Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1890-02-06
Bill
HE WRITES ABOUT THE FAMILY
DOCTOR AND DOCTORS
IN GENERAL

. w
DOCTOR AND DOCTORS
IN GENERAL. I
There is an awful mystery about
these doctors. They know SO much
that common people don't know.
When was child had profound
reverence for them. Our family doc
tor was three hundred FOUNDER and
was gruff and short in his speech and
not very fond Of children. And yet
he seemed to have great many hid
out somewhere and was always CIV
ing them away. Whenever new.
child came into the family or in the
ncighborhood, it was said that the
doctor brought it. I used to wondor
where he kept them. I asked my
mother once and she said, Gin
Heaven, maybe" and this increased
my vcneration. Our big fat doctor
had a shop-we didn't call it an
ofiice--and used to peep in at the
door sometimes and look at his little
bottles on the shelves. I was sent
there once for some medicine and he
gave me some licorice root and some
cinnamon bark. There was a mystic
rious box standing up i'll the corner
"a long narrow box about big
enough to hold an old fashioned
clock Ga grand-fathcr's clock,) and
the door was open little and I saw
an awful thing in thcre-a skeleton
suspended from a scrac in the skull.
There were dark cavernous holes for
the eyes and hole for the nose, and
there were jaws with teeth in them
and they looked fierce and malicious.
had little primmer at home and
it had pictures in it. One was q
picture of skeleton with scythe
in his hand and had learned the
lines
"Timc cuts down all,
Both great and SMALL"
and I thought I had discovered
where the old rascal was kept hid.
He was in that box. 1t was long
time before / recovered from those
childish superstitions.
One time I had long spell of
fever and that old doctor bled ME
till l had tainted, and he wouldent
let mo have any water, and when |
got delirious, ] thought that he had
that skeleton on my back and l was
to be cut down with scythe- blade.
He bled mo several times. Five lit
tie scars are on my arm yet. Bleed
ing was big thing then. Mark Har-
din says his arms are just tattooed
with scars. | reckon they blcd
more in Marks day than in mine,
for the older man is the more scars
he has, and Mark says he has got
forty. en- tell how old man is
by his scars. Mark says that "blced-
ing was good thing and ought not
to have been abolished. That these
modern doctors are always talking
about blood-poison-blood-p poison.
Well, if the blood is poisoned why
not take it out-blced a man until
he can hardly wag and let now blood
form that is not poisoned"
But we livcd-blood or no blood
water or no watcr-doctors Or no
doctors. The Baptists lived and the
Presbyterians lived, for they say
that Baptists don't die until their
time comes, and prcdcstination saves
the Presbytcrians, but it is a wonder
that any Methodists were ever raised
in those phlcbotomy days. We
never had any medicine except cas-.
tor oil and calomel and epson salts
and jalap and number six and sheer
saffron tea and some jaw-breaking
tooth-pullcrs that were made just
like these crow-bar hooks that you
turn over logs with at saw mill
| There were some patent medicines
like paregoric and Bateman's drops
and Godfrey's cordial and opodcldoe
that were kept in the stores and
they were good too. But the noble
science has made progrcss-wonder
ful progress--and | like it, because
it offers such a wide field for a smart
man and such slim chance for q
fool.
| We've got a boy studying mcdi.
Gins and are hopeful for him. Oi
course we are. His mother thinks
he will be a great surgeon, for he is
the seventh son and when he was q
lad our peacock got his leg broke
and | was about to kill him to put
tho moor fhinr ont nf ,,,;,n,,,, H..