The Sketcher.

Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 21, 18 August 1894, Page 3

The Sketcher.

NEW ZEALAND AS A HEALTH RESORT.

A recent number of the People’s Friend has an article on this subject, in the course of which the writer remarks When within five hundred miles of New Zealand one becomes conscious ■of having passed into an atmosphere so sweet and. balmy as to be almost paradaisical. To live in it is of itself considered a treat. Its influence on tbe human organism soon becomes apparent. Those who have any power of recuperation at all soon feel revivified ; many old men having been known to execute a kind of impromptu war dance on deck like the children of nature, so exuberent, was their joy at their renewed lightness of body and litheness of limb. It is the same in New Zealand itself.

Elderly persons wonder at their own activity in going about their business. They feel as though they could run when they only walk. Still, it is not so with all. The air seems to be very light and imponderable, so thrt those who require strong, heavy air will not experience any change for the better. Perhaps it is this quality, coupled with the more mild and equable temperature, which so much assists those suffering with chest diseases, less strain being put upon the respiratory organs. At all events, no one can make enquiries without meeting with many who have been cured bv simple residence in New Zealand of consumption, bronchitis, and asthma. But let no one imagine these troubles are unknown to old settlers. In the south especially, in what is termed the Scotch climate, they are all too much en evidence. There, as, here, patent medicine vendors seem to do a thriving trade. Judging from advertisements displayed, asthma and bronchitis supply the best field for operations, somebody’s new cure being always the infallible remedy. This as hinted, we consider due to the changeableness of the weather. For a climatic Highland Fling, Dunedin and Invercargill can far outdo their Scottish namesakes. There it is simply impossible, even in the height of summer, to lay .aside woollen underclothing without running great risks from rheumatism. But intending settlers can easily avoid such unfavourable conditions by going further north; for doubtless, they understand that New Zealand lies south of the Equator, and to go northwards means getting nearer the tropics. Should they unfortunately suffer from any of the diseases we have mentioned they must not be discouraged by anything we have said. They must remember it is the change of air that will do them good, and that what is true of old settlers does not affect them in the slightest. W e have known individuals suffering so severely from asthma in this country that apparently they could not live another month who, after a few months’ residence in New Zealand, were almost completely restored and well able to go about their usual avocations. This is hope for the hopeless, and is also true of many other complaints besides those specified. Thus we have been requested to go and see for ourselves cases in which tbe patients were growing wonders to themselves and their friends. Thin, puny, and always complaining before arriving in New Zealand, they soon began to get strong and healthy, ultimately developing into the stout order of individuals, quite well pleased at the teasing they were subject to from old friends who had known them under less favorable conditions.