The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1886-09-24
AT THE HOSPITAL.
How Men Act When They Are
Under the Knife.
Some, Who Look Brave, Whimper, While
Others, Who Seem Weak, Prove to
he HerOes-An Old Soldiers
Tardy Wound.

eff you are desirous of studying
MANNED humanity, said the senior
surgeon the other day to Tribune re-
porter in the operating room of the
Alexian Brothers Hospital, ''just be
seated for little while and you will
have good opportunity" The re-
porter accepted the proffered chair,
and as they were waiting for the first
patient to be brought in the doctor re-
marked: Nothing will strike you
more than the way in which some pa
tients behave. Men who, to Judge from
their looks, you would judge to be the
most capable of bearing pain, are of
the worst, and on the other hand, men
who look as if they would shrink at
the very sight of the surgeon knife
are just the opposite.
The first two patients brought in
fully corroberated the doctors re-
marks. The first one. was a big Ger
man saloonkeeper, weighing fully two
hundred and fifty pounds. He had to
be assisted to the table, although the
doctor remarked that he could get
along quite we'll without assistance.
''Now. then, said the surgeon, ''up
you get on ln6 JaDlC.
20, doctor. doctor. vast ist you
going to do to meP You will not hurt
meP" and the big, strong man, who
looked so fierce began to whimper.
''No, no, T" replied the doctor, ''yOu
won't be hurt. Tut. tut. Be a man.
Don't cry
The German numbered onto tlo :al5le,
and it was found that a very slight in4
cision would be necessary; it would be
over in a second, and would not hurt
more than cutting ones finger. The
moment the victim saw the knife he
began to below: go, doctor, give me
the ether. o, nein, nein!" AS he saw
the knife getting ready, and when the
point touched him, he gave yell loud
enough to waken the dead.
The next in order was a boy not
more than sixteen years of age. He
was so weak that he had to be carried
to the table by the Brothers. He was
suffering from disease of the hip joint,
and tubes had to be inserted in order
to drain off the pus. The operation
was a painful one, and no ether was
administered, but never moan cry
or groan escaped the boys lips from
start to finish, and only a slight tremu-
lous shudder when the incision was
made.
There's a brave lad" said the doc
tor when he had finished, and the boy
smiled, seeming to appreciate the com
pliment.
The next brought in was funny one.
it was that of Sam Jones, colored
roustabout, who had been hit on the
head with a brick by white man in
''levee" row. Sam had the top of his
skull stove in, and the blow would
have killed any one but a negro. The
brain could be seen through an aper-
ture about one and half inches in
diameter. The blow had quite taken
away his power of speech, all he could
say being simply ''yes" or mo-" and
he sat on a chair and grinned idiOtic-
ally. The present operation was to
dress the wound and fit ON a plaster of
paris skull cap. It would have made
Sam S fortune as ''nigger" minstrel
man if he could have been seen with
his black face grinning under the
white cap.
The next case was an extraordinary
one. The Brothers led in q short,
stumpy German, who had just been
| admitted. The doctor had not yet
examined him, so he asked him what
was the matter. The reply he received
q
| put up his hands and said, 'Too! tOoF'
"Too, too whatP" said the DOCTOR
''Are you an estheticq"
The German again shook his head
/ and made motion with his hands as if
playing a trumpet, again saying: TOO,
| too.
Nov I catch on, said the doctor.
/ 1t appeared that the man was musi-
| clan in an itinerant German band. and
/ while playing the trumpet on the street
suddenly lost the power of speech. 1t
| was a case of aphasia, but it was re-
| markable from the fact that on exam
/ ination no apparent injury could be
/ discovered. The man had also lost his
memory. He tried TO write his wife S
i name, but could neither do that nor
/ could he remember his own.
The next patient was also somewhat
/ remarkable. A tall, good looking man,
/ dressed in the uniform Of the G. a. X. d,
was led in with a bandage over his ego.
/ His name was George Werner, and his
! present occupation is that OF a farmer
1 down in Indiana Werner's life has
been an adventurous one. He began
| in the Russian navy and went through
the Crimean war. He then came to
| America and enlisted in the United
/ States navy in 1856 He voyaged all
| over the world. being attached at one
I time to the Pacific squadron, and, dur
/ ing the war, witnessed the fight be-
i tween the Monitor and Merrimac in
+ HAMPTON roads. He was discharged
/ from the navy, enlisted in one Of the
/ Pennsylvania regiments and took part
/ in several battles. Shortly after the
war be came to Chicago, where he was
+ some time city undertaken. What S
! the matter with you, George queried
the doctor.
Got shot in the eye during sham
battle in Indiana was tie reply.
+ And, sure enough, Werner, who had
+ gone through all sorts of real battles,
had at last succumbed 20 a ham one.
{ He bad been hit in the lef. eye by a
/ wad, and on examination the doctor
decided that the only means OF saving
the other eye was 70 take the & maged
one out.