The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-12-14


sick man as he was, | should have been of his
opinion He said: L will give you my
history, since you are so good as to come and
see me- Then he gave me a minute account OF
his attack and sickness. made no prescription,
and left him soon after Four weeks
later the doctor was again called to see the over
seer, who in the meantime had had nine different
doctors 81 found Mr.. Adams emaciated
to a skeleton, and so changed that should hard
ly have known him. Nobody seemed to
understand what was the matter
with HIM. When came to turn
him partly over on his back and pat him on the
liver, the right side and the abdomen. l found
the right side of the abdomen was higher than
the other and when l discovered that there was
fluctuation I Immediately said: There's matter
here and it must come out or this man will die.
DR.. Baker was sent for in consultation.
/ said: We'll, Baker, there is some matter
there He said: No, l don't think So it is
fungus hematode3 | said: If he has fungus
h@matodes he will die; and if he has matter i'll
there he will die if you don't put knife into it.
We ought to give him chance for his life He
said: am opposed to any surgical operation
That blocked the game. But was not will
ing to see the man die without any effort made
to save him" Then Dr. Sims proposed coun
Gil He stated the facts to the nelghbors who
were at the house, got their consent-"and,
pulling out bstoury plunged it into his belly.
l think it was one of the happest moments of
my life when | saw the matter flow and come
yelling up opposite that bistoury. Mr.
GRAFTON in Alabama
After this the Doctor moved to Cubahatchee,
ten miles east of Mount Meigs, and says: Il
was exceedingly happy in my new position.
had little piece OF ground upon which there
was log cabin, with one ROOM and had an ad-
dition built to it, making two, and there our two
first children were born"
SEIZED WITH CHILL.
"There was no doctor anywhere near My
wife and two sisters gave me stimulants and had
me wrapped up in mustard plasters felt that
l was dying. There was no reaction; 1 was rub
bed and plastered and there was nothing else to
be done or that could be done. l felt that could
possibly live but a few hours. But how hard is
death for the young when life is full of promises
and how hard it was for to
leave my wife and children, knowing
that they would have to struggle with the world
and its hardships without money to aid them
for when we were married l had nothing and
Theresa had only little. l did feel at one time
that l would speak to her; hated to think OF
her ever loving and marrying another man.
Then said to myself L will not be mean as
to speak to her and annoy her on this subject;
will die as [ am, and Providence will take care
OF her [ am sure that l was in a moribund
state. AS | lay on my back things became
smaller, and my wife and sisters seemed to be
sinking more and more, and gradually to be
receding from me and from the room. l seemed
to be sinking into narrower and lower chan
mel. looked up and could see them fifty or a
hundred feet above me. Almost at the last,
when [ seemed to be great distance below my
wife and sisters, I whispered Can you not
make mustard plaster as broad as my back and
as longP" 1t was so made, and after eight
hours Of collapse he recovered.
In the month of December 1S40 with his wife
and children, he moved to Montgomery. 1--WE
had no money, and always lived from hand to
mouth. lived whole year there, most
of the time in bed. In the course of twelve
months from the date of my first attack of CON
gestive chills l had seventeen different attacks.
By and by my health began to improve At the
end of two years l was getting into practice
among the rich people Of the CITY, But had to
begin at the bottom. The first people who took
me up were free niggers. Finally, | became
physician to the Jewish population Of the town,
Of which there were several families. They were
people who always had money in plenty and
were liberal with it. had all this Jewish prac-
tice, which a large and agreeable one.
II was the first man in the South that had
ever successfully treated clu6-foot. | was also
the first man that had ever performed an OPP
Grafton for cross eyes. At the end of five years
had established a reputation as judicious
practitioner and as a skillful surgeon, and was
getting as much as | could do.
A HARE-IIPPED LADY.
II had made in five or six years such repu
tation for surgery that people came to me from
come to my Office one day woman from
Lowndes county who was about thirty years old.
She could not show herself in the street so hid
eous was she She walker into my Office with
her face yelled and said; I was born with
hare-lip and 1 am so ugly have TO wear a veil
to prevent my face from being seen by any one,
even by my own family l had never seen such
a bad case of hare-lp before; it was sickening.
She had no teeth and could look clear down
her throat Her malformation was frightful.
Il said: L can cure you in month. L will
give you new set of teeth so you can eat like
other folks and whistle if you want to, and you
will know the value of the society of your
friends In the course of a month she was en-
Jirely cured. She had a presentable mouth and
DR. Belanger, the dentist, took a cast of her
mouth and made her a set of four handsome
teeth. She was really pretty woman. Her
life, of course was enliyened and revolutionized"
THE BEGINNING OF HIS FAME.
1t was early in the month of June l845, that
DR.. Sims saw his first case of fstula of the
bladder, disease which before this had been
slave-woman was the bee inning of DR. Sims's
worldwide reputation as gynecolist, and he,
whose practice began in the negro cabins of
Cubahatchee in the pine woods of Georgia, was
afterwards in eager request by jewellers in the
palaces of Europe. But there was long series
of experiments before the operation for this
fistula and its cure were complete. He says: II
ransacked the country for cases, told the
doctors what had done, that he was on the
brink of a great discovery and it ended in my
finding six or seven cases that had been hidden
away for years because they had been
pronounced incurable. l put another
story on my little hospital and this
gave me sixteen BEDS four for servants
and twelve for patients. Then 1 made a
proposition to the owners of the negroes: If
you will give me Anarcha and Betsy for an ex-
pertinent, agree to perform no experiment or
operation on either of them to endanger their
lives and will not charge a cent for keeping
them, but you must pay their taxes and clothe
them. was very enthusiastic, and expected to
cure them every one in six months. But
my operations all failed so far as positive cure
was concerned. This went on, not for one year,
but for two, and three, and even four years. l