Mineral Sanitarium

Did you know there once was a famous health spa in Gardeau? Well, it existed and was called the Parker Mineral Sanitarium. Shortly after 1865, Colonel Noah Parker built the first hotel, which later burned down. In 1888, he built a second hotel, a large three story brick building with bathhouse and bottling works. This new hotel was again destroyed by fire in 1898. Hardly any sign remains of this once prestigious establishment. The following text is taken from an old pamphlet that once was in circulation.

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THE EFFICACY

Natural Mineral Waters.

It is an incontrovertible fact that the use of Nature's remedy, in the shape of Natural Mineral Waters, has been productive of the most beneficial results in very many diseases of a chronic and obscure character. On the continent of Europe this fact has been recognized by the medical profession for many years, and royal patients and invalids of the nobility are ordered to the famous springs of Germany and France for a course of baths and water drinking, drugs and medicines being altogether ignored.

Another fact acknowledged by the medical profession is that there are in the United States mineral springs of as great therapeutical efficacy as any in Europe.

One thousand physicians in this country are now recommending, in a certain class of chronic diseases, the use of natural mineral waters internally and externally, where one hundred did five years ago.

It is not generally known, but has been demonstrated by the experience of physicians, that mineral salts in a state of solution in natural waters possess quadruple the medical power that they do in artificial imitations of the natural waters.

This has been conceded by the best medical authorities of the old and new world. Small quantities of these valuable mineral salts, dissolved and intimately blended in Nature's laboratory; the hidden caves and dark recesses of mountain regions, have ten-fold more curative and restorative properties than can be given them in any compound from the hand of man, no matter how learned or skillful the chemist may be.

But all mineral springs are not alike in their properties, because they are either too poor in mineral salts to affect the diseased system beneficially; or else the water is uncertain and unreliable in its effects by reason of its being diluted and weakened from periodical surface drainage into the spring. This is the case with many mineral springs in the United States.

The Parker Mineral Water is not subject to these variations in strength; it is always the same strong, unadulterated medicinal water, flowing with the unvarying strength and healing powers that have carried health and life to scores of sufferers.

This is an age old process. Old methods have given way to new, and in all branches of the arts and sciences reform and advancement have marked the progress of the investigator and experimenter. In no other branch of science has there been such marvelous changes as in the medicinal. The lancet and the powerful drugs of the Materia Medica have been relegated to the dark and unscientific past by the advanced minds of the medical profession, in the treatment of a certain class of diseases.

Scientific investigation has demonstrated that the minute subdivision of certain medicinal agents, blended in harmonious combination by Nature's secret processes, as presented in natural mineral waters, forms the most efficacious of all methods of treatment.

The old treatment of Eczema and other chronic skin diseases with Iodide of Potash and greasy ointments has been done away with altogether by the intelligent physician. He now gives his patient Nature's healing waters, by baths and judicious internal use. Where the water is highly charges with the medicinal agents that cause the elimination of old, diseased tissues of the body, and the tonic properties to rebuild and make new tissues, the recovery is steady and thorough.

The Parker Natural Mineral Water possesses both these remarkable properties in a wonderful degree.

The various fevers prevalent in many parts of this country, caused principally by miasmatic or malarial poisons, are frequently fatal owing to the kidneys ceasing their functions, of throwing out of the system the poisoning matter which it is their office to secrete and eliminate from the body. When this deleterious matter is retained in the system by the non-action of the kidney's, blood-poisoning follows with all its fatal consequences.

If a human body, of average weight, should be completely deprived of all its water, it would be reduced to one eighth of its original weight. Thus seven eighths of the body being composed of water, and nearly all the poisonous and effete matter of the blood being thrown out of the system by the action of the kidneys, how important it is that these vital organs should be kept in a healthy condition for doing their important work. This can be best accomplished, in the opinion of the most eminent medical authorities, by making use of pure only for drinking purposes. The purest water that can be procured is spring water, and when this is charged with saline and alkaline constituents so essential to the preservation of the body in a healthy condition, mineral spring water becomes the beverage for health, and Nature's remedy for diseased conditions.

The medical authorities of all countries unite in stating that very many of the fatal fevers and diseases which afflict humanity are caused by drinking impure water, contaminated by sewer gas from imperfect drainage in cities and towns, and in the country by the percolation of water through vaults and graveyards into the wells.

In that class of constitutional diseases, inherited or acquired, the external evidences of which are chronic eruptions and discolorations of the skin, with obstinate ulceration of the tissues and rottening of the bones, an alternative and tonic mineral water, used with judgement and discretion internally and concentrated enough to be used in baths to the diseased parts is really the most thorough and efficacious treatment.

The leading men in the medical profession of the present day acknowledge this, and are giving certain mineral waters, holding in solution the healing agents, as established by the analysis, the preference over drugs or medication of any kind in the treatment of blood diseases. Some mineral waters are too weak for baths. They do not contain enough of the required salts in solution to be of any benefit externally.

But the water from the PARKER MINERAL WELL is so highly charged with healing agents, that it has to be drunk in moderation in its concentrated state; but in baths the diseased skin and tissues absorb it eagerly and the beneficial effect is perceptible almost immediately. The constitutional effect of drinking the water, being alternative, the combined use as in bathing and drinking, in chronic blood and skin disorders, is almost miraculous.

HISTORY

of the

PARKER MINERAL SPRING

This spring is situated at Gardeau, McKean County, Pennsylvania, on the headwaters of a branch of the Susquehanna River, in the midst of the charming scenery of the Allegheny mountains. Its location is about 2,000 feet above the level of the sea, and the climate is bracing and healthy. The country in this part of the State is yet wild and sparsely settled. There are still dense forests of hemlocks and there are some deer and bear to reward the pursuit of the hunter. Mountain trout streams abound, and if the descendant of Izaak Walton chooses to follow the streams back into the dark recesses of the woods, he can fill his basket with the speckled beauties.

Lumbering is the principal industry. These woodsmen have an abiding faith in the water of the PARKER MINERAL WELL. Some of them drink large quantities of it principally for its laxative properties. These lumberman are noted for their indulgence in protracted :sprees," after which they come to the spring, fill up with the water and are soon able to go to work. It is not uncommon for 100 of them to drink at the spring in a single day.

In 1865, Mr. N. H. Parker drilled a well 650 feet deep in the bed of the old spring, and struck the present vein of mineral water that flows from the top of the well. Mr. Parker drilled the well in the hope of finding oil. The water was allowed to flow uncared for and unthought of, until about eight years ago, when one George Broucham, who was working for Mr. Parker in the saw-mill, was laid up with an attack of gravel, which had been troubling him for several years. He became so bad that it was thought he would die, not being able to pass water without the greatest difficulty and pain. Having quite a fondness for the PARKER MINERAL WATER, he, as a last resort, commenced drinking it from the well. Strange to relate, he began to recover immediately, and in six weeks he was working in the mill again.

The full value of the water was not recognized until the analysis was made by Henry Trimble of Philadelphia.

The flow of the spring, which never varies perceptibly, is about 65 or 70 gallons per hour. It is probably forced up by the gas which boils up through it incessantly.

The immense advantages to patients in bathing in and drinking the PARKER MINERAL WATER at the spring where it flows in its virgin purity from the well, and thence direct into the bath houses connected with the hotel, cannot be too strongly urged upon those seeking relief in the waters of this veritable "Pool of Siloam." The natural carbonic acid gas, with which the water is naturally charged, renders its use in the baths at Gardeau more speedily beneficial. Physicians advise their patients, where it is possible, to make use of the waters on the spot. The benefit is more marked, in much less time, than when the water is used at home. The new hotel offers all the comforts of home, with little more expense to the patient than the ordinary living expenses of home life. Besides, the residence for a time in that mountain air, where the forests are almost in their primeval condition, will of itself give a new lease of life to the system enervated by disease. Daily rambles through those aromatic forests of evergreen trees; or following the course of some clear mountain stream, in pursuit of the dainty but elusive trout; perhaps, gun in hand, seeking the nobler game of bear and deer that are occasionally seen in this sparsely-settled region, will brace up the enfeebled frame and exhausted nerves of the professional or business man, and create an appetite he has not felt for years, to enjoy the wholesome and well-cooked food for which the hotel is noted.

The normal temperature of the water at the spring is 50 degrees Fahr.; but with the present facilities, baths can be given at any desired temperature, in winter as well as summer.

The water is, in the highest sense of the term, a CONSTITUTIONAL WATER. The presence in solution of the large percentage of potent salts, shown in the analysis, and their peculiar combination, make it the greatest ALTERATIVE water in America. It possesses the demonstrated power of eliminating poisonous matter from the blood and diseased tissues from the system. By its tonic properties it gives tone to the diseased organs, and replaces unhealthy tissue with that which is healthy.

THE PARKER MINERAL WATER is almost free from organic matters. This is a quality possessed by very few spring waters, enabling it to remain bottled when charged with carbonic acid gas, without decomposing and becoming offensive to the taste, as many bottled mineral waters do. It is a BLOOD PURIFIER par excellence. It is the sworn enemy of impurities and contaminations of all kinds in the system, by removing them from the blood by excretory organs, which it stimulates to healthy action. It is a delightful LAXATIVE in torpor of the bowels and habitual constipation, acting without drastic or nauseating effect, and leaving the prime avail, only which its gently stimulating effect has been produced, with new tone and vigor. Most medicines, used as cathartics or laxatives, produce an after condition of debility in the bowels, which requires gradually increased doses to accomplish the desired result. Not so with the PARKER MINERAL WATER. Its chief virtue as a remedy for constipation is that it acts effectually, without weakening the muscular fibres of the bowels, but, on the contrary, leaves its characteristic tonic effects behind.

The PARKER MINERAL WATER is a remarkable Diuretic. Dropsical swellings that have resisted regular medical treatment for years, have been permanently removed by a course of the water, and living persons who are cured of Dropsy by it, bless the day when they commenced the use of this DIURETIC water.

The PARKER MINERAL WATER is a great Hepatic. It will restore a torpid liver to healthy action, and its habitual use will keep it free from that tendency, so common with many people, to bilious attacks, and consequent derangement of the whole system.

How to Use the Parker Mineral Water.

In order to secure the greatest benefits from the use of this great remedy, it should be used at first under the direction of those familiar with its effects, or until the patient has discovered from his or her experience just what quantities can be drank without unpleasant side effects. If it should be found from experience that a certain quantity produces a too cathartic effect or uneasiness in the stomach, the quantity taken at each time should be reduced one half or even more, until the precise quantity that can be borne without annoyance or distress of any kind is determined. No special rule, adapted to all cases, can be given. For a general rule it may be stated that the use of the water internally should be commenced in small quantities, and as soon as it fails to exert a gently stimulating and soothing effect on the stomach and associated organs the patient is using too much at a time.

The water being strongly alkaline should not be used, in its concentrated form, in connection with, or immediately after, the use of an acid. This caution is given for the benefit of patients suffering from ulcerous or cancerous affections of the stomach or liver, where treatment by mineral acids is usually employed.

• In NAUSEA, from any cause, a wine glass full frequently repeated will be found to give relief in a short time.
• In CATARRH OF THE STOMACH, which is indicated by an accumulation of tenacious mucus in the throat, particularly on arising in the morning, causing violent coughing and hawking, and sometimes vomiting, to dislodge it, the water should be taken as freely as it can be without unpleasant effects. It will cure the irritable condition of the aesophagus or tube leading to the stomach, and have a soothing effect on that organ, which is always more or less implicated in the irritation.
• DYSPEPSIA or INDIGESTION can be cured by the regular use of the PARKER MINERAL WATER with, or immediately before meals, so as to have it combine with the food in the stomach during the process of digestion.
• BILIOUSNESS or TORPID LIVER is speedily relieved by the copious use of the water, and when it exists in a chronic form a regular course of water drinking, with bathing, is recommended.
• DISEASES OF THE BLADDER. In those affections the PARKER MINERAL WATER has proved to be a specific. One of the most common affections of this disorder is CATARRH OF THE BLADDER, characterized by an irritable condition of the neck, with frequent desire to pass water, which is cloudy with mucous discharge from the living membrane of the bladder. In these cases no fluid, except the purest and blandest, should be allowed to pass through the bladder. The water should be partaken of quite freely, and its good effects in lessening the irritation and secretion of mucus will soon be perceived.
• BRIGHT'S DISEASE OF THE KIDNEYS. This insidious disease is one off the most dangerous affection to which the human economy is subject. The name "Bright's Disease," has been variously applied to all morbid conditions of the kidneys associated with albuminous urine; but as described by Dr. Bright himself, it is an acute or chronic degeneration of the kidneys. In its acute form it resembles inflammation of the kidneys; pain in the small of the back; frequent desire to urinate, without much being passed at a time, and that of a muddy color, sometimes mixed with blood. The attack is usually attended with more or less fever, subsequently a dropsical effusion takes place, particularly in the face, legs, and feet, the patient complains of headache and drowsiness. The urine is much reduced in quantity, and if entirely suppressed by the non action of the kidneys, the most fatal consequences may be apprehended.
• The symptoms of Bright's Disease at the commencement are often very obscure. The presence of albumen in the urine, taken in connection with the symptoms mentioned above, determines the dangerous character of the disease. All kidney diseases have a tendency to degenerate into this terrible malady, and the earliest symptoms of kidney derangement should be carefully attended to.
• The way to cure kidney diseases in their incipiency, is to make use of a diuretic water to cleanse and invigorate the kidneys, and keep them in a healthy condition. The PARKER MINERAL WATER will do this effectually, and is recommended to be used freely both in drinking and bathing by all persons suffering with the acute or chronic form.
• DIABETES. This disease, in its chronic form, is characterized by constant craving for fluids and an excessive discharge of pale urine. There is also frequent desire to pass it. The skin becomes harsh and dry, and there is a peculiar sensation of emptiness and sinking in the pit of the stomach. The saccharine matter of the food passes into the urine and the body becomes wasted and enfeebled. The treatment consists in rigidly observing a meat diet, to the exclusion of vegetables, and the free use of the PARKER MINERAL WATER to restore the great secretory organs of the body---the kidneys---to their normal condition.
• CUTANEOUS DISEASES. Chronic skin eruptions of various forms as RASHES, PIMPLES, PUSTULES, SCALES OR TUBERCULES that have been treated by regular physicians, and perhaps nostrums, for years without cure, are speedily removed by bathing in, and drinking, the PARKER MINERAL WATER. In many cases of longstanding the effect is almost magical. The diseased skin and tissues absorb the healing water, exciting healthy action, while the powerful alternative effect of the water is eliminating the disease from the blood through the excretory organs of the body.
• NERVOUS DEBILITY. This is characterized by frequent palpitation of the heart; great weakness of the muscular system, particularly when ascending stairs or in any unusual exertion; Vertigo, or rush of blood to the head, on suddenly assuming an erect position; defective assimilation of the food from deficient tonic powers in the digestive apparatus. The calmative and soothing influence of a course of bathing in the PARKER MINERAL WATER, in restoring the equilibrium of the nervous system, and imparting tone to weak organs, in case of this kind, is well marked from the first. Patients cannot fail to drive great benefit from a sojourn at Gardeau, breathing its invigorating air, and bathing in its healing waters.
• SCROFULA. A diseased condition of the general system, depending on a vitiated state of the blood, and reproducing this state; characterized by tendency to inflammations of the neck and armpits and deposit of tubercule. Located in different parts, it originates a variety of diseases; in the spine, RICKETS and CURVATURE; HIP DISEASE; and tubercles on the mesenteric glands (Marasmus); in the knee, WHITE SWELLINGS; SALT RHEUM and various forms of obstinate inflammatory diseases.
• The treatment recommended by the best medical authorities is nourishing diet, mountain air and saline baths, which can be obtained in perfection, and at any desired temperature for adult or child, at the PARKER MINERAL SPRING.
• SYPHILIS, SECONDARY and TERTIARY. The constitutional disease, occurring usually about six weeks after the primary symptoms, is seen in the form of coppery discolorations on the skin; PSORIASIS, PIMPLES, LAPRA, or scaly eruptions; RUPIA or vesicular eruptions; ECTHYMA or pustular eruptions, copper-colored tubercles in the skin, followed by deep ulcers; CONDYLOMATA or MUCOUS TUBERCLES about the arms or scrotum; Syphilitic Sore Throat, showing excoriation, excavated or sloughing ulcers, ulcerations of the nose or palate, or of the larynx; syphilitic diseases of the bones, with nodes or enlargements, and severe rheumatic pains at night. A protracted use of the saline baths of the PARKER MINERAL WATER, combined with a light but nutritious diet of fish, meat, milk, cream, raw eggs, with bracing mountain air, affords the treatment that has been found the most beneficial.
• RHEUMATISM. Treatment with an alkaline water is generally recommended as the most beneficial method. One or two glasses of the PARKER MINERAL WATER should be taken in the intervals between meals and upon retiring at night. If the patient can take a course of baths at the spring in connection with this internal use of the water, there will be no question as to the success of the treatment.
• FEMALE DISEASES. These distressing complaints, so common to American women, are frequently cured and always greatly relieved by the use of the PARKER WATER.
• Cases of LEUCORRHCEA, ulcerations of the neck of the womb and tumors of those parts, should be treated with copious injections of the water warmed in connection with the regular internal use of it. Many cases are on record where the use of injections of the concentrated water alone has been of very great benefit.
• CESSATION OF MENSTRUATION, or TURN of LIFE, is invariably a critical time with ladies who arrive at that period of life. In all cases there is more or less derangement of the whole system. Hemorrhages of the womb frequently occur, sometimes followed by organic diseases of the uteres or ovaries, ulcerations of the neck and cutaneous eruptions, etc. The most successful treatment adopted by leading physicians is an alterative course in connection with local treatment and baths. The PARKER MINERAL WATER, besides being powerfully alterative, cleansing the blood and stimulating all the form of injections, and remarkably curative when used externally in baths, in ulcers and other skin diseases.
• CHRONIC CATARRH. In no class of diseases has the PARKER MINERAL WATER been more magical in its effects than in cases of Catarrh. In these cases the water should be warmed to blood heat to adapt it to the temperature of the nasal passages, and either snuffed up the nostrils or used with the nasal douche. Where the system is debilitated from a chronic form of the disease, a course of bathing in the PARKER MINERAL WATER will revitalize the weakened body.

Home Use of the Parker Mineral Water

Many patients are unable from various reasons to visit the spring and receive the great benefit derived from treatment on the spot. For the use of these sufferers the PARKER MINERAL WATER has been put up in bottles, retaining the natural healing properties and strength, and can be shipped to any part of the country. In cases where baths are advisable it can be furnished in bulk. There is no reason why patients cannot derive the great benefit of this water at home if circumstances seem to require it. In the home use of the water, one thing should be borne in mind. The temperature of the water used in baths and injections should be adapted to the strength and sex of the patient. Internally it should be used according to the general rules laid down in preceding pages. Ladies who use it in the form of injections, should use it warm, also in cases of Catarrh, the water used in the douche should be modified to the normal temperature of the body ---98 degrees Fahr.

For home treatment, sponge baths of the water can be made to take the place of the regular baths.

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