The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1890-02-28
THE DOCTOR.

Bill Arp.
There is an awful mystery about
Them doctors. They know so much
that common people don't know.
When l was child had pro-
found reverence for them. Our
family doctor was a 300-pounder,
and was gruff and short in his
speech and not very fond of chill
dren. And yet he seemed to have
d great many hid out somewhere
and was always giving them away.
Whenever a new child came INTO
The family or the neighborhood it
was said that the doctor brought
il. l used 10 wonder where he
kept them. | asked my molherone
day and she said, sin heaven, may
be-" and this increased my venera-
ton. Our big, fat doctor had
shop-we didn't call 1t an Office
and | used 10 peep in The door
sometimes and look at his bottles
on the shelves. | was cent there
once for some medicine, and he
gave me some licorice root and
some cinnamon bark. There was
mysterious box standing up in the
corner, long, narrow box about
long enough to hold an old-fash
ioned clock-a grandfather's clock
and the door was open little, and
saw an awful thing in there, a
skeleton suspended from screw
in the skull. There were dark
cavernous holes for the eyes, and u
hole for the nose, and there were
jaws with teeth in them and they
looked free and malicious. | had
little primer at home and 1t had
pictures in it. One was picture
of a skeleton with scythe in his
hand, and | had learned the lines
"Time cuts down all,
Both great anl small"
and | thought [ had discovered
where this old rascal was kept hid.
He was in that boy. 1t was long
time before | recovered from those
childish superstitions. One time
| had IA long spell of fever, and that
old doctor bled me till | tainted,
and he wouldn't let me have any
water, and when l got delirious l
thought that he had that skeleton
on his back, and I was 10 be cut
down with a scythe blade. He
bled me several limes-five little
scars are on my arm yet. Bleed
ing was a big thing then. Mark
Harding said his arms are just tat
to0ed with scars. | reckon they
bled more in Marks days than in
mine, for the older a man Is the
more scars he has, and Mark says
he has got forty. can tell how
old a man is bv his scars. Mark
says that "bleeding a man was a
good thing and ought not TO have
been abolished. That these mod
ern doctors are always talking
about blood poison, blood poison.
Well, if The blood is poisoned, why
not take it out? Bleed man un- &
til he can hardly wag, and let new
blood form that is not poisoned"
But we lived-blood or no blood
water or no water-dOctor or no
doctors. The Baptisls lived and
the Presbyterians lived, for they
say that The Baptists don't die un-
til their time comes, and predesti-
nation saves the Presbyterians;
but il is a wonder that any Metho-
dlsts were raised III these phlebo-
tony days. We never had any
medicine but castor oil and EPSON
salts and jalap, and number six
and sheep saffron lea, and some
jaw breaking toOth-pullers that
were made just like these can't
hooks that you turn over log
with at a sawmill. There were
some patent medicines, like pare
gOric and Batesman's drops, and
GOdfrey's cordial and opedeldoc
that were kept in the store, and
they were good, too. But the noble
science has made progress, wonder
ful progress, and / like it because
it offers such a wide field for
smart man and such a slim chance
for a fool.