Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1871-09-16

day came at last. Ten o'clock was The
hour at which the operation was to he
performed. For two whole days had
strictly absiaincd from even glass Of
wine, giving my nervous system that
long period in which TO recover the nat.
ural stcadiness which might have been
weakened through overaction occasioned
by stimulants.
Mr.. Baldwin called on me as early as
eight o'clock. He was very nervous.
and oppressed bv evil fjrcbodings. The
number and variety Of the questions he
had TO ask, annoyed me; for | could not
answer them truthfully, without adding
TO his oycrwrought fears. Not that ]
apprehended danger, for / was master Of
nv profession, and knew the exact loca-
tion Of every artery, vein, nerve, gland,
and muscle among which had 10 pass
the scalpel. Nay, in order to make as
surauce doubly sure, had spent an hour
in the dissecting-room the day before,
giving to the anatomical organism of the
neck a now and close examination.-I
had but to eRtirpate Immortality To-
catcd. il is trle- and this any skillful
surgeon might safely accomplish A
steady aud confident hand, and favoring
! circumstances, were all that he required.
! carefully concealed my ANNOYANCE
under n light, almost playful exterior.
and rallied him for his unmanlv weak
ncss-called the operation of minor i'm.
portarre, involving little risk. could
not rpassure him, however A shadow
Of coming evil rested dark'y on lis spir-
/ it.
st ten o'clock. accompanied by three
assistants. one Of them n suceon Of tried
/ skill. | repaired to the house Of nv friend.
| smiled rs ] said "Good morning ~ in
an unconrerned voice. and passed int
| the room where the operation was 20 be
NJ ade. The table / had selected was
there. Quickly and silently. acting from
previous concert, we placed this table in
the best relation to the light. arranged
in struments. bandages, and all things
necessary to the work in hand. and then.
after giving 10 this preparation the TEN
! porarv conccalment in our power. an
no,nced our readiness.
In moment after. Mrs. Baldwin on
tered from the adjoining chamber. She
!
| life. Never had she looked more bpauti-
| ful than now. Her strong will had mas
tered fear; and strength. courage and
resignation looked ont from her clear
eyes, and rested on her firm lips.
She smiled, but did not speak. took
! her bv the hand and led her to the table
on which she was TO lie during the onnr-
alton. saying as ! did SOFT will all be
over in few minutes, and YOU won't
feel it as much as pin-scratch."
As soon as she was in position. an as
sistant according to arrangement, pre-
sented the sponge .saturat d with ether.
and in two minutes complete anasthesia
was produced. On the instant I made
! an incision, and quickly cut down 10 the
tumor. 1t was a hard. iberous substance
and n few carefully made efforts TO dis
sect it away from the surrounding parts.
confirmed my previous opinion that it
was large and deeply seated. But un-
derstood my business, and was now SO
entirely interested in what l was doing.
that forgot my PATIENTS identity. and
so pursued the work in hand with con.
centration Of thought and purpose that
gave science and skill their best resnIt.
| 1t took full twenty-five minutes TO sena-
rate the tumor from all the blood-vesseIs.
nerves and muscles it had involved. At
the end of thirty minutes, we bore our
patient, still insensible, to Ler bed in the
adjoining chamber, ard laid her down
gently, as ono in quiet sleep--the ordeal
safely over.
shall never forget the look of sweet
thankfulness that came into her eyes. rs
not long after, told her that the opera
tion so long dreaded had been s. fely per-
formed.
'And I know nothing Of It y she whis-
pered then added, shuttinr her ewes.
and sneaking to hersplf-It is wonder
ful! Thank God for this and other man.
fold blessingsn
AS for nv friend, he wrung nv hands
and cried from excess Of JOY with nm
manly weakness. Surgeons see much Of
human nature on this side. Nv hand
was in a tremor now and nv nerves aiar
went to my office and took a glass of
wine to steady them. Two hours after
ward called on my patient and found
her sleeping; at fonr called again. At
FIVE l was engaged to dine at the house
of professional friend, and meet some
gentlemen from neighboring city. Ev-
thing was, apparently, in a safe condi- !
tion and went to my dinner engage
ment with a mind altogether at ease.
Dr. -, at whose house dined that
day, was what we cab good liver and
dainty in wines. He liked to talk of his
well flied cellar, and OF the brands and
vintages from which it was stocked, and
he usually succeeded in transferring to his
guest measure of his own weakness. -
Contagion works easily in this direction.
There were on this occasion. four or FIVE
different kinds of wine on the table, and
our host seemed to feel that in no better
way could lie manifest his hospitality
than in pressing us often to drink. The
abstinence / had practiced for a couple
of days and the relief of mind felt in
consequence of the successful result of
an operation / had almost dreaded to
perform, naturally led me to freer use of
the tempting liquors that were set be
4, A IA IL hot 10