Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-11
IDEAS ABOUT CoRoNERs.
Why a PracticiDg Physician Should Not
be Chosen for that ONCE.
BIZ Nye IN DenUer Opinion

BIZ Rye IN DeRCer Opinion.
am glad to notice that in the East
there is a growing disfavOr in the public
mimi for selecting a practicing physician
for the office of Coroner. This matter
should have attracted attention years ago.
Now it eratifies me to notice a finer feel
ing on the part of the people and an
awakening of those sensibilities which
go tOmake life more highly priced and far
more enjoyable.
had the misfortune at one time to be
under the medical charge of a Coroner
who had graduated from a Chicago
mOrgue and practiced medicine along with
his inquest business with the most fiend-
ish delight. do not know which he en-
joyed best, holding the inquest or prac-
ticing on his patient and getting the vic
tim ready for the quest.
One day he wrote out prescription and
left it for me to have filed. | was sur
prised to find that he had made a mistake
and left a rough draft of the verdict in my
own case and list of jurors which he had
made in memorandum, so as to be ready
for the worst. / was alarmed, for | did
not know that | was in so dangerous a
condition. He had the advantage of me,
for he knew just what he was giving me,
and how long human life could be sus-
tanned under his treatment. l did not.
That is why | say that the profession of
medicine should not be allowed to con-
flict with the solemn duties of the Coro-
ner. They are constantly clashing ard
infringing upon each others territory.
No man ought to follow his fellow down
to the mysterious river that defines the
boundary between the known and the un-
known, and charge him professionally till
his soul has fed, and then charge per
diem to the county for prying into his in
ternal economy and holding an inquest
doh.
hail this movement with joy, and wish to
encourage it in every way. 1t points to-
ward degree of enlightenment which
viii be in strong contrast with the darker
and more Ignorant epochs of time, when
the practice of medicine was united with
the profession of the barber, the we'll dig
ger, the farrier, the veterinarian, or the
Coroner.
This physician plenipotentiary and
Coroner extraordinary that l have re-
ferred to, very frequently went to see a
patient with a, lung tester under one arm
and the Revised Statutes under the other.
People never knew, when they saw him
going to neighbours house, whether the
case had yielded to the Coroner's treat
ment or not. No one ever knew just when
oVertaXed nature would yield to the stat
utes in such case made and provided.
When the jury was empanelled, however,
we always knew that the medical treat
ment had been successfully fatal.
Once he charged the county with an in
quest he felt sure of, but in the night the
patient got deliriOus, e'uded his nurse,
the physician and Coroner, and fled to the
foot hills, where he was taken care of and
finally recovered. The experiences of
some Of the patients who escaped from
this man read more like fiction than fact.
One man revived during the inquest,
knocked the foreman of the jury through
the window, kicked the Coroner in the
stomach, fed him bottle of violet ink,
and, with shrek of laughter, fed. He
is now travelling under an assumed name
with a mammoth circus, feeding his bald
head to the American lion twice day at
So a week and found.