SURGEONS REPORTS PENNSYLVANIA SEVENTEENTH DISTRICT. 330 



no means uiicoiiiinon. Amonjj ix'tiiiiiod soldiers, we find more snireriiig from di;trrlio'a than from 

 any other cause. 



In the blacksmitli-sliojis in Altooiia, wliere there are many fires and where the raihoadcom- 

 pany mainifaetnre and repair tlie roUiny-stoek for this di\ision of their road, the preihiniinaiit disease, 

 is developed tubercnlosis. The slumps Inive a large number of fires in each of them, and the ventila- 

 tion is imperfect ; consequently, the atmosphere is surcharged with all the noxious gases arising 

 from the imperfect combustion of the bituminous coal, which is exclusively burned iiere; hence the 

 prevalence of this disease in these shoi)s. When my attention was attracted to the predominance 

 of tiiliercnhisis in this locality, I learned that there was but one man over fifty years of age who 

 was a regular hand in the smith-shops; and that when a young man entered theshoi)s to learn the 

 trade, it was a rare occurrence that his health permitted him to serve his full term of api)rentice- 

 ship. 1 found men in every stage, from the earliest s,\mptom of tuberculous deposit to the last 

 form of the disease. Many suffer also from bronchitis, with or without tuberculosis. In one sub- 

 district, of all the men drafted and examined I found scarcely a good, sound nnm. U[)on inquiry, 

 I learned that, in the early settlement of this country, two families of Scotch-Irish birth located 

 there, who were intelligent, healthy, thorough-going people, jiossessing strong vitality and great 

 endurance. Their children commenced marrying and intermarrying, until now, in the fourth and 

 fifth generations, there is not really a sound adiUt known in all that extensive conuection, proving, 

 so far as it goes, the evil of the intermarriage of relatives. 



The inhabitants of this district are intelligent. Every man is a reading man. The public 

 schools are becoming the object of great solicitude and the pride of many of our leading men. The 

 best men that can be obtained are einpU)yed as county-sui)eriutendents. School-districts vie with 

 each other in procuring the best teachers, and the schools are visited regularly by the directors. 

 Every pupil has his ambition stimulated, and spelling-matches are a regular institution in every 

 school. Two or more schools meet in full representation, at least once every year, to test the quali- 

 fications of each other, and strive for the palm in correct spelling. Old and young take an interest 

 in and witness the contest with much anxiety and good feeling. Every adult reared in this district 

 is supposed to be well versed in English grammar, history, geography, and arithmetic. Those 

 who are not are the exception, not the rule. The veriest vagabond that walks the street is able to 

 keej) his own accounts and transact his own business intelligently. The moral character of our 

 inhaliitants will comjiare favorably with that of any otlier district in Pennsylvania. The predomi- 

 nant sentiment is decidedly a religious one. Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist, Catholic, 

 United Erethreu, and Episcoi)aliau churches are most numerous, with a fair representation of 

 others. Intemperance prevails to some extent and produces its consequent evils ; but jmblic senti- 

 ment frowns so decidedly on this iniquity that only those who are lost to a sense of shame are 

 among its votaries. A few men were drafted who were exempted on account of permanent 

 pliysical disability, the result of intemperance. 



As a general thing, the wealth is fairly distributed among the inhabitants. There are, how- 

 ever, a large number of operatives and laboring men without means employed by corporate com- 

 panies and farmers. 



P.ut little dependence can be placed on the operatives in our mines as regards sujtport of our 

 military forces. At least nineteentwentieths of this class are foreigners, who have no settled home, 

 and who are ever ready to make their budget and travel. When it is their pleasure or interest to 

 become naturalized citizens, they can produce the necessary documents and vote at an election ; 

 but when enrolled and drafted, they have gone to parts unknown ; or, if they are perchance caught 

 up, they have no difliculty in avoiding military service by swearing alienage. 



The principal occupations of men in this district are those of farmer, laborer, and mechanic; 

 being most numerous in the order represented. The mode of life is simple, the fare wholesome 

 and substantial. The dress is not extravagant, but plain, calculated more for comfort than show. 

 There are of course deviations in both extremes from the rule here presented. The inhabitants 

 are frugal, industrious, and social. With the exception of one or two localities, we profess 

 to be a law-abiding iieo|)le. In the places alluded to, deserters from the x\rmy and dratted men 

 who failed to report congregated and resisted by force of arms all attempts to take them. lu due 



