The weekly Shasta courier., 1873-03-08
Getting a Country Practice.

DIR. MrNTuRN.-So read the sign which
was hung just below one Of the front win
dows and as the practitioner surveyed it, he
modestly hoped that it would not draw a
great many calls while he was away from
home. apd wondered if he had not better
take,it down and leave it until he returned
with his bride. He had Just graduated, had
not yet tried practicng, and was rather SAN
guine in his ideas upon the subject He
finally decided to let it hang, as it would
serve for an advertisement while he was
away and writing on slip of paper that he
would be at home on the eighteenth of the
month, which important piece of informe-
tion he placed beneath his name, he depart
ed on his short journey.
The marriage came off, quietly and mex
pensively, at the house of the brides uncle.
Annie had lived with this uncle ever since
she was little orphan child of three years.
Now having been fitted out respectfully, in
the way of clothing. which, with his large
family and limited means, was all her uncle
could afford to do, she left, with Charlie, for
his near home, with many kind wishes and
prayers for her happiness.
DIR. Minturn's sole tangible possessions
were horse and buggy, very few articles
of furniture, pretty good stock of medi-
cines and surgical instruments, and loving
little wife, whom he well-ngh idolized. He
had rented tiny house, in the pretty
village of Pneville, and had boldly hung up
his sign, although it was directly opposite
to that of DR.. jaeger, who supported his
with many years of experience, a generous
sprlnkling Of gray hairs, and great pomposi-
ty of manners. The unpretending little
house, rented by the new doctor, consisted
of three rooms all of which were obliged to
do double or treble duty. One was COM
bination of parlor, sitting room, and Office
the kitchen served also for dining room,
and the one sleeping apartment was the
spare room when company came.
Annie's skillful hands soon transformed
their abode into little Paradise Roses
and other Towering vines We're trained over
it. shedding their fragrance all around bright
flowers flashed from every available nook
hanging baskets were fashioned of MOSES
and creepers curtains of snowy muslin were
suspended from the windows; glasses and
shells, filled with buds and blossoms, were
distributed around the rooms and innum-
erable little inexpensive things, which only
a woman's hand can form, filled up the
voids, giving an air of refinement. and puri-
ty, and comfort to the whole But people
cannot subsist supon pretty knick- knacks; ;
even a plain way of living requires money
for its support; and our friends became
painfully conscious of this unpleasant fact as
the romance of their lives was invaded by
the appearance of the empty -four barrel and
butter-plate, and a perverse lack OF pa
tients.
Annie would sit in her front window, and
watch the patients flock to the house of her
opposite neighbor, and wonder why people
would persist in rushing blindly on to their
ruin, as she felt certain they were doing
in thus passing by her husband. Ofcourse,
she reasoned, a talented young man, fresh
from the hospitals, must be better posted
than one who had been rusticsting for so
many years in country town. She had
heard that wife had much influence in es-
tablishing practice, and she resolved that
if her husband lacked business, it should not
be owing to any derection of duty on her
part She gathered all the children of the
neighborhood about her, and amused them
by the hour with stories she dressed dolls
for the little girls, and played horse with
the boys. She received all calls with the
utmost affability, returned them promptly,
and was sociable with the most stupid and
tiresome, as well as with the most eligible
inhabitants of the town. Pineville was a
place of considerable gayety, and the new
corners, on principle, responded to all their
invitations to parties and tea-drinkings,
molasses-candy irocs, cuttings, and sewing
societies. They threw open their own
small house in return, and entertained pleas
antly and freely, putting themselves on a
diet of potatoes and salt for days alterward
to make up for the extra outlay. People
visited them, liked them, and made much
of them, but, in a business wav, ignored
them. Her best friends seemed to forget,
in times OF sickness, that Annie had hus-
band, and persistently sent for their old
physician.
When our friends came in contact with
DR.. Jaeger, the latter always shook hands in
a pompous manner, smiled with an air of
satisfaction, which seemed to say, You are
not in the least in my way, and are quite
welcome to remain here if you wish" and
bandIy inquired how they liked our little
town" When others inquired his opinion
of the new doctor, he would stroke his own
gray beard affectionately, and reply, s. Oh, a
clever boy enough! A very clever boy.
but needs experience" This style of eulo-
gy was not exactly calculated to throw pa
tients in the way of the new candidate, who,
pennless and halt discouraged, was waiting
calls
1t is true that, owing to the fact that Pr
Jaeger was sometimes away, and was too
tired to ride when wanted, our friend found
some few opportunities for airing his medi-
cal knowledge ; but the generality of his pa
tients were either very poor pay, or no pay
at all, as his opponent showed remarkable