have absolutely nothing in the present day to take its place. Onthe contrary, air-tight stoves and air-tight furnaces have supplementedthe cheerful blaze of the fireplace, and in lieu of fresh air, a greatamount of poisonous gases are emitted, which stupefy and promotedisease. Especially is this the case where the fuel used is any of thecoals, instead of wood. The most deleterious of coals is the anthracite. Its heat is scorching and drying beyond any other, and the gases aremore subtle and pernicious, excepting, possibly, charcoal, which, however, is not used as fuel to any extent. 

These air-tight coal stoves, such as are in ordinary use, are the worstof all, since their name gives confidence to the public, who do notconsider that, while they have the merit of "keeping the fire throughthe night, " they do not keep the gases within. They are sure to creepthrough the apertures, or, if barred there, will escape through the ironitself, and it need not be very much in quantity to prove offensive topeople with delicate lungs or in a debilitated state of the system. Thestrong and well will scout these opinions doubtless, and hold them oflittle value, and to them it is not of so much consequence whether theyobserve strictly the rules which govern health or no, their robustconstitutions (thanks to their parents, who did observe these rules, either accidentally or purposely) will carry them along, doubtless, toa ripe old age; but their children are to be reared in health, and thefact of vigorous parentage may not, in their cases, where carelessnessprevails, guarantee vigorous lives; and, while the fathers and mothersmay escape from the ill effects of the vitiated atmosphere of theirapartments by exercise in the open air, their children cannot. And it iswell known that the children, in these cases, die one after another, theresult of poor ventilation or unhealthful location, or both combined, while the parents wonder what the cause can be, ascribing it to allthings but the right. 

Everything about our homes should be subjective to the one central ideaof _health_. Things of beauty or luxury, whether in or around thedwelling, should, if on close scrutiny they are found prejudicial, be atonce removed. 

The family sitting-room, if no other in the house, ought to be warmed bymeans of a wood fire if a stove is used, yet a grate is far better, andis the nearest approach to the old-fashioned fireplace attainable inthese times. A flue cut in the chimney near the ceiling, with a registeraffixed, will, where stoves or furnaces are used, be of service, and arequite easily and inexpensively constructed. The windows ofsleeping-rooms should be so made that the top sash can be as readilylowered as the bottom one raised, and at night the former should be leftdown sufficient for the free admission of fresh and the escape of foulair, but it ought not to draw across the sleeper. Night air is not asobjectionable as the confined air of unventilated rooms. Invalidsshould, however, avoid exposure to it as much as possible, since whenout in it, it envelops the whole person, and the chill and humidity maywork serious injury. 

The old saw, that "early to bed and early to rise, makes people healthy, wealthy, and wise, " is deserving of more consideration than is accordedit. Take any city-bred girl, who has been accustomed to late hours andthe excitement of entertainments and parties, and who, by theseunhealthful and killing rounds of so-called pleasure, has becomeemaciated and prematurely old, and place her in a well-regulatedhome, --the country is by far the best, where early retirement is a rule, with a wholesome diet, --and she will in a few weeks show a markedimprovement. Mrs. Stowe relates a very interesting story of a city-girlwho had all to gratify her that fond parents could procure, and, thoughconstitutionally strong, this hothouse, fashionable life had began toundermine her general health, and having exhausted the skill of theregular physician, her condition became so alarming that other counselwas sought; and this new disciple of Esculapius was a shrewd, honestman, and wont to get at the root of difficulties. He saw at a glancethat the patient's disease was born wholly of _fashion_. He found herwaist so tightly laced as to admit of little room for full and freerespiration; this, with late hours and unwholesome food, was doing itswork. Being asked to prescribe, he first cut loose the stays which boundher; then, ordering suitable shoes and apparel, gave directions for herimmediate removal to the country, where she was to first rest and loungein the sunshine, and as health returned, to romp and frolick in the openfields and join in the merry glees of country life. With feelings akinto those coming of great sacrifices, the commands were followed, andthis frail, dying girl was, in one brief summer, so far restored as thatthe glow of her checks and the sparkle of her eyes rivalled those of thefarmer's fair daughter whose companion she had been. 

City life is exceedingly destructive to young people, even whenconsidered aside from all undue excitements, indecorous habits, andimproprieties. The custom of late hours, night air, and the vitiated airof apartments where companies assemble together, with the liability tocontract colds by being detained in draughts, or from want of sufficientprotection while returning from social assemblies; all these thingsdestroy annually a great army of young people, who either do not thinkof consequences or else willfully neglect their lives to pay homage tofashion--the curse of the world. 

We cannot think all parents wholly neglectful in teaching their childrenhow to preserve health, and much of responsibility must rest with theyoung; yet by far the larger portion of parents are so flattered byalluring admirers, and led by the requirements and glamor of foolishfashion, that they seem, to the cool observer, to fairly dig and garlandthe premature graves of their loved ones. 

How we wish we might impress one mother who worships at this abominableshrine, set up heretofore--but we now hope forever cast down to makeroom for an era of good sense and womanly delicacy--in Paris, by eithera dissolute court, or, as we have often been informed, by the _nymphs dupavé_, who seek to attract by tricks of style till they have come torule the whole of their sex, or such portions as have not the moralcourage to mark out an independent course. The violation of health, contortions of the body, and other absurdities, aside from the vastexpense entailed upon the whole people, are perfectly astounding andoutrageous beyond belief. Let us examine a moment and see if we arepresuming. Granting that every lady in the land expends on an average ofbut ten dollars each year for the fashionable make-up of her wardrobe;that this mite goes for style, and necessary little etceteras growingout of it, and not in any way for the material itself, which is reallythe mountain of difficulty. Now, if there are twenty millions of womenin our country, it would give the sum of two hundred millions of dollarsannually expended for _style_. What a noble charity this wouldestablish every recurring year. What a relief to pauperism it wouldform, and that too without the sacrifice of anything but "style. " What arelief to struggling, disheartened men, whose lives are those of slaves, and families who pinch and starve themselves that they may possess themagical key to fashionable society! But what is fashionable society thatit should have such charms for common and honest people? We give inanswer what was given us by one who had had for many years access to it. He said, "Struggle to avoid it as the worst of calamities. " It had swepthim and his family from a position of comparative affluence to one ofmisfortune and distress. Fashion is the parent of both--"cussedness" andconsumption. 

We know some young ladies are personally disgusted with all this "fussand feathers, " who at the same time insist that, if they did not followthe lead of "society" they would be thrown in the background, as at mostentertainments those who have carefully and elaborately arrayedthemselves receive the lion's share of attention and compliment from theopposite sex, whose good opinion and company they wish to share. Whilethere is more of truth in this response than most gentlemen are willingat first to admit, yet, observant people have ever noted the fact that, notwithstanding these fashionable and polite addresses at publicassemblies between the beaux and butterflies, the end of the leveeusually terminates the hobnobbing. The "gay ladie" has had, quitelikely, her hour of triumph over her more modest, quiet, and unassumingrival, now in the background, but whom--when the young man is ready toproffer his hand and fortune--is most likely to be led to the front, blushing with her becoming and well-deserved honors, leaving the dotingmothers, with their _dear_ daughters, to reflect on the "strange ways ofyou men. "

If the world sees, it does not fully believe what it sees, else a changewould surely come. The fact is, while men, especially the young men, delight to do _honor_ to these devotees of the milliner andmantua-maker, they cannot--those who have a fair share of goodsense--afford to _marry_ them. Their means, their prospects, and theirhappiness forbid it, and they are right in this conclusion. They preferto unite their lives with some equally good, and usually more sensibleand healthful girl, but of, perhaps, no special prospects or position insociety. This decision is certainly founded in wisdom. They are foreverrelieved from that constant strain on their pride, and the consequentdrain on their purse. Their style of living may, in this latter case, besquared, without jar or reproach, to their real revenues, and life be tothem worth the living, while they gradually and lovingly lay aside, forany future exigency, something each year on which, in old age ordisaster, they may confidently lean, and which, though it may not begreat, yet shall, in a reasonable life, be sufficient to tide them to, and "over the river. "

Everything, of course, has some exceptions; and where the fashionablelady can sustain the family pride and family coach both at one and thesame time, why, then, our remarks and objections have little weight. Yet, in what we have written may be found the real cause of the increaseof bachelors and old maids in society. 

There are a few noble souls who rise above the bondage of their sex, andfollow the dictates of their own consciences in dress as in othermatters. This class embraces usually the very wealthy and the verylearned people who compose the polite and refined circles, asdistinguished from the flippant and fashionable ones. All honor to them. Their example is great, and furnishes the chief hope of any possiblereform. 

Some ask, what, indeed, shall we do if we discard all fashion? Our replyis, to do as the Quakers do. They certainly look quite as presentableand pretty in their "plain clothes" as do any other class of society. But I hear the answer: "Yes, and is not their style _fashion_?" We grantthat it is, but at the same time insist that it is both a sensible, economical, and becoming one; and such a fashion--a fashion of commonsense--is what we indorse, having not the least objection to that sort. Like, the old-time mode of cutting boys' hair by use of a bowl clappedover the head, it was a fashion, but a very simple, inexpensive, andproper one enough, considering the circumstances. Now they must have theassistance of a professional artist. Singular now one extreme followsanother. 

Not until quite a recent date were we inclined to advocate "women'srights, " which is but another name--as modernly interpreted--for theballot. Now we are persuaded that it would be wise for the States toconcede this, and thereby open a new channel to them for thought, atonce weakening their hold on fashion, and enlarging their views of lifeand its requirements. Good to the race, it would seem, must come of anychange whereby the rising generation shall have less of fashion and itsattendant evils, and more of health, with its accompanying blessings. 

How few of perfectly healthy girls do we see among all those with whomwe are each severally acquainted. Tight lacing, began in earlychildhood, is one of the chief of evils. You ask a girl of twelve yearsif she is not too tightly dressed, and the reply is "no;" and the motheris sure to argue that if the girl does not complain it is none of thefather's business to meddle. The fact is, the child has been graduallybrought to that state of unconsciousness of any discomfort by havingbeen subjected to this abominable process from a very tender age, andbeing continued each year, the waist is scarce half the natural size itshould have been at womanhood. Take a country girl who has grown up freefrom this practice, and has a well-developed frame, and put on her theharness of her fashionable sister, and draw it to the point the latteris accustomed to wear it, and you shall see whether there is any wincingor no. The argument of these unreasoning mothers is that of the Chinese, who dwarf their children's feet by beginning at an early period, and, doubtless, if these youths were similarly questioned, they, too, wouldcomplain of no inconvenience. 

In the management and care of children, fond parents seem, in theselater years, little else than a bundle of absurdities. For instance, take children of from three to ten years, and you shall see, in amajority of cases, when dressed for the street, their backs ladened withfold on fold of the warmest clothing, while their poor knees are bothbare and blue. 

Ah! we forget, perhaps, that the physician and undertaker must live; andthen the army of nurses and others, too, are to be provided for, quiteas the fashionable lady would make reply to any _impertinence_ inmatters of her dress, that it kept an army of sewing-girls employed whowould otherwise be left to starve!

One of our most vigorous writers, treating this subject, says:--

"Showy wardrobe, excessive work with the needle, where it is done togratify a taste for display, or morbid fancy for exquisite work, is acrime. Shoulders are bent, spines are curved, the blood, lacking itssupplies of oxygen, loses vitality and creeps sluggishly through theveins, carrying no vivid color to the cheek and lips, giving no activityto the brain, no fire to the eye. Let women throw away their fancy work, dispense to a degree with ruffles and tucks, and, in a dress that willadmit of a long breath, walk in the clear bracing air. 

"Mothers should begin early to lay the foundations of health. Childrenshould have plenty of vigorous, joyous exercise out of doors. Theyshould have romping, rollicking fun every day, at the same time givingexercise to every part of the body, and a healthy tone to the spirits. The body and soul are so intimately blended that exercise for the one isof little value when the other is repressed. Thus the limbs will becomewell knit and beautifully rounded, the flesh will be firm and rosy, andthe whole frame will be vigorous and elastic--vital to the finger tips. Better that our youth should have a healthy _physique_, even if theycannot read before they are ten years old, as in this case they wouldsoon overtake and outstrip the pale, narrow-chested child who is thewonder of the nursery and the Sunday-school. Children are animals thatare to be made the most of. Give them ample pasturage, and let them beas free as is consistent with the discipline they need; keep the girlsout of corsets and tight shoes, give them plain food, fresh air, andplenty of sleep. "

Nothing invites disease so much as the present style of living among thewell-to-do people. Nearly everything tends among this class todeteriorate general health, and, since their numbers have within thelast decade greatly increased, the influence on the country must bemarkedly detrimental, and, but for the steady flow of vitalizing bloodfrom the Old World, the whole Yankee race would ere long, inevitablydisappear. 

We have dwelt in this chapter at considerable length on the importanceof right training and education of the young, and especially of girls, though no more than the subject seems to demand. Boys are naturally moreout of doors, since their love of out-of-door life is greater than thatof girls, and their sports all lead them into the open air, and by thismeans they more easily correct the constitutional and natural tendenciesto disease, if any there be. Then, too, the iron hand of fashion has notfastened itself so relentlessly upon them as to dwarf their bodies andwarp their souls, as it has in some degree the gentler and better andmore tender half of mankind, to whom the larger share of this chapterseems the more directly to apply. 

CHAPTER IX. 

HINTS TO INVALIDS AND OTHERS. 

Indiscretions. --Care of themselves. --Singular effect of consumption onmind. --How to dress. --Absurdities of dress. --Diet. --Habits ofpeople. --How English people eat. --What consumptives should eat. --Thingsto be remembered. --The vanity of the race. --Pork an objectionablearticle of diet. --Characteristics of the South. --Regularity ineating. --The use of ardent spirits by invalids. --The necessity ofexercise. --The country the best place to train children. --Examples inhigh quarters. --Sleep the best physician. --Ventilation. --Damprooms. --How to bathe. 

It matters not what virtues climates may possess, if certain fundamentallaws regulating health are to be disregarded by the invalid. The robustand strong may, perhaps, for a season violate these laws with impunity;but, even in their cases, every serious indiscretion, if not immediatelyfelt, is as a draft on them, bearing some future date, sure ofpresentation, while the payment is absolute. It may be five, fifteen, orfifty years ere the boomerang of indiscretion returns, but come it will. Invalids will need to watch and guard against all pernicious habits, andto forego doing many things which they were accustomed to do while inhealth, but which under the altered circumstances are extremelyinjurious. 

All pulmonic patients will, while taking counsel of some physician, dowell to remember that their cases rest largely in their own hands;indeed, more depends on their own care of themselves than on theefficacy of any system of medicine. Lung disease is usually of a mostflattering character, and its influence on the mind differs from that ofany other, in that the patient is lulled into a serene and hopefulcondition. This sense of security attends no other ill to the sameextent. It is perhaps fortunate that such is the case, since, in manyinstances, there would be little vantage ground on which to rally. Still, while this peculiarity seems to be and is an advantage, there isanother aspect of it which is quite as damaging, viz. , the neglect andinattention, into which the patient is, too often, betrayed by thisfancied security; frequently resulting in fatal consequences. It is, again, a most singular fact that, while the consumptives are thusblinded to their real danger, they become, quite as readily as otherpeople, alarmed concerning friends who happen to be similarly afflicted;and this should serve as a caution against the companionship ofinvalids. Indeed, the influence of mind upon mind is so positive andsubtle as to render it important that the invalid's surroundings be madeas cheerful and bright as possible. The sunshine of good company rivalsthat of the day in restorative power. 

Among the more essential matters in the way of hints to invalids, leftfor brief elaboration in this chapter, is that of

DRESS. 

This should be easy-fitting and comfortable. Woollen under-clothing isrequired during nine months of the year in our climate; and, except itshould disagree with the person, ought to be worn. It carries off theexhalations better, leaving the skin dryer and less liable to colds. Theweight of the material can be varied to suit the changing seasons. Forthe summer months a mixed article, of wool and cotton, is desirable; butin no case should a change be made from all wool to all cotton. It isbetter to continue in the use of wool altogether than to commit thiserror. It is not a hardship to wear woollen through the hottest seasonof the year. Half of all our seamen do it, even while sailing in thetropics, and both their health and comfort is undoubtedly increased byit. It is, indeed, essential for many patients to wear it as a guard tosome extent against summer complaints. If any inconvenience of heat isexperienced at mid-day, it is better to change the outside clothing, adjusting that to the thermometer, rather than to disturb one'sunderwear. There are some sensitive-skinned people whom, we know, cannotendure the contact of flannel; such can, however, usually wear, withoutinconvenience, the mixed goods--especially if it be washed once or twicebefore it is used. 

It is important that all the clothing worn through the day should atnight be laid aside, and a nightdress substituted, which should be aflannel wrapper coming nearly or quite to the feet. Changes of underwearought to be made once each week, and special care taken that it be wellaired and dried. 

Never go without a chest protector. Considerable relief is afforded bythe use of this convenient and inexpensive article. Every old asthmaticappreciates their value, and we have known such people, years ago, whowore them. They warm the chest, and thereby loosen and soothe a cough. They may be of any woollen material almost, so that it is soft and warm. The best article is a piece of buckskin, lined upon one side with asingle thickness of flannel made in the form and size of a dinner plate, with a piece clipped out to accommodate the throat; and to the cornersof the clipping attach pieces of tape. This tied around the neck andover the under-clothing will prove not only a great relief, but willhelp the system to better resist a cold; and, for gentlemen, it ought tobe in constant use, whether well or ill, as it serves to equalize theclothing over the chest, which is now partially exposed by the fashionof their vests. This invaluable little article can be obtained, whenthere are no loving fingers to make it, at almost any city drug-store. By wearing it in the manner indicated, it will not require to be washedat all. 

The absurdities and crimes of fashion in dress we have discussedelsewhere, and only stop now to say that they should be laid aside bythe invalid. Tight lacing, tight collars, knee bands and garters, andthin, tight shoes and boots, are not only foolish, but incompatible withhigh health. Great good sense has, however, characterized both men andwomen within the last few years in regard to the covering for the feet. Every person who has occasion (and all should have) to be out of doorsin cold and even wet weather, ought to be provided with strongthick-soled boots or shoes, large enough to admit a patent insole, whichwill keep the feet dry, and at night this should be removed and dried. The security from colds is almost assured whenever this precaution istaken; at least they are a great preventive of colds, and they give, inaddition, a sense of solid comfort beyond that which is derived fromanything else, save, perhaps, a warm fire on a cold day, or a generousbank account. 

They should be an easy fit, as well as thick-soled; and, without thisvirtue, the other is rendered null. Indeed, better have loose thin bootsor shoes, with holes in them even, than _tight_ thick ones. But they canand should possess both of the characteristics named. It is safe to saythat any consumptive who has neither courage nor sense enough to adoptthe kind recommended, might as well be given over at once, and withoutfurther ado. 

Persons whose health is so perfect that they can for the time indulgeand endure anything, and who cannot be said to have had any experimentalknowledge of lame backs, sides, or weak stomachs, and who do not knowpractically whether they have any such members at all or not, will notbe expected, at present, to pay any regard to what we have to offerunder the head of

DIET. 

The other, and, unfortunately, most numerous class, know how sadly theyhave fallen from their first estate. There was a time with them whenthey never dreamed that their stomachs were not as strong as acider-mill, and could grind anything and everything which their greedynatures and careless habits desired. There is no other living animal, except it be the hog, that can eat and tolerate just the same variety ofmaterials, cooked and raw, as man. Their tastes and habits arestrikingly alike, it must be confessed, and their ends are not unlike;both die untimely deaths, with this difference, one is in due timekilled, while the other, in equally due time, usually kills himself, theadvantage being in favor of the porker, since his career, if brief, is, also, to the limit, blissful. 

The habits of men are a curious mixture of sense and the want of it. Endowed with some of the highest attributes, and yet forgetting thatthey are anything beyond the veriest machines. They who leap from docksand bridges are not the only suicides. These shock the world, and arenot uncommonly denied the last kindly offices of the church, while theslower suicides are borne triumphantly from the chancel within to thatwithout--all turning on methods, and that is, indeed, important. Methodin living should receive our earliest and best attention. All need tobecome good _methodists_, especially in some senses of that word. 

The English men and women are the most systematic in their habits ofliving; and, as a natural result, they are remarkably robust. They takeample time in which to eat. An hour at dinner is as little time as theycustomarily allow, while those who can, often devote much more. They eatslowly, and talk a great deal, and laugh much, and by the time they havedone they are fairly red in the face, and keep so pretty much all thetime; and it is as healthy a sign as one can hang out. Good digestionwaits on appetite with them, and they grow stout and formidable. Theynot only eat slow, but they know what to eat and what makes good blood. Suppose every Englishman could be sent into France and obliged to liveon French cooking; does any one suppose they would remain the samepeople they now are? Not a bit of it. Take from John Bull his roastbeef, and mode of eating it, and you change the character of the raceinside of a century. They must have their favorite dish, and about asoften as a friend of ours, Dr. M----, who, by the way, is a good type ofan Englishman, and enjoys the things of this world much more than iscommon with Americans. On asking M---- how often he indulged in roastbeef, he replied, that about three hundred and sixty-five times in theyear was his rule! Invalids may be assured it was not a bad one. Ofcourse, he took a great deal of active exercise, seldom using a horsewhile engaged in the practice of his profession. 

Consumptives, and those who are generally debilitated and who need afresh stock of good blood, cannot do better than confine themselves, sofar as meats are concerned, to beef and mutton. The latter should bewell cooked, while the former ought to be eaten rare done. If it is atfirst distasteful in this manner, proceed by degrees, and by-and-by itwill grow in favor; but commence with it rare at the outset, whenpossible. Whether roasted or broiled, beef should not be cooked as todestroy all its natural color. Let the inside show some of the blood, the more the better, and the quicker it is assimilated to the needs ofthe system. General Rawlins, the late secretary of war, died ofconsumption, but his life was prolonged many months by the use of rareand even raw beef. He came to like it better raw than in any other way. Once a day is, perhaps, as often as may be required; much, however, depends on the amount of exercise taken. Wild game is likewise good, especially venison, and where that can be had, beef and mutton may bedispensed with. Fish and eggs furnish a variety to the invalid's diet, and such vegetables as are liked may be indulged, of course. Never eatbut of one kind of meat at any one meal, and not over two kinds ofvegetables, with wholesome, fresh bread (Graham preferred), and thecoarser the better. Insist on having coarse bread; let it be made ofunbolted meal. As for drinks, a single cup of very weak tea or coffee, diluted chiefly with milk, will not harm. A glass of milk is better inwarm weather, if it agrees. Let water alone, except it is that which thesystem has become familiarized with; then, half a glass is preferable toa larger quantity at meals. Sousing the stomach at meal-time with a cold_douche_ is only harmful. After the food has had time to digest and passout of the stomach, then, if one is a great water-drinker, take a glass, or so much of a glass as you think is required, and it will be ofbenefit. Make the heartiest meal come at noon, and eat a light supper atnight, using bread and butter for the most part. 

_Things to be remembered and observed in eating_, are slowness andthorough mastication; never wash your food down with any drink. Talk andlaugh, taking as much time to do this as you do to eat. A notedhumorist says that "every time a man laughs he takes a kink out of thechain of life, and thus lengthens it. " That is true philosophy, and itis little understood by our nervous, rushing people. We grin and snickerenough, at ourselves and others, but downright hearty laughter is astranger to the most of us. It should be cultivated till, in an honestway, it supplants, at least, the universal snicker. There is bothcomfort and health in rousing peals of laughter. 

_Things to be avoided in eating_, are hot, fresh baked breads of allkinds; also avoid all manner of pies as you would a pestilence, likewisecakes, of every description; they are the crowning curse. Women willmake it and children will cry for it, probably, for all the generationsto come, as they have in the past. But more truthful epitaphs should beinscribed over them than is now done. It is strange how fashion rules indiet as in dress. Why, the Koohinoor diamond of Victoria is not morevalued than is a steady supply of poundcake by most of women andchildren. We know of a family who make it a boast that _they_, whenyoung, had _all they wanted_; which either implies their mother to havebeen unwisely indulgent, or else the children to have beenover-clamorous. It certainly does not imply wealth, and, least of all, culture, for the poorest families have usually the largest display ofthese things, while those with enlarged means and sense dispense withthem out of good judgment. 

Travelling on the cars, a short time since, we had for a companion ashrewd Yankee who had the honor to be postmaster of his city, and at thesame time was engaged in the boot and shoe trade; one of those stirringmen who, if he did not possess genius, had its nearest kin--activity, and illustrated the fact that a man _might_ do two things well at oneand the same time. He gave us samples of human nature which is quiteapropos to the general subject. In discussing the eccentricities ofmerchandising, he said that usually wealthy customers entering his storewould ask to see his cheaper class of boots, such as would do service, "honest material, but not the most expensive, " and from that class wouldmake their selections; but, whenever parties entered whose means wereknown to him to be limited, and yet whose "pride of family" and personalvanity were in increased ratio to their decreased capital, he neverventured even to suggest the class of goods taken by the wealthy, lestoffense be given. His rule was to show to such his very best goodsfirst. They wished to display "a notch above their betters. " And so withthe cake question. Some of even the poorest families of New Englandersdoubtless eat more of this material than does the Royal family ofEngland, if it could but be known. 

There remains yet another article of food to be proscribed. We refer tothe pork question. All ought to be good Jews on this subject. Theirprohibition is, we believe, founded on the intrinsic unhealthfulness ofthe thing itself. Its use is universal in this country, and in the Southit forms the chief meat diet. This latter fact comes of their mode ofagriculture more than original preference. They devoted all labor tocotton growing, and had their meat and grain to buy. The question withthe planter in laying in his supplies was what would go farthest, at agiven price, as food for his slaves. Bacon and flour were always foundto answer the economic query best. The West furnished bountifulsupplies, and readily floated these products to a market, wherecompetition was not only not thought of, but entirely out of thequestion. Cattle and sheep raising (outside of Texas) had no growth orencouragement among them. The planters soon fell into the habit of usingbacon on their own tables, and the result is, it has continued to formthe staple article for all classes there for several generations. Thedarkies have rather flourished upon it, while the whites have sufferedgreatly in consequence. 

Its use undeniably produces scrofula, salt-rheum, tetter, ringworm, humors in the blood, rheumed eyes, enlarged glands, sore eyes, andlastly, cancer. Almost any community in the South will afford severalexamples of one or all of these diseases, and all directly traceable tothe excessive use of salt pork. In a somewhat sparsely settledneighborhood near Central Georgia, known as Social Circle, a dozen casesof cancer alone can, in one form or another, be found, and that is oneof the most salubrious sections in all the southern country. 

They have become so enamored of "hog and hominy, " that they are fairlysuperstitious or foolish regarding the use of some other kinds of meat. For instance, mutton, in any form, they are disgusted with as a rule. Wetried to get at the reason while sojourning there, but never fairlysucceeded, though the impression was, plainly, that they did not thinkit proper food for white people anyway, and then the "odor was sodisgusting, " and altogether it was only fit for "trash folks. " We scarcehope to be believed when we state, that we have seen young ladies refuseto sit at the table where this dish was served, and served, too, out ofcompliment to their guests from the North. 

This same feeling was largely shared by the colored people, and, whileit was no infrequent thing for the "smoke-house"--where the bacon waskept--to be broken open in ante-war times, taking the risk of detectionand dogs, it was almost an unheard-of occurrence that a sheep wasstolen. They roamed, what few there were, at will and unharmed, exceptby dogs and wild beasts--the special benefit accruing to their ownersbeing simply the wool. During and since the war, matters have beenundergoing a change, and sheep raising is receiving more attention, andbeginning to be valued as an article of food. Still, during weeks lastwinter, the Atlanta markets did not show a single carcass of mutton, notwithstanding the great extent of country tributary to it by means ofher railways. 

This change above referred to, while of slow growth, is, in part, owingto the example our troops set, the experience of their prisoners, theirstraitened circumstances, and lastly, to the infusion of Northernsociety among them. 

While there are undoubtedly tenfold more of those diseases in the Southconsequent on the use of pork, than what there is at the North, yet itsconsumption is vastly in excess with us of what it should be. There isno doubt of this. Scrofula, salt-rheum, and ophthalmia, are among thechief developments at the North. At the North greater and better varietyof food among all classes is in use, to say nothing of better cooking, which wards off some of the worst results. 

The natural tendency is to greater use of pork in the more northern thanin the Southern States, since the climate would seem to call for it; butwe have shown its use at the South to be the result of circumstancesmore than of _original_ preference and probable inclination, since allpeoples of low latitudes, of a high standard of civilization, elect alighter diet than those of cooler climates. 

There are some who declaim against the use of any and all kinds of meatfor food, and advocate a purely vegetable diet. There is much that canbe said in its favor, and it ought, with fruits, to form at least two ofthe three daily meals. The system would be in better tone, and the mindas well. But there are extremes in all things, and these sometimesgovern the conduct of men. A happy medium is usually the best, and forour climate, we believe the use of the right kinds of meat to be notonly healthful but eminently proper. The natural law aids to thisconclusion. We see the people of the tropics indulging largely in fruit, which an allwise Providence has placed there and adapted to their wants;again, at the poles the inhabitants live almost wholly on the fat ofanimals--a half-dozen tallow candles being eaten at a meal, whensupplied by strangers. The intense cold requires this heavy fuel tosupply the needed heat and comfort. What would an exclusive vegetablediet be worth to them, exposed as they are? With us, lying between thetwo extremes, with a climate and country abounding in both fruits andanimals, with seasons of cold and heat in nearly equal extremes, itseems quite rational that a mixed diet, regulated by common-sense rules, is the best. Certainly the highest civilization to which man has yetattained is found in the temperate zones, where neither the one nor theother extreme in diet has obtained. 

A manifest advantage and improvement in general health can, however, beeffected by paying a more enlightened regard to those things whereof wedine. People with gluttonish inclinations can easily and do makethemselves sick while subsisting on an entirely fruit diet; hence, ifdiscretion is needed in the use of the simplest articles of food, ofcourse it cannot be dispensed with while indulging in other sorts. 

But, in a volume of this character, we cannot amplify the details ofthis very interesting and important topic to that extent we could wish. Suffice it to say, that so far as pork is concerned, we abjure all toleave it severely alone. There is a variety of other meats great enough, from which all may choose, and there are no good elements inherent inpork which cannot be supplied in other meats, or by the free use of goodfresh butter, which is at all times a much better _fuel_ for the systemthan pork. 

Regularity in eating is highly essential, and too much stress cannot beplaced upon this injunction to the sick. It is quite as important tothose in health who would remain so; but then, few in health believethat, or if they do, their habits do not conform to their belief. Theduties of life should conform to the laws of health, and where there isany conflict, shove duties overboard always. 

Indigestion is the result of irregular, hasty, or unwholesome meals, andlikewise meals in quantity beyond that required by genuine hunger andhealth. It is the mother of many evils, some one of which will be sureto visit, in time, all who violate themselves as above indicated. 

Many there are who, troubled with a cough, sore throat, and generaldebility, think they have the consumption, whereas it is, at the outset, nothing but indigestion. They will go on eating heartily, and continuetheir pie and cake, these being so pleasant to the palate; they say, "one piece will not do harm, " "one swallow never made a summer, " andthus they continue till complete prostration takes possession of them. 

The use of stimulants at or after a meal may be done with advantage insome cases, but it should only be taken when the physician so advises. We have heard of consumption being cured by the free use of whisky; butshould the habit of using it become an uncontrolled one, we questionwhether the life of the individual is worth the saving at this cost tocommunity and friends. Some of the most eminent among the facultyrecommend it, while others do not. When cod-liver oil is freely used, aspoonful of whisky ought, perhaps, to accompany it. If cream, butter, orthe fat of mutton or beef be freely eaten at the noon or morning meal, and they are about as useful as the oil itself, stimulants are not somuch needed, except that of

EXERCISE, which is really one of the medicines most needed by consumptives, dyspeptics, and hosts of others who are complaining. A daily dose of thesaw-horse or wash-tub isn't bad for weak lungs and bodies, or for strongones who wish to continue thus. Take a thoroughly well person, accustomed to an active, out-of-door life, shut them up and confine themto a bed, and a tolerable invalid will soon be the result. The converseof this holds good, namely, take an invalid who is able to walk aboutthe house, but feeble in spirit and body, if exercised daily out ofdoors, a gradual return to health is apt to follow. The strong, tocontinue the growth of their powers, must give themselves constantpractice. The story of the man who commenced to lift the calf, andcontinued the task daily till after it had grown to be an ox, illustrates this. Moderate and constant labor is the law of both lifeand health. 

There are two classes who need counselling--those who overwork eithermind or body or both, and there are many such, especially among thosewho conduct the multitude of our public journals. No profession is soexacting or exhausting as is theirs, or so generally thankless, and noneso greatly influential for good or evil. These classes are, however, small compared with those who die for the want of a proper amount ofphysical exercise. 

The weak-lunged portion of the world must have physical exercise out ofdoors, or they must die. There is hope for them if they will but consentto labor in the open air. Those who cannot hold a plow and hoe corn, should jolt themselves on the back of a horse at a good round trot. Ifthat is too much, in their debilitated condition, canter the animal; butif only a walking gait can be endured, why, hitch the horse in the stalland go on foot. Go briskly--get some errands to do which require to bedone daily; take a contract to drive the mail out into the country, or, if no business can be had, ride on horseback to the mountains, spendingthe whole season in the going and returning. Do no studying orletter-writing by the way, and especially none to lady-loves. It will dolittle good to send the body off on a health trip, and have, meanwhile, the mental arm around your sweetheart. And it works against yourrecovery even worse when you are situated so as to substitute thesemental for real flirtations. This does not so much apply to married men. They who have wives or husbands would be the better of their company andcare. 

Invalids who cannot travel, either at home or elsewhere, in consequenceof weakness, should sit in the open air in some sheltered corner of theverandah, or of their room, and bathe in the light and sunshine, beingcareful to avoid all draughts. 

A young man was just starting out in business. He was to leave his homein New England to engage in active life in one of the large citiessituate on Lake Erie. He had bidden his childhood's home his firstadieu, and meeting with a friend, sought some counsel; this friend, atthe close of a somewhat lengthy interview, and as the sum of all he haduttered, said: that he should remember to practice three things, if hewould have his efforts crowned with success, namely, the first was_Perseverance_, --the second was _Perseverance_, and the third was_Perseverance_. So it is with pulmonic patients: if they would recover, aside from the aids of diet, dress, and all the other etceteras, theymust first and all the time continue to _Exercise_--EXERCISE--EXERCISEthe body in the open air. 

The distinguished Dr. Willard Parker once said to us that he put aconsumptive on the back of a horse at his office-door in New York, andtold him to ride for his life. He did ride for his life, and, after asix months' journey of about two thousand miles, having traversed theCentral States, he returned with the assurance of his physician that hehad overcome his disease. 

There is often criminal fault in parents about the matter of exercise. They who are in affluent circumstances, and others who would be thoughtaffluent; and again, that class (and, we are sorry to say, it is a largeone) who are so very tender of their children, and whose mothers do alltheir own household labor, only so that their daughters may be theadmiration of a ball-room, or else through fear they will "get sick" ifthey put their hands to anything which has kept their mothers so strongand well. 

If parents did their whole duty, they would place the boys upon thefarm, where they might grow strong and lay well the foundations of life, while the girls should bear a hand at making as well as eating bread. The art of cooking is a science, by the way, very little understood, andthere is scope and verge enough for any ordinary genius, and as noble aservice to mankind may be accomplished by its mastery as any that comeswithin the pale of human life. 

Health seems almost ignored in these later days by parents, so far asthe training of their children is concerned. Their overweening pride andlove blinds them to what is their true duty. They feel it would be sotrying for their "dear boy" to do any kind of manual labor, and it is sobad that his delicate hands should be soiled and hardened by any toil, that they would deny themselves of even the necessaries of life in ordertheir fair-haired boy may be thought such a "nice young man, " and so"genteel. " Their judgment, however, is never in error with regard tosome of the neighborhood "rapscallions. " Their heads are perfectly levelon the question of "those rowdy boys. " Their advice is as sound as it isfree. They can predict with greater accuracy than can any of thesecond-sightseers as to the ultimate end of these embryo ladies' men, good-for-nothings, sharpers, spendthrifts, and paupers. They know theprocess full well whereby these boys can be transformed into strong, honest, enterprising, and useful citizens. They do not forget, either, though many would but for an occasional gibe from some envious Mrs. Grundy, that both they and their husbands were the children of obscurityand poverty; which, rather than being any dishonor, as it is oftenthought, particularly by the vainer sex, is a badge of genuine honor androyal patent of the man's energy and industry. 

Witness the noble example set Republicans by the head of the mostillustrious empire in the world, and consider how wise a Queen andmother may be, while her love for her family is not excelled by that ofany other true and devoted mother. She realizes the necessity and valueof sound health, if long and useful lives are to be attained. We see hersons doing duty for years in the ranks of the common sailor and soldier, enduring the privations and hardships incident to such service, and theythus secure not only health, but an insight into human life and thoughtand nature more valuable than any of the lessons learned from books. 

All excesses in labor are to be reprehended, and not uncommon is it thatwe hear of health ruined and even life jeopardized by some foolish orthoughtless effort. Young men ought to guard against strife in labor, which usually accompanies an ambition to excel. We know of an instancewhere a company of boys, by lifting against each other, one wasruptured. And again, an "itinerant" came along with a machine known as alung-tester; one fair-haired, slender youth, having fears he would fallbelow the average, made so great an effort as seriously to impair hishealth for the time. Another case of a boy, who was frequently into somedaring scheme of house-climbing or leaping, sought the crest of a cliff, some thirty feet, and, to astonish his companions, essayed the feat offlying; and, though he flew well enough, the lighting proved too much, since, as he struck the ground, both his legs were broken short off. Wecite these various instances, coming within the range of boys' sports, for the purpose of warning others from attempting excesses. Leaping, running, climbing, are well enough in their way, and may be practiced inperfect safety, as millions of boys have practiced them with nodetriment, but absolute advantage. Care should be exercised, and counselgiven, to beware of the danger of going to extremes. The race over themeadows for the cows; hoeing in the garden or field; sawing or cuttingwood for the fire; riding the horse to mill; a walk to the villagepost-office; holding plow; raking hay; the most of which are charmingthings to do, and just what boys should do to become strong and capablemen. 

The renowned of any age usually come from humble life, in whichcharacter, both physical and mental, has had opportunity fordevelopment. Washington was a farmer's boy; so were Adams, Jefferson, Putnam, Jackson, Webster, Clay, Douglas, Lincoln, and Raymond, of thepast; and Grant, Sherman, Trumbull, Emerson, Bryant, Buckingham, andGreeley, of the present; while nine out of every ten of successful livesin any department of labor have come from the fields of country life. 

Gymnasiums offer a very good substitute for outdoor exercise; and ifpractice in them is at all times controlled by a careful judgment, theresult is undoubted benefit. Indeed, the lung power of an individual canbe more rapidly enlarged here than elsewhere, since exercise is hereadapted and may be directed solely to that end. However, one may notrequire for this purpose anything beyond a simple and inexpensiveapparatus, consisting of a cross-bar and a pair of rings attached tosome point above, with just room enough to swing the person clear of thefloor. 

SLEEP

is the "sweet restorer, " and invisible physician, playing an importantpart in the restoration and maintenance of health. Without this dailydying, as we are constituted, there could be no daily living; andwhatever promotes sound, natural, balmy slumber is beyond all price inthe economy of life. Chief among these promptings to restful slumber area clear conscience, proper exercise, a suitable diet, and place. Allbut the latter have been considered. One-third of the whole time of lifeis spent in bed. Suppose an individual has attained the age ofseventy-five years, twenty-five of this, on the average, have beenpassed in sleeping! How essential, then, it becomes to understand and tohave every help which can be afforded, in securing the required rest ourwearing frames demand. 

The first requisite is an airy room, capable of constant ventilation, either by the windows, doors, or flues, or by all. Next, a comfortablebed, of almost any material, except cotton and feathers, though thelatter might be indulged in during the severest season; but it is betterto dispense with them _in toto_, and use instead a mattress of hair, husk, moss, or straw. These even should be frequently aired, but onlyupon bright sunny days, and occasionally changed altogether for newmaterial. In place of heavy cotton counterpanes use woollen blankets atall seasons. 

Consumptives, and invalids generally, should never sleep under theformer, as they are unhealthful. All bed-clothing should be carefullydried before a fire ere it is used. Many a one can date their final coldand fatal cough from this neglect of otherwise thoughtful housewives. Never put your friend in the northwest bedroom if it has not been dulyaired in summer, or warmed in winter. If this is not done, it is almostmanslaughter. That corner in our houses should be used for parlors, store-rooms, or anything, rather than for sleeping people in. We havehad some experience in this matter and know how utterly defenselesspeople are when assigned one of these rooms where death dwells. An openattack with a bludgeon is preferable. Cold, fresh air is beneficial, buta _cold, fresh_ bed isn't. 

No one thing, perhaps, serves more to drive away sleep than cold feet. People ought not to go to bed with cold feet. Dry them by the fire, orrub them till warmth comes. To avoid cold feet wash them frequently incold salt water, rub them thoroughly, and wear loose, thick boots orshoes. Brisk walking, or chafing them on a rough mat will tend torestore warmth. Stockings should be changed often, and when possible, inwinter, placed by the fire to dry. There should always be some extracovering upon the bed over the lower extremities in cold weather; itgives, in various ways, additional comfort to the sleeper, and there isless need of covering for the body. An extra blanket over the footboard, in our changeful climate, is a wise measure. All have at some time beenawakened in the night by the increasing cold, which would preventfurther sleeping if there were no remedy of this sort at hand. No morecovering should be used, however, than seems judicious. Pernicioushabits may be formed in this respect, which should be corrected, thoughwe are aware some natures are more delicate and sensitive to cold thanothers. 

Many there are, who sleep with their heads covered; this is highlydestructive to health, and cases of scrofula may be directly traced tothis custom. The poisonous exhalations from the body, together with theconstant exhaustion of the oxygen from breathing, renders this confinedair foul to the last degree. "The custom of covering the faces ofchildren with the bed-clothes, " says the celebrated FlorenceNightingale, "produces a large share of the cases of scrofula foundamong them. "

Invalids afflicted with catarrhal troubles should be careful to sleepupon their sides with their faces as much downward as possible, anddispense with all proppings, except a small thin pillow, the end ofwhich will serve to give the right inclination to the face. The reasonsfor this, in these cases, are so obvious that there is no need of theirstatement here. The side is, for that matter, the best attitude for thesleeper in all cases, as also is a very slight elevation of the head, since the flow of the blood is less obstructed. 

The habit of throwing yourself down to rest during the day without extracovering, is a source of many colds. The invalids should remove theirouter dress wholly and get into bed, and thus secure not only immunityfrom possible colds, but a better circulation of the blood than they canhave if this is not done. 

Avoid the taking of colds in every way possible; and to do this, watchfulness and care is needed. Never sit in a draught in eitherprivate or public assemblies; no, not even if in church. There is no lawof courtesy which requires any one to inflict suffering on themselves, or perhaps to endanger their lives, out of regard to numbskulledarchitects or incompetent "building committees. "

If a cold is taken give it prompt attention, and "scotch" it in the budif possible. As to treatment, all are apt to have some favorite method. Pursue any rational course in which you have most faith, only so thatyou remain in your room, eat little or nothing, and keep the systemunobstructed. 

Bathing should not be neglected, and cold water baths in summer arerefreshing and should be frequently indulged; but in winter, temper thewater so as not to shock the system. This jumping into ice-cold watermay do for persons in the highest health, perhaps, but the invalid willhave nothing to do with this sort. When the sponge is used then coldwater applied to one limb or section of the body will do very well, iffollowed by brisk rubbing. This should be done in the morning, whiletepid baths, tempered that no shock be produced, ought to be taken justbefore retiring, whether it be the sponge or full bath. 

The invalid who is much debilitated should take all baths in a warmroom, with an assistant, bathing one portion while the other is keptpartially dressed. 

There is always a small current of air moving over the floor, and toprotect against this, keep the feet covered, and the first thing to bedone on rising in the morning, or at any time, should be to dress yourfeet, otherwise, even if you do not take cold, cold feet will be apt tokeep your company the entire day. 

We may also add here, that if by any exposure the feet get wet, toprevent taking cold, they should be, on returning home, at once plungedinto cold water, rubbed briskly, and dried before the fire. 

Finally, pure air, thick shoes, warm clothing, a nourishing diet, liberal exercise, early to bed and early to rise, with a rigidregularity of habit, and the abolition of fashion in the thingsspecified, and many who are now invalids may live long and becomparatively happy. But, indulge in corsets, thin, shoes, irregularhours, and live in damp and unventilated houses, eating fine-bolted, hotbreads, with liberal supplies of pie and pound-cake, and it will not belong ere the undertaker will be cultivating your acquaintance. 

Beware of this advancement on his part. It bodes no good to you. He hasan eye to business. If not the pale-horse, he is its rider. Take anotherdirection quickly, and give him a cold shoulder, but see that he doesnot get two. 

CHAPTER X. 

WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO SEE AND EXPECT. 

The best localities for invalids and others. --The city ofMinneapolis. --Its drives and objects of interest--Cascade and BridalTails. --Fort Snelling. --Minnehaha Falls. --The city and Falls of St. Anthony. --Anoka and St. Cloud. --Fishing and hunting. --Wilmar andLitchfield. --Lake Minnetonka. --Experience in fishing. --Some "bigfish. "--White Bear Lake. --The Minnesota Valley. --Le Sueur. --St. Peter'sand Mankato. --Minneopa Falls. --Southwestern Minnesota. --Its agriculturalwealth and capabilities. --Northern Pacific Railroad and itsbranches. --The Red River country. --Trade with Manitoba. --Western lifeand habits. 

It is essential for the invalid, before undertaking a journey toMinnesota, to know the best points, both as regards matters ofaccommodation and of location. For there is, even in this State, considerable choice for patients; while for tourists, any point offeringattractions is the place for them. We shall briefly consider the wholesubject, but first with regard to the former class. 

The city of St. Paul, an account of which has been previously given, isthe most natural place to make the first stop; and it is a bright, cheerful, busy city in which to while away the time. Its location ishealthful, as well as beautiful, and invalids may remain there withperhaps as great advantage as at any point in the State, especially inthe winter season. 

MINNEAPOLIS, situated on the west bank of the Mississippi River, opposite the Fallsof St. Anthony, and less than an hour's ride by rail from St. Paul, --with a direct line to Milwaukee, --enjoys, at present, the widestcelebrity among invalids as a place of resort. This town is on a nearlylevel plain adjoining the Mississippi River at the Falls of St. Anthony, and possesses a population of thirteen thousand. It is perhaps, _parexcellence_, the most wide-awake and flourishing city in the State; and, while not over a dozen years of age, exhibits, in the elegance and costof its private dwellings, its spacious stores, its first-class andwell-kept hotel, the Nicollet House, its huge factories and thunderingmachinery--driven by that more than Titanic power of the great andwondrous Falls, --evidence of a solid prosperity. 

Scores of invalids may be found in this town at the hotels and variousprivate boarding-houses, of which there are quite a number. 

Many visiting the State for health, leave without that improvement theyshould have obtained, owing to irregular habits and indulgences, whichare directly traceable to their associations, rather than to anyobjectionable habits they may possess. The temptation, when time hangsheavy on their hands, to join in billiards, euchre, and tea-parties, keeping the mind unduly excited and leading to late hours, is fatal toevery benefit derived from the climate. If friends can accompany theinvalid, giving society and controlling their life and habits, theythereby insure against these liabilities to a very great extent. 

There is much in the vicinity of Minneapolis to interest the visitor. Days may be spent in examining the Falls of St. Anthony, which roar andsurge along the rapids, impressing one with an appalling sense of theirmighty power. 

The suspension bridge, connecting the city with that of St. Anthony onthe east bank of the river, is an interesting object. It was erectedseveral years since at an expense of over half a hundred thousanddollars, and is the only bridge of its class on the whole river. 

Take the towns of St. Paul and Minneapolis, together with theintervening country, and perhaps no portion of the Union east of theRocky Mountains, presents so many objects of interest as does thisparticular region. St. Paul is itself a noble town, and the prospectfrom its highest elevations quite entertaining; while at the latter citythe Falls of St. Anthony are "a sight to behold, " and make up what thetown lacks in striking scenery. 

The country between the two cities is as pleasing in general outline asany to be found. Of course, it lacks that romantic element socharacteristic of New England, yet its general character is more rollingthan that of most of the prairie country found in the West. 

A drive from either city is "the thing" for the visitor to do. FromMinneapolis one of the most charming drives in the world, for itslength, can be had. Passing over the suspension bridge to the east sideof the river, and down by it to the Silver Cascade and Bridal-veilFalls, which charm from their exquisite beauty, then on to the junctionof the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers at Fort Snelling, and across bythe rope-ferry under the tall battlements of the frowning fort, whoseedge is on a line with the towering, perpendicular bluff two hundredfeet above your head, round by the road and up to the plain above, andinto the inclosure of this old-time fortification, where, leaving yourcarriage, you proceed to the round tower, or look out of the fort, andon the very pinnacle of both cliff and battlement you may gaze out andover a spectacle more grand and beautiful than anything we know short ofthe White Hills. Away to the right stretches the valley of the MinnesotaRiver, while before you the "Father of Waters" receives into hisembraces the waters of the Minnesota, then, sweeping to the left, rollsslowly and majestically from view behind the companion bluffs of theeastern shore. 

Here, from this crowning tower has floated--for more than half acentury--the "star-spangled banner" of our country, giving to the earlysettler an assurance of protection; proclaiming equality and freedom toall peoples who come hither in search of new homes, and to each and alla sense of increased dignity and importance as they stand underneath itsample folds. 

A short distance across the open prairie and up the river towardMinneapolis--on the return--is the famed

MINNEHAHA FALLS. 

Longfellow's exquisite picture--in words--of these falls seems soperfect and complete that we cannot forbear to quote it. He says:

 "Sweet Minne-ha-ha like a child at play, Comes gaily dancing o'er her pebbly way, 'Till reaching with surprise the rocky ledge, With gleeful laugh bounds from its crested edge. "

And what can we say of them that shall be new or of fresh interesteither to those who have read of, or what is better, have seen them?After viewing and listening to their laughing-leap we easily understandthe fitness of the name they bear--the "Laughing Waters. "

The first sight of the falls is captivating, and there seems little ofpraise which you could wish to withhold. They are the very antipodes ofthose of Niagara--instead of volume and power inspiring awe, they winyour love and enhance your views of the beautiful and good. 

The waters

 "Flash and gleam among the oak trees, Laugh and leap into the valley, "

and move gaily and gleefully among the maples, oaks, and vines whichline and wreathe its banks; rivalling in song the wild birds that lingerin the cool shadows of the embowering trees. 

Minnehaha Creek has its rise in Lake Minnetonka, a dozen miles or moredistant, where it is quite a diminutive little brook; from thence runsto and through Lakes Calhoun and Harriet, meandering along the surfaceof the country, till it makes its graceful leap at the falls to thechasm, some forty feet below, then empties into the Mississippi abouthalf-a-mile distant to the eastward. The width of the stream and fallsdoes net much exceed twenty feet. 

We lingered long, and reluctantly turned our feet away from thisenchanting scene where both real and imaginary heroes and heroines havedwelt, and in the bright waters of which their picturesque encampmentshave been often mirrored. 

St. Anthony--opposite Minneapolis--is one of the oldest towns in theState, and was, in _ante bellum_ times, quite a fashionable resort forthe Southerners. The war ended that, while the latter city gave to itits final _coup de grâce_, and soon after the business set to the westbank of the river. 

Its chief object of interest is the State University, which has butjust entered upon its career of usefulness. 

Tourists will enjoy a few days in and around Minneapolis. It is thecentre of a number of attractive objects of natural curiosity. A driveto Lake Calhoun and a day's sport in fishing is both practicable andpleasant. 

We cannot regard the City of St. Anthony as equalling Minneapolis as aplace of residence in point of health. Even in the latter city it isimportant that a home be had as remote from the neighborhood of theFalls as is convenient. Its adaptability to the needs of the invalidconsists more in the walks and drives, the ample boarding-house andhotel accommodations, good markets, and cheerful, pleasant society, thanin the particular location of the town itself or in the character of thesoil on which it is built. 

Beyond, and on the line of the St. Paul and Pacific _Branch_Railroad--now owned and operated by the Northern Pacific Railroad--thetowns of Anoka and St. Cloud, both on the banks of the "great river, "are either more desirable for invalids than most other points in theState within our knowledge, so far as _location_ is concerned. They arehigh and dry above the river, and possess a soil in and around them of aloose sandy character, for the most part every way favorable to gooddrainage and dryness. The towns themselves are quite small, yetaccommodations might be found for a large number in the aggregate. Thehotels offer no special temptation to guests beyond those of theordinary private family in the way of home comforts and conveniences. The people are kind, intelligent, and obliging to strangers; as, indeed, they are elsewhere in the State. Yet there is always a more hearty andcordial salutation among the inhabitants of towns who are anxious tosecure good reputations and thereby enlarge their borders. 

There is some hunting and fishing near both of these places, as, indeed, there is at most all points in the interior. 

Near St. Cloud are Pleasant, Grand, Briggs, and Rice's Lakes, wherefishing and rowing may be had, while the country eastward of the townaffords fair hunting. 

It is quite an advantage to any place, from an invalid standpoint, thatthe surrounding country affords them abundant means whereby the mind maybe occupied and kept from crooning over the memories of loved ones faraway, or brooding upon their own misfortunes. 

On the St. Paul and Pacific _Main_ Line--also controlled and owned bythe Northern Pacific Road--are a number of attractive and healthfulplaces, where ample accommodations may be had for the invalid, and wherethose who come to construct new homes will find cheap lands and goodsociety. 

The chief points are, after passing Minneapolis, Lake Minnetonka, Dassel, Smith Lake, Litchfield, and Wilmar. At the latter place there isa very pretty lake close to the village, with numerous others within acircuit of ten miles, and all are well stocked with fish; and in thespring and fall wild-fowl--ducks, geese, swans, and all our migratingbirds, frequent them in great numbers. Moose are occasionally seen a fewmiles west of the town, --between it and the Chippewa River inconsiderable droves. There is a very nice hotel at this point, kept byan obliging host. 

At Litchfield, good society and a somewhat larger village isencountered, but with less of sporting and outdoor amusements. Near thisplace resides the invalid son of Senator Howard of Michigan. He came tothe State a confirmed consumptive, having hemorrhages and in that stateof "general debility" incident to this disease, but is now in goodhealth, the result of the climate and out-of-door exercise in which hehas freely indulged, having taken a farm and rolled up his sleeves, determined to save himself--as he has. 

It cannot be expected that a brief sojourn in this State will work anymarvellous cure. Herein lies one of the principal difficulties. Apatient comes to Minnesota, and, having heard much of its power torestore the enfeebled, expects to become strong and well within a fewdays. They should disabuse their minds of this error before they startfrom home. The process of restoration with the consumptive is slow, as arule, though some recover, it is true, very rapidly, yet with the most ayear is as little time as can reasonably be expected for climate andexercise to complete a cure. It is better, if the climate is found toagree, to make the State a permanent home. A return to the old climateand occupation in which the disease originated is only to court itsreappearance. 

Lake Minnetonka, the place first above mentioned, is, however, _the_point for both pleasure-seekers and invalids who are well enough to"rough it. " An hour's ride from St. Paul brings you to this, the mostlovely of all the lakes in the State, to our thinking. It is really aseries of lakes, all bounded by irregular shores; while, in places, occur deep bays and inlets, giving picturesqueness and beauty beyond allordinary fancyings. 

Near the railway station are two hotels (the furthest being the best), where good fare, and at reasonable rates, can be had, with row-boatsthrown in, _ad libitum_. This lake is one of the pleasure resorts forthe people of both St. Paul and Minneapolis. Excursion tickets are soldfor every train running thither, and many go up simply to enjoy a day'sfishing and sailing. 

There is a little steamer running from near the railway station, whichis close to the edge of the lake, to the village of Excelsior, sixmiles distant, near which lives one of the best guides to the fishinggrounds of the lake. But a guide is not at all essential to the amateur, or those in simple quest of fun, pleasure, or health, since the fishhere are so plentiful that all will have luck, whether they haveexperience or not. 

Near "Round Island, " and off "Spirit Knob, " in this lake, are favoritehaunts of the fish, yet the "big ones" are not plentiful now at thesepoints, though their resorts are well known to most of the oldfishermen. 

To tell of the size and abundance of the fish here will, perhaps, courtdisbelief; yet we state "what we know, " when we say that a singlefisherman starting, with the "guide" before referred to, at eighto'clock in the morning, came to the wharf at noon--after rowing adistance of six miles to make port--with a catch of about one hundredweight of fish, chiefly pickerel, one of which weighed twelve pounds, and measured near three feet in length. Another and less successfulparty of two, instead of catching a "big one, " came near being caught byhim. It was a funny incident altogether. They were from "down east, "where pickerel don't weigh over a pound or so, on the average, unlessfed on _shot_ after being hauled in, all out of pure regard for thehungry and worried creatures, of course. Well, this party, allenthusiastic and eager, cast the line, when, lo! a monster pickerelgobbled the bait and away he went, carrying the floats under and thefisherman over and into the watery deep, with his heel and head justabove water level only. The fish, including the "odd one, " weresubsequently pulled in by the man in the boat who is accustomed to"takes. "

Boarding can be had, at the hotels and private houses in the vicinity ofthe lake, at from seven to ten dollars per week. For the summer season, country life should by all means be the rule. In the inclement portionsof the year the towns are most desirable; St. Paul and Minneapolistaking the lead as places of resort, and they are, at these seasons, themost desirable. 

In the vicinity of St. Paul there are a number of lakes. The nearest, Lake Como, is a pretty sheet of water, and affords one of thefashionable drives out of the city. It is intended, we believe, in thenear future, by the authorities of St. Paul, to incorporate it, withseveral hundred acres, into a grand park and pleasure-grounds. It shouldbe done. 

White Bear Lake, a dozen miles out on the Lake Superior and M. Railroad, is a favorite place with all classes. Its shores are thickly wooded andthe fishing rivals that of Minnetonka. There are a score of boatsanchored on the shore of this lake awaiting visitors; and the two hotelsprovide for the needful rest and comfort of guests. This point issecond in interest only to that of Minnetonka Lake for both invalids andpleasure-seekers during the summer and fall months. 

Up the Minnesota valley, while it is the most attractive in scenery andmost fertile in crops, is not quite as desirable for the invalid as theplaces already named. Though Shakopee, Le Sueur, St. Peter's, andMadelia are not very objectionable in a sanitary point of view. 

Still the valley is sloping, and its villages and towns are, for themost part, situated on the low lands, and cannot have as dry ordesirable an atmosphere for patients as some other places. Yet theexceptions noted above are, perhaps, above the average in health so faras location is concerned. If, however, any invalid has relatives orfriends living in the State and can find a home among them, then, evenif the location was not as good as other points, this would becounterbalanced by other advantages such as come from being among them. 

The principle town of this valley is Mankato. This is destined tooutstrip many of those places which at present outrank it. It mustbecome the most important railroad centre in the State outside of thecapital. Situate in the very heart of the most fertile district, andpossessing a population both industrious and enterprising, its future isbright and promising to a high degree. Its location is unfavorable forinvalids, and should, as a rule, be avoided by them. Fogs occur here, and the place is low, and soil too rich, and of a generally too wetcharacter to insure the highest health to delicate and enfeebledvisitors. 

The Falls of Minneopa are near here and are worth a visit from thetourist. Some esteem them as excelling in attractiveness any and allothers in the State. 

The prairies beyond Mankato, along the St. Paul and Sioux City Railway, afford the best "chicken" shooting that we know of, and much of thehunting for this game is done along the line of this road. 

The southeastern section of the State, in which are situated Rochester, Owatonna, and Austin, and other budding cities, is, at present, with thevalley of the Minnesota, the great wheat-growing region. But it is notalone in the cultivation of serials that the farmers may become"fore-handed. " The climate is favorable to nearly all of the products ofthe middle and northern portions of the Union, with some kinds of fruitexcepted. Indeed, we found growing in the garden of Horace Thompson, inSt. Paul, the southern cotton-plant, which (while the seed had not beenplanted by ten days as early as it might have been in the spring) was inbloom in August, and by September it had begun to boll, and anotherfortnight would have easily matured portions of the same. Thisillustrates in a general way the length and power of the growing seasonin this State. The climate, so far as crops are concerned, is perhaps acounterpart of New England. 

Here, in this southeast section, are the handsome homes and well-filledbarns of an industrious and thrifty people. The traveller through thisbeautiful portion of the State can scarce keep from breaking one of theten commandments as he witnesses a people so well to do and so happy inthe possession of their productive acres. 

Here, all immigrants may, by following out to the terminus of thepenetrating railways, find cheap and good lands awaiting them, and wherejust as beautiful homes may be made as in that portion nearer theriver--now teeming with life and industries--but which, a few briefyears since, was as desolate and untenanted as are the unbroken prairiesto the westward. The prices vary, according to location and character, from five to fifteen dollars per acre, though a majority of the wildlands can be had at from six to eight dollars. The "St. Paul and SiouxCity Road" have thousands of acres along their line which they are readyand anxious to dispose of to settlers. The value of these lands isusually doubled the moment they are broken and occupied even with butinferior buildings--only so that shelter is obtained. For "new comers, "wishing new lands, this road and that of the "St. Paul and Pacific MainLine Railway, " at Wilmar, and on to the fertile valley of the RedRiver, afford, in our judgment, the best lands. This latter road, nowthat it is under the control of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, isdestined to play an important part in the settlement and development ofthat vast region--so rich in agricultural wealth--lying along the Red, Saskatchawan, and Assiniboine Rivers. It must indeed prove the linkwhich some day, in the near future, will bind the new province ofManitoba and the adjacent country to the northwest of it. 

It is, indeed, the intention of the Northern Pacific Road to constructfrom the point of junction of the St. Paul and Duluth arms, on the RedRiver, a branch road, northward to Pembina, and it cannot be long ere itwill be continued to Hudson's Bay. 

The trade and travel between British America and the States, overlandfrom the present terminal points of the arms from St. Paul of theN. P. R. , is quite considerable, giving constant employment, during thesummer and fall, to about one thousand ox-teams. Goods from all parts ofEurope and the States are obliged for the most part to take this route. The distance overland is about four hundred and fifty miles. It is asingular and picturesque sight to witness one of these trains, whethercoming in or departing. They sometimes number a hundred teams, thoughoftener much less. They are all single ox-teams, the vehicles beingtwo-wheeled. A convenient sort of harness is used on the oxen, notunlike, in style, that on our truck horses. One driver--a half-breedusually--manages a half-dozen teams by tying the heads of the five tothe rear of each cart and then leading the sixth or foremost team bymeans of a raw-hide rope attached to the animal's head. One thousandpounds constitutes a load for a strong ox. Thus stoves, flour, implements of agriculture, bales of goods, and even boxes of choicewines from France, marked "For the Bishop of Prince Rupert's Land, viâSt. Paul, U. S. A. " Either the body of the church or that of the bishopmust be large, judging from the quantity of these wet goods which we sawmoving to the frontier. 

There is a freshness in Western life that charms one, especially at thefirst. New scenes, new faces, new customs, new methods of speech, combine to give a delight to this experience of novelty. There is amental exhilaration that tones the mind to a high pitch of enthusiasmand rich enjoyment, just as there is a marvellous quality in the air tobrace the system and strengthen the nervous centres. Who that has gonethrough this double process of acclimation, as one might call it, doesnot retain a good impression of their experience in memory, and likewisein physique?

The dialect of the West differs from that of the East in many of thenon-essentials, yet, perhaps, enough of variance is observed to make itnoticeable and altogether piquant to the wide-awake Yankee, who, inturn, balances the Western "reckoning" by his unique "kalkilations. " Butneither are as absurd as the Cockney, who gets off his ridiculousnonsense, as, for example, the following: "Ho Lord, help us to take holdof the horns of the haltar, " etc. 

The observant mind can, by keeping eyes and ears open, extract much ofinformation and amusement when travelling anywhere--especially throughthe West--where vigorous thought and action are at all timesencountered. 

CHAPTER XI. 

DULUTH. 

Its location and rapid growth. --Who named for. --Enterprise of itspeople. --Its fine harbor. --Duluth Bay. --The steamship connection witheastern cities. --Pleasure travel up the lakes. --The Lake Superior andMississippi Railroad. --The shortest route East for grain. --Publicimprovements. --The fishing, lumber, and mining interests. 

Away at the head of our lake system stands a most marvellousillustration of the rapid growth, in population and power, of theAmerican people. 

It is less than ten years since the nearly impenetrable forest waslevelled to make way for the infant city of Duluth, which, under theinspiring hand of genius and capital, has grown to the importance ofchartered rights and privileges more quickly than any other city withwhich we are familiar. 

It is situated on the immediate shore of the lake, and across theshoulder of what is known as Minnesota Point, --a long scythe-shapedsand-bar, six miles in length, caused by the action of the waves, separating the waters of Duluth Bay from those of the lake, --andextending along the shore of said Duluth Bay. 

From the lake back to the top of the bluff, a mile distant, the ascentis easy and regular, affording one of the loveliest sites for thefoundation of a great and beautiful city. 

Duluth was named for Daniel Greyson Duluth, a native of France, who wasthe first white man to explore the head-waters of Lake Superior. Helanded here in 1679, and advanced far into the interior, westward, toward the Mississippi, cultivating friendly relations with the tribesinhabiting this portion of the country. From his time to the presentlittle or nothing has been done toward the founding, at this point, of aplace suitable to the great possibilities of trade and commerce. Thusthe spell which seemed to shut from view this key-point of a vastinterior country remained till the prophetic eye of capital discoveredand possessed it. 

That this wilderness, heretofore so wrapt in mystery, should now blossominto life, seems quite plain to the commonest observer of us all. 

How faith is given us when success walks hand-in-hand with enterprise. 

Though the city of Duluth is only ten years old, it boasts a populationof over three thousand, with many of the conveniences of oldersettlements. Its streets are laid out with great regularity, and theprincipal one, next the lake, full a mile in length, is lined alongnearly its whole extent with stores and warehouses of every kind anddescription. The sound of the hammer and saw may be heard on every side. 

Buildings so crowd upon the forest that the woodman is hard pressed toclear the way; and thus the brave work goes on of transforming thiswilderness into gardens where roses in their season bloom abundantly. 

We counted not less than five handsome churches, all erected the pastyear, representing as many different denominations, and, in point ofstyle and interior finish, quite up to the requirements of the mostenlightened taste. Two convenient and comfortable hotels give rest andrefreshment. Ample provision is being made for public schools; and theprojectors of the town have, in their wisdom, set apart one entiresquare on which a ladies' seminary is to be erected; in short, everything is being done in a most determined and energetic manner. There is no place for idlers here. Such a wide-awake community naturallyweeds itself of them; and, consequently, the society is industrious andmoral, if not always elegant and pretentious. 

Duluth will in time possess a completely landlocked harbor, and indeedhas it already, but not at present as accessible as it will soon be madeto the commerce seeking her wharves. The work of cutting a ship channelacross the shoulder of the sand-bar before referred to is in progress, the distance being but a few hundred feet of loose earth, which, whencompleted, will open communication to an immense bay, where all thecommerce of the lakes might ride at anchor in perfect safety, were someslight dredging done to increase the present depth of water. This bay isnow reached by a circuit of half-dozen miles around the end of thissand-bar, known as Minnesota Point. The Bay of Duluth must eventually, we think, be the great harbor, though a breakwater is in course ofconstruction, which, when completed and made permanent, will give ampleshelter to all immediate necessities. Costly wharves have beenconstructed on the lake side of the Point, and there vessels load andunload almost constantly. 

Since it is the established policy of the government to improve therivers and harbors of the country, surely the small needs of this placeought not to be overlooked. While private enterprise can and does domuch, yet it is a sound theory for the general government, which derivesits revenues from the people, to aid them in removing or building suchobstructions or guards as the merits of the case and the publicinterest-demand. 

Already the trade and commerce of the town employs about a dozensteamships, and numerous sailing vessels are also kept in motion, transporting supplies for the great railway enterprise which has itseastern base at this point. 

There are three lines of propellers plying between this port andBuffalo, Cleveland, and Detroit, each employing three ships, while thereis an additional line to and from Chicago. They together average fourarrivals weekly. The trip from Buffalo is performed in little less thana week, that being the most distant of the respective places. Thesesteamers have accommodations for over half a hundred cabin passengers, as a rule, and both invalids and pleasure travellers will find this, inevery respect, the most interesting and comfortable means of access toMinnesota during the summer season. Formerly many availed themselves ofsuch facilities as there then was to make, during the summer, the grandtour of the lakes, but were obliged to return by the route they came. Now, however, the tourist is not compelled to turn back from the head ofLake Superior, as in former days, since the completion of the railwayfrom Duluth to St. Paul, connecting the head of the great lakes with thenavigable head of the great river, permits a sweep of travel through theinterior of the continent such as is not enjoyed elsewhere on the globe, either in distance, interest, or variety. Each year must give added fameto this route. 

Duluth is at the extreme western limit of all the great lakes of theinterior, and must eventually become the commercial centre for theNorthwest. It is already reaching out its arms to grasp the trade andcommerce of that region, which, once in its control, must ever remaintributary to it. The Lake Superior and Mississippi Railway--one hundredand fifty-four miles in length--above referred to, inaugurates a new erain the agricultural interests of the State, and opens an entirely newline of travel. By means of this road the products of Central andSouthern Minnesota are placed three hundred miles nearer laketransportation eastward than heretofore, since the distance toChicago--the present point of destination for these things--by rail isthat much greater. This new outlet connects at St. Paul with all of theinterior lines of railroad in the State, likewise with the navigation ofthe Mississippi, and on the completion of the St. Paul and Sioux CityRoad, will drain one of the most fertile valleys, in wealth of exports, to be found in any portion of the West. 

The great staple of all this region of country is wheat, and thequestion of its rapid and cheap transportation is a most important one, both to the producer and consumer. Combinations have been formed in thepast whereby the carriage and price was subject to the control of a few, to the great detriment of the producer; but this wheat oligarchy is nowlikely to receive its quietus in view of this new and competing outletto eastern markets by way of Duluth. 

The water transportation eastward from the latter city is at as low arate as from Chicago, while the time is by a day in favor of Duluth, owing to the less favorable winds over Lake Michigan. 

It is assumed by some that in view of the lower latitude of Chicago, theadvantage of that city must ever remain pre-eminent, since the iceobstruction would be less, giving to commerce a much longer season thanit could enjoy at any other of the great ports on either of the twowesternmost lakes. This seems plausible at first view, but is hardlyjustified by actual facts. The difference, though slight, is notsufficient to hold any valid claim to a monopoly in the carrying tradeof these inland seas. While the ice disappears earlier by a few days atChicago than at Duluth, in consequence of its geographical position, itwill be observed that the course of its lake commerce is due northward, and before that of the two rival lakes meet in the common waters ofHuron, they must both pass through narrow and contiguous straits, inboth of which the ice obstructions leave about the same time. Hence theadvantages of the one port over that of the other, to the shipper, arenot of any great moment, and are more than counterbalanced by the lesstime occupied in reaching the Lake Erie ports from Duluth, over thatconsumed by vessels from Chicago, growing out of the more favorablewinds blowing over Superior, as before mentioned. 

The advantage, then, by this new route to the East (_viâ_ Duluth for aportion of Northern Iowa and Southern and Central Minnesota) is a savingof the three hundred miles of extra rail transportation incurred by wayof Lake Michigan; to say nothing of avoiding the exorbitant tolls andinexplicable delays of the latter route. The difference inhering to thebenefit of the public, between the two routes, has been estimated, amounts to about one dollar per barrel in favor of this new outlet. Ifthis can be proved true by practical experience, it must inevitably turnthe golden stream of grain into the lap of Duluth, since destiny itselfis not more certain than that the speediest and cheapest lines will dothe world's marketing. 

Anticipating the wants of this route, there has been erected at Duluth, during the past season, an immense elevator, with a present capacity ofover a third of a million of bushels, which, with a small additionalexpenditure, can be increased to a half million. Its proximity to thedocks and railway is such that grain can be taken from the cars upon oneside, and loaded directly into vessels upon the other, or stored, as thecase may be. 

The elements of future prosperity surround this new city and lie at hervery doors. The north shores of Superior are rich in iron, copper, andsilver; while the southern already supply the markets of the Union withthe most of its copper, which has grown from small beginnings (of twentyyears ago) to be one of the great interests in all our many valuablemining arts. 

The fishing interest, which already gives employment to a great numberof people, is in the first stages of development. They are now takenchiefly at the straits, but the business may be made extremelyprofitable at Duluth, since the head of the lake is their naturalfeeding-ground, and thousands swarm these waters. We all have eaten ofthe lake trout and white-fish, which may be had in the most of ourcities and towns, and know how successfully they compete with the bestof our salt-water article. It is already an important and growing trade, and highly profitable. 

Each morning during our stay in Duluth the tables of the "Clark House"were served with both of these delicacies; and these fish certainlysurpass, when taken fresh, any fish it was ever our fortune to eat. Thecost of living is much cheapened in consequence of their abundance, andsurely nothing more wholesome can be placed on the table. 

If Duluth had but the one interest, that of lumber, its prosperity wouldbe assured. It lies in the very heart of a vast district abounding inpine-forests, and which have scarcely been explored, and we believe muchof it remains unsurveyed by the general government up to the presenttime. The St. Louis River, which empties into Duluth and Superior Bays, courses, with its branches, a thousand miles among the dense forests ofpine; and yet this is but a fraction of the immense tract of valuabletimber to the north and west of this young and nourishing city. 

There is no lack of water-power to reduce the raw material to amarketable condition, since the river above named can turn all thewheels of every mill in the country, could they be planted beside it. The point of contact by the river with the outlying rim of the basin ofthe great lake is at the village of Thompson, some twenty miles distantfrom Duluth, on the St. Paul Railroad. [D] Here the waters of the St. Louis River struggle by and over this rim of rocks, downward and onward, roaring and surging in their tumultuous ways, to the level below. Theserapids are known as the "Dalles of the St. Louis, " and extend some fourand a half miles in an elbow direction. If a canal were cut across thiselbow, this splendid water-power could be utilized beyond that of anyother in the country. 

What a field for enterprise is presented to lumbermen! A vast forest, ariver furnishing transportation and unlimited power for manufacturing, and, finally, an open sea, with almost countless markets!

Besides this, there lies among the cliffs and high lands adjoining therapids of this river inexhaustible quarries of slate, surpassing, we areinformed, those of England in quality and quantity, and which must erelong receive that attention they seem to demand at the hands of capital. 

The now rude village of Thompson--named for J. Edgar Thompson, ofPhiladelphia--with its half dozen extemporized buildings, in the quietof the woods, will ere long resound with the hum of many industries, andalready has considerable importance as being the point of junction ofthe two great railways entering Duluth--the St. Paul and the Puget Sound(Northern Pacific) Roads; the latter traversing a vast territoryabounding in everything which contributes to the growth of anagricultural and manufacturing people. 

The city of Duluth, seated at the eastern gate way of this new andsplendid domain, holds in her golden horn the destinies of many populousand powerful States. 

FOOTNOTES:

[D] Known as the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad. 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

The Northwest. --Its great extent and character. --Jay Cooke, Esq. --TheNorthern Pacific Railroad and its advantages. --The general line of theroad. --The shortest route to Asia. --The Red River valley. --PugetSound. --The future of our country. 

The vast reach of country lying between the Bed River and the Cascaderange of mountains possesses, to some extent, a climate little inferiorin healthfulness to that of Minnesota itself. The same dry, westerlywinds sweep over it, and are even more marked in their continentalcharacter. Invalids will undoubtedly find as great advantages arisingfrom a residence there as in any other part of the Union, yet for thepresent there are no means of easy access to any portion of this immensedistrict. By-and-by this will be changed. 

The many natural curiosities abounding in this little-explored regionwould alone prove sufficient to attract thither great numbers of ourpeople, but when the almost unparalleled attractions of the climate areadded, the travel and immigration must eventually become enormous. 

The Northern Pacific Railroad, --the power which is destined totransform these Territories into States, --is being pushed rapidlywestward, with the promise of an early completion. 

To the energy of Jay Cooke, of Philadelphia, the distinguished bankerand philanthropist, will belong, perhaps, the chief honor of itscompletion. Not that this great enterprise might not be begun andcarried to a triumphal close by others, --since the government subsidieswould, in time, together with the demand for this additional highwayacross the continent, enlist men of resolute character and amplemeans, --yet, withal, every new and great undertaking has somewhere acorrespondingly great spirit, impelling self and co-workers to thecontest and achievement of the desired ends, and we recognize in thisvast enterprise the hand of this indefatigable man. Of course the ableand influential associates in the board of directors must share in thehonor of this national work, and their names will go down in history asamong the benefactors of the country in which they lived. [E]

How lightly we speak now of continental roads since one is a veritablefact. Novelties, to Americans, pass rapidly away. 

How few realized, in 1860, that the coming decade would witness thecompletion of one and the beginning of another iron road across thecontinent. Ah! those brief years brought revolution in many things. Thesocial fabric of half the Union was not less overturned in this briefperiod than were the accustomed avenues along which ran the world'strade and commerce. 

The Northern Pacific Railroad was chartered by Congress in 1864, and wasapproved by President Lincoln on the second of July of that year. It hasno government aid beyond a right of way and cession of the public landsalong its line; each alternate section for a width of twenty miles inthe States and forty miles in the territories. This, as is estimated, will give, according to the survey of Gen. W. M. Roberts, about fiftymillions of acres, [F] large portions of which are known to be veryfertile, while much will lie in the rich mining districts of MontanaTerritory. 

This generous donation of public lands by the people is well deserved bythis second great national enterprise. It is the only method whereby theisolated and distant portions of the interior can become utilized. Thevalue of the remaining lands of the government will become tenfold whatthe whole would be if left to time and private enterprise for theirdevelopment. The work was actively begun in 1870 on the Duluth end ofthis road; and it is expected that the present year (1871) will see itcompleted to the Red River, a distance of about two hundred andthirty-three miles from the above-named city. Quite a number of miles ofiron had been laid at the time of our late visit, and as many more milesgraded; with half a thousand men actively engaged in forwarding the vastundertaking. 

The road is already completed to the Mississippi above Crow Wing, andfrom there will follow in nearly a straight line to Fort Abercrombie, the head of navigation on the Bed River. Here it will unite with the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (owned and operated by the Northern PacificRailway, a branch of which it now is), already in running order half thedistance from St. Paul. This line, with all its rights and franchises, has been recently purchased by the Northern Pacific, and will greatlyaid in supporting the main trunk when completed. 

In addition to the force on the eastern end of this road, there has beenassembled at the Pacific terminus an able corps of engineers andcontractors, who have already commenced the construction there, and thusthe great road across the continent will be pushed to final completion, probably within five years from the first commencement of theundertaking. 

The road, as located by Engineer Roberts in his report, is laid fromthe head-waters of Lake Superior in a nearly due westerly line acrossthe State of Minnesota to Red River, near Fort Abercrombie; thence"across the Dakota and Missouri Rivers to the valley of the YellowStone, and along that valley to Bozeman's Pass, through the Belt rangeof mountains; thence down the Gallatin Valley, crossing the MadisonRiver, and over to the Jefferson Valley, and along that to the DeerLodge Pass of the Rocky Mountains; thence along Clarke's Valley to LakePend d'Oreille, and from this lake across the Columbia plain to Lewis orSnake River; down that to its junction with the Columbia; along theColumbia to the Cowlitz, and over the portage to Puget Sound, along itssouthern extremity, to any part which may be selected. "

A branch road is to follow the Columbia River to the vicinity ofPortland, together with a link connecting the two western arms. 

By this route, which may be materially departed from in the finallocation, the distance will swell to near two thousand miles between thetwo grand termini, and it is estimated will cost, with its equipments, from seventy-five to one hundred millions of dollars. 

The route of this road is known to be more feasible than was that of thepresent line to California. Its elevations are much less, and thenatural obstructions of the mountain ranges more easily surmounted, while the climate invites, on account of its high sanitary character, both the immigrant and invalid. 

The line from Omaha to California shows that for nine hundred miles theroad has an average height above the sea of over five thousand feet, thelowest point in that stretch being over four thousand; while thecorresponding distance, embracing the mountain ranges, along thisNorthern Pacific line, is near two thousand feet lower than the other, giving, in this difference in elevation, according to the usualestimate, over nine degrees advantage in temperature. This becomesimportant in an agricultural view, as well as in the immediate andconstant benefit in the increased facility for operating a railway. 

In addition, the curvature of the thermal lines of the continent bearaway to the northward of the surveyed route of this great enterprise, insuring almost entire freedom from snow obstructions other than iscommon to any of the principal railway lines in the States themselves. 

The extent of country tributary to this road is entirely unparalleled bythat of any other. Along the present finished continental line anuninhabitable alkaline desert stands across and along its pathway formany miles, while the Northern line leaps from valley to valley, allmore or less productive, and in which large supplies of coal and timberare found sufficient for ages to come. 

Of this region, and the general line of this road, the Hon. SchuylerColfax writes as follows:--

"Along the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, as it follows up thewater-courses, the Missouri and the Yellowstone on this side, anddescends by the Valley of the Columbia on the other, a vast body ofagricultural land is waiting for the plow, with a climate almost exactlythe same as that of New York, except that, with less snow, cattle in thelarger portion of it can subsist on the open range in winter. Here, ifclimate and fertility of soil produce their natural result, whenrailroad facilities open this now isolated region to settlement, willsoon be seen waving grain-fields, and happy homes, and growing towns, while ultimately a cordon of prosperous States, teeming with population, and rich in industry and consequent wealth, will occupy that nowundeveloped and almost inaccessible portion of our continental area. 

"But this road is also fortunate in its pathway across the two ranges ofmountains which tested so severely the Pacific Railroads built on thecentral line, and the overcoming of which reflected such well-deservedhonor on their energetic builders. At the Deer Lodge Pass, in Montana, where it crosses the Rocky Mountains, its altitude above the sea isthree thousand five hundred feet less than the Union Pacific Railroad atSherman, which is said to be the highest point at which a locomotive canbe found in the world. And on the Pacific side of the continent it iseven more fortunate. From Arizona up to the Arctic Circle the Columbiais the only river which, has torn its way through that mighty range, theAndes of North America, which in California is known as the Sierras, butwhich in Oregon changes its name to the Cascades. Nature has thusprovided a pathway for the Northern Pacific Road through thesemountains, the scaling of which, on the other line, at an elevation ofover seven thousand feet (a most wonderful triumph of engineering), costthe Central Pacific millions of dollars, and compelled them for seventymiles to maintain a grade of over one hundred feet to the mile--twicethe maximum of the Northern Pacific at the most difficult points on itsentire route. 

"It is fortunate, also, in its terminus on the Pacific coast. No one whohas not been there can realize the beauty of Puget's Sound and itssurroundings. One hundred miles long, but so full of inlets and straitsthat its navigable shore line measures one thousand seven hundred andsixty miles, dotted with lovely islets, with gigantic trees almost tothe water's edge, with safe anchorage everywhere, and stretchingsouthward, without shoals or bars, from the Straits of Fuca to thecapital and centre of Washington Territory, it will be a magnificent_entrepôt_ for the commerce of that grandest ocean of the world, thePacific. "

One of the chief districts to be opened to trade and commerce by theconstruction of this road is that known as Prince Rupert's Land, inBritish America. This region of country has been recently organizedunder the name of Manitoba, and embraces the rich and extensive valleysof the Red, Assiniboine, and Saskatchewan Rivers. A population ofseveral thousands already inhabit this section, and a branch railway isto be constructed along the valley of the Red River from the point ofcrossing by the Northern Pacific Road, and under its immediate auspices. The influence on this people, whose interests will then be almost whollyidentified with those of our own, cannot be doubtful. It requires noprophecy to determine their ultimate destiny. The time is not distantwhen all of British America must become "one and indivisible" with us, and the knell of parting government is likely to be sooner sounded inthe region of the Red River than elsewhere along the line of ourfrontier. 

An additional advantage inheres in this Northern Pacific line of primeimportance, and that is in the fact of its offering to commerce ashorter route by several hundred miles to the Pacific coast than thatwhich now exists. To Japan and China, from Puget Sound, is likewise, bymore than half a thousand miles, less than from the port of SanFrancisco. This difference is sufficient to give, eventually, to thisroute the carrying trade of those countries. 

Who can question the greatness and power which lies slumbering alongthe line of this royal road, through which, as through a great, pulsingartery, the life, --even now already dawning, --will soon throb with aforce which shall vitalize this Territory, vast as an empire, and richerthan the fabled realms of an Arabian tale. 

FOOTNOTES:

[E] _Board of Directors_. --Messrs. J. Gregory Smith, R. D. Rice, ThomasH. Canfield, W. B. Ogden, William G. Morehead, W. G. Fargo, B. P. Cheney, Geo. W. Cass, Frederick Billings, William Windom, James Stinson, SamuelM. Felton, Charles B. Wright. _Trustees_, --Messrs. Jay Cooke and J. Edgar Thompson. 

[F] The line, it is now judged, will give about sixty millions of acres. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

OTHER CLIMATES THAN MINNESOTA. 

Sketches of other climates and localities favorable toinvalids. --California. --Mortuary statistics of San Francisco. --The wetand dry seasons. --San Diego the best place. --Florida and itsreputation. --Nassau as a resort. --Fayal and its climate, --English andAmerican visitors. --Means of access. 

Other climates and localities than Minnesota have for many years enjoyedmore or less of a high reputation as healthful resorts for theconsumptive, and while the chief purpose of this volume has been theconsideration of the character and climate of our Northwest, yet itseems not inappropriate that some mention at least should be given tothese other places, even though it be extremely brief. Beyond a generaloutlining of some of the prevailing characteristics appertaining to eachlocality, we do not deem it desirable or necessary to go, since all whocontemplate journeys to any one of them will, of course, consult suchwriters as have considered in detail the various merits or demerits ofthe several climates. 

Considerable attention has been called the last few years to thereputed healthfulness of the State of

CALIFORNIA. 

The first years of its occupation by Americans very triflingconsideration was given by any one to any data whereby the truecharacter of the climate could be judged. It was a new experiencealtogether for people of the old States to encounter a region possessingmany characteristics of a semi-tropical country in combination withthose with which they were familiar in the latitude of their own homes. To see roses blooming in the gardens of San Francisco during the wintermonths, and experiencing in summer cool, restful nights, was quitecalculated to call forth much of earnest and cordial compliment, whetherany real virtue inhered in the climate of this particular locality ornot. While this flattering state of things existed at San Francisco, back among the Sierras the poor miners had many and doubtful strugglesin trying to ward off the severe and frequent storms which prevailthroughout the long and tedious winters. 

The peculiar geographical position of this State, in conjunction withits elevated mountain ranges, gives to it nearly every climate, fromthat of the equator up to the limit of the temperate zone; and while theatmosphere of one neighborhood is bland and delightful, that of anotheris quite disagreeable and trying. No general character obtains for thatof the whole State. The eastern sides of the mountains are everywheremore dry and elastic than are the western, and for tubercular cases arepreferable to the sea-coast, though the vicinity of San Francisco would, for simple bronchial affections, be best, --yet we do not regard eitherof these points as specially desirable as places of resort. 

An examination of the mortuary statistics of San Francisco for 1870, asgiven by the _Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal_, in the Februarynumber of this year, discloses an alarming percentage of deaths byconsumption. For instance, the population of the city is one hundred andfifty thousand, while the deaths by consumption were five hundred forthe year (round numbers), which gives one death to every three hundredinhabitants, being but a shade more favorable than is that of NewEngland for this particular disease. Still this is not, perhaps, a fairtest of the climate, since a number of the decedents are among those, probably, who came from other portions of the country seeking arestoration on this coast. 

The general health, however, of San Francisco is shown to be, by thesame authority, better than that of the average of large cities in theolder States. 

While the temperature in winter at San Francisco is maintained at acomparatively high point, --allowing the outdoor cultivation of some ofthe hardier varieties of flowering shrubs, --the atmosphere, meanwhile, is damp and chilling, and extremely detrimental to most cases of lungdifficulties. 

The climate of California is, in the neighborhood of San Francisco, andnorthward, divided into two distinct seasons, --that of the wet and dry. The wet season begins usually in November, and terminates in May, whilethe dry season embraces the remaining portion of the year. Of course thelength of either varies considerably, as do all our seasons everywherein the temperate latitudes. The quantity of rain falling in this wetseason equals that of the entire fall for New England, [G] and coming inthe cooler portion of the year has just those demerits, to aconsiderable, though modified degree, which inhere in the climate of theAtlantic coast, of which we have spoken elsewhere in detail. 

The southern portion of California, however, presents a radical dryclimate, and is quite free from those wet and dry seasons which obtainin central and northern California. The amount of annual rain-fall is, in the region of

SAN DIEGO, about ten inches, and while it is true that this precipitation is insympathy with, and indeed is distributed over a portion of what is knownas the "wet season, " in Upper California, yet it does not amount toenough in quantity to establish a wet season. The balance of the yearthe air is dry and elastic, and highly favorable, so far as we are ableto judge, to all cases of pulmonary troubles. 

San Diego is an old Spanish town, and for many years has been neglected, and not till recently has it shown much signs of recuperation. But, nowthat some Yankee pioneers have settled in the town and neighborhood, itsprospects brighten. 

Fruits of all kinds, such as peaches, oranges, figs, and plums flourishin the neighborhood, and in time must form one of the chief articles ofcommerce. Few places offer so good an opportunity for stock-grazing asdoes this fertile region. 

This old city is, ere long, to become the terminus of one of our greatcontinental lines of railway, namely, the Southern Pacific. 

Access is had, at the present time, either overland from San Jose, or bya monthly steamer from San Francisco, the distance being, by water, overthree hundred and-fifty miles. 

FLORIDA

is certainly the only State among all of those lying east of theMississippi River to which invalids may resort with advantage, so far asthe climate is concerned. There are points in others of the SouthernStates, such as Aikin, where two years out of three, perhaps, consumptives, in certain stages, may go with benefit; yet there is noAtlantic or Gulf State with a climate and soil adapted to aid in thecure of bronchial and catarrh troubles and nervous prostration at allcomparable to Florida in the winter season. 

In cases of lung difficulties, where tubercles have begun to form, suchwould find a cool, dry, elastic air best, except when the disease hasbeen induced by some mental or emotional shock: such are benefitted mostby a mild, sunny atmosphere, since the depressed spirits are, underthese favoring circumstances, more easily rallied. 

The St. John River is the section most visited, together with St. Augustine, on the Atlantic sea-coast; yet so soon as Tampa Bay and KeyWest possess accommodations, they will be found more favorable, sincethe equability is somewhat greater. [H]

There are several islands in the Atlantic Ocean to the south andeastward of us which have become somewhat celebrated as places oftemporary residence for the consumptive. 

That of

NASSAU (N. P. ), the nearest to our coast, has some claims upon our attention. Thetemperature does not greatly vary from that of Southern Florida, exceptthat it may have a shade more of equability. 

The island of New Providence, of which Nassau is the capital, is one ofthe group constituting the Bahama Islands, lying directly east of theFlorida coast, and about three hundred and fifty miles distant from it. The town is regularly and well built, and during our "lateunpleasantness" was the principal rendezvous of the scores ofblockade-runners. Since the war the place has resumed its calm andpeaceful habits, and is again frequented, during the winter, by manyinvalids from the North and others who seek a temporary home in a genialclime. 

San Domingo, should it be annexed, will probably become a place ofresort for many people, but at present, while its climate in winter ischarming, and the country in the vicinity of Samana Bay beautiful, yetits accommodations are wretched, and likely to remain so for some timeto come. 

The benefits arising from the climate of these two islands ispractically the same as in Florida, while the accommodations are not asextensive, though in Nassau are quite acceptable, though limited. Regular communication is had by steamer to and from New York once eachmonth. 

FAYAL, two thousand miles eastward and near the coast of Spain, is little knownto the American public, yet it has held a high character among theEuropeans for several generations in the matter of its climate. Thisisland forms one of the Azorean group, and possesses the finest harborof them all. Horta, its capital, is located at the head of this harbor, and is quite a handsome town, situated on the southeastern side of theisland. 

The climate is mild, and, to a high degree, healthful; and invalidsderive great benefit from a residence there. England is the most largelyrepresented among them, though a few Americans are nearly always to befound, chiefly from Boston and vicinity, from which place occasionalsailing-packets may be had to the island, though the most direct routeis by way of England, whence the steamers of the West India Mail Companycall regularly at Horta. 

The island is of volcanic origin, and its principal elevation is somethree thousand feet, while the remaining portion is of a somewhat ruggedcharacter, though of the twenty-seven thousand five hundred and twentyacres comprising it, about one-half is under cultivation, and much ofthis is extremely fertile. The chief products are wheat, corn, potatoes;while wine and oranges are raised in large quantities for exportation. 

In former times, when the whaling interest of the country was in aflourishing condition, between one and two hundred whale-ships touched, in their outward passage, at this island; and even now many Americanvessels call here for water and supplies. 

Some years ago, shortly after the conclusion of the trial of Dr. Webster, his wife and daughters visited Fayal, where they remained someconsiderable time, and where they doubtless hoped to and did for a whileescape from all obtrusive notice and observation. However, they weresoon known, and the sympathies of the people of Horta were much enlistedin their behalf. The daughters were highly cultivated and quitebeautiful, and attracted considerable attention, out of sympathy attheir distressed situation. 

Visitors will find at Horta very comfortable accommodations, and themany curious and interesting features peculiar to the island and itspeople will serve to interest and instruct them while they remain. 

Nearer home, the

ADIRONDACK

region has been greatly extolled by many as possessing a highlysalubrious climate for consumptives, and indeed for all who aresuffering from general debility and over-work. 

There is no doubt that a trip to this mountain region of northern NewYork, during the latter part of the summer and early fall, would proveof great benefit to many invalids, as indeed a rough camp-life wouldprove in any high and dry section, especially of interior and northernVermont, or New Hampshire, which lie contiguous to the Adirondackcountry. 

There is, however, an advantage in a district in which pine timberabounds, and all who resolve on camping out for health should not failto select such localities. There is a subtle and positive balm to weaknerves and sore lungs inhering in the atmosphere of pine forests, whollyunknown to that of any other. Invalids should be very cautious aboutgiving too much credence to the benefit to be derived by a residence inany climate. They are apt to expect too much, and the fault is perhapsmore theirs than those who extoll various localities, in that theybuild, unjustifiably, too great expectations on what they hear or read. 

Scores of people go each season into the Adirondacks with impairedhealth, and after a few weeks of roughing it come out immenselyimproved, both in health and spirit, while, on the other hand, others gowho are too feeble for such a journey; and again, others who knownothing how to take care of themselves, whether in the woods or out, and, of course, such must return in disappointment. 

 TABLE OF DISTANCES, [_Approximately Determined_. ]

 _From_ DUBUQUE, _or_ DUNLEITH, _to_ ST. PAUL, _by river_:

 To Cassville 33 33 " Guttenburg 10 43 " Clayton 12 55 " McGregor 11 66 " Prairie du Chien 4 70 " Lynxville 24 94 " La Fayette 13 107 " Lansing 3 110 " De Soto 6 116 " Victory 10 126 " Bad Axe 10 136 " Warners 6 142 " Brownsville 10 152 " La Crosse 12 164 " Richmond 19 183 " Trempeleau 4 187 " Homer 8 195 " Winona 9 204 " Fountain City 12 216 " Minneiska 18 234 " Buffalo City 7 241 " Alma 7 248 " Wabasha 10 258 " Reed's Landing 6 264 " North Pepin 8 272 " Lake City 7 279 " Florence 5 284 " Frontenac 6 290 " Waconta 12 302 " Red Wing 6 308 " Drummond Bluff 15 323 " Prescott 13 336 " Hastings 4 340 " Pine Bend 16 356 " ST. PAUL 16 372

 _From_ ST. PAUL _to_ DULUTH. 

 To White Bear Lake 12 13 " Forest Lake 13 25 " Hush City 29 54 " Kettle River 40 94 " Moose Lake 19 113 " Thompson 19 132 " Fond du Lac 9 141 " Oneota 9 150 " Duluth 4 154

 _From_ ST. PAUL _to_ ST. CLOUD. 

 To St. Anthony 10 10 " Anoka 18 28 " Itasca 7 35 " Elk River 5 40 " St. Cloud 34 74

 _From_ ST. PAUL to WILMAR. 

 To St. Anthony 10 10 " Minneapolis -- 10 " Cedar Lake 4 14 " Minnetonka City 6 20 " Wayzata 4 24 " Delano 15 39 " Dassel 27 66 " Litchfield 10 76 " Wilmar 38 104

 _From_ ST. PAUL _to_ MANKATO. 

 To Mendota 6 6 " Shakopee 23 28 " Belle Plain 19 47 " Blakely 5 52 " Le Sueur 11 63 " St. Peter 12 75 " Mankato 11 86

 _From_ WINONA. _to_ ST. PETER. 

 To St. Charles 28 28 " Rochester 22 50 " Owatouna 47 97 " St. Peter 53 150

 * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[G] For exactness, see chapters on Climate. 

[H] For particulars relating to Florida, see _A Winter in Florida_, published by Wood & Holbrook, New York.