The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-11-21
CURES BY CONTRACT.
How q Young st. Louis Doctor
Proposes to Work up q
Practice.
Objections to the System of the
Medical Society which Were
Promptly Met.

In the early months of last wear the re
pOrtorial ranks of II. Louis journalism
were swelled by the advent of an ambition,
young doctor who. disheartened bv IN.
slow growth of the medical practice
jumped at an opportunity to enter upon 8
literary career and became general utility
man upon the local staff OF one of the
morning papers. Unfortunately, however
the leap from the frying pan Of un-emu
lucrative dOctorlng into the fire Of uncon.
genial reporting proved 10 he mistake on
his part Ii took him but a very short
time to find out that there was great
deal more of labor than oil literature i'm the
life Of a reporter. aud that in nine cases
out of ten good solid leg work rather than
rhetoric was the desineratum. This al
course was disappointing to the yonng
doctor, who had hoped TO blossom forth as
= Horace Greeley in year or two. and he
lapsed into al Indifference as to his work
which sadly marred the effect of his
journalistic efforts. He lacked, too, that
fine dissemination of the value of the news
which enables the veteran reporter To give
exactly the proper space To each item, and
in some cases his di;is noses were very far
from being correct.
Upon one occasion, when sent forth Ia
write mp paid notice OF sale oi imported
singing BIRDS which had been advertised
upon the homeopathic basis, he treated the
case upon the allopathic system, ard
brought back solid Two columns OF mat
ter, which the city editor had the pleasure
of boiling down into five lines. Another
dav, when assigned TO the duty of con-
pounding drastic dose of facts CONNECTED
with All important murder case, he returned
10 the office, late i'm the evening. with only
pIlule Of matter M by no means laudable
character, and with the explanation that
he had met young lady aequaintanc.
from Illinois, and had passed The dav in
her company, knowing that the murder
case would always be available i'm the fn-
iure, while his fair on,panion, who i'm
tended returning To Co!iinsville by tia.
evening train, would not. One or two
similar failures 10 appreciate the urgent
character of newspaper work tended To
destroy the city editors confidence in The
young doctor, and one day, when ht
returned from a funeral assignment with
out the name of the corpse or of The min
lister, and apol giving because he could not
remember whe ther the first HYMN sung was
Il will not live Away" or "rhy will be-
DONE" or whether there were four or six
pail bearers, tie city editor diagnosed his
case, decided that a surgical operation was
unavoidable, and subjected him 10 instan-
taneous d.capiIation.
Tuis was about SIX months ago, and the
journalistic brotherhood had we'll nigh for
gotten their g.,andom associate, when yes
terday he encountered a Post-Dispatch re-
D. mo-,
nance elate with JOY. al once broke forth
into expressions of gratitude for the privi-
lege of having passed few months of his
life In the newspaper business, which, he
sa q, had enabled him to get rid oil two
decided drawbacks 10 advancement in the
medical profession. In the first place il
had cured him him of bashfuiness which,
especially in the case Of lady patients, had
told against him; in the next il had rid
oen him OF old-fogy ideas of Professions!
etiquette.
This idea of sitting in ones office is
we'll enough for old practitioners" he said.
"but found Twas likely to siarve at il, So
got ont this card" he said, producing his
professional paste board, one side of which
bore his name and address, while the other
conveyed the following intelligence:
Family practice contracted for at the
rate of Il per year for each person, paya-
BILE one fourth at first visit, when date oil
contract begins, One-fourth i'm six months,
one-fourth In nine months, remaining one
fourth at end of year.
"Confnements and surgical operations
extra"
S6"How does the cure by contract syst. IN
work ?" the reporter asked.
Business is just booming. have l5O
families who have promised to make con
tracts with me whenever they require a
doctor. They average FIVE in family, so
there is $1,000 year to begin with, and
my practice is constantly growing. Oh
these 150 families thirty three have al
ready made contracts, so that there is
about 500 already assured in black and
white"
Suppose you are only called i'm once to
see family of fve?"
"Then We draw up a contract for $40
and take the case in hand 1t may involve
only two or three visits, and / may not
nave to treat another member of the fam
lily during the remainder of The year; still
they pay their S. every three months"
'''Sott thing for the doctor, eh?"
1--WE both take our chances Now there's
ole family OF three that made contract
with four months ago, ana we been in
that house pretty nearly every day since.
The boy has had the measles md scarlet
fever; The old man got taken down with
rheumatism three DAYS after the contract
was made, and the woman has had com.
plant requiring constant attention.
figured up the other day that had already
put in about $50 worth of work in that
family in tour months. and the yearly con-
tract calls for only Sl2.
these are extreme cases. How does the
average run?"
"fhe contract system is a very fair one.
Five dollars head is not an exorbitant