The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-11-30
OUTSIDE PATIENTS.
BUSY MORNING SCENES IN A NEW
YORK HOSPITAL.


Manners of Gentle Fingered Surgeons.
Scenes That Are Touching.
us there anybody under seventy" They
are all under seventy, so far us age is CON
cernet, but that is not what the surgeon
is crying about. lis there anybody under
seventy" lie repeats, and then, very rap
idly, "seventy-one, Seventy-two, seventy
three seventy So here you are!' And
he takes u man, seats him on a stool,
flashes II pair of scissors around Il band
aged arm, and in twinkling has laid
the flesh bare and is examining it. Thea,
without asking any questions, he washes
dries, cleans, anoints, runs his ribboniikc
banlages around the wounded limb ae;iin
with swift and sllillful fingers, and lifts
the man from the stool. 1t is all done III Il
flash.
"Come again tomorrow" he says, and
then again: as there anybody under sew
snty? Anybody under seventy, seventy
snc seventy-two''--
That is the way it goes on for hours in
t>rminably, it seems to the watcher. "a
there anybody under"-
1t is in the surgeons room OF A hospital,
where the daily flood of wounded human:
ty is being carried up by the tide OF dis
tress to be cared for and bandaged. There
are n dozen surgeons there, and always
two score or more of patients. The owners
of crushed skulls, broken limbs, bruised
faces and slashed or burned flesh are let
into the room in "batchcs." They are
numbered Mt the door like checked hats.
and they are cared for as their number
comes around No is first; No So has
something of n wait, and No. 1872 finds Il
long interval between the time he is
H'checkcd' ut the hospital door and the
minute he finds himself in busy sur
gcon's hands. 1t is first come, first served,
and that is why that monotonous cry con-
stantly arises from the surgeon, as there
anybody under'-
1t is II sorry side of life that one sees here
The people are nearly all of them poor
desperately poor. They cannot afford the
luxury of a private physician, however Sc.
we're their wounds, or however eager they
arc to get back to their work; aud so they
come and stand in line, waiting for their
numbers to be called, that they may 90 up
and suffer, perhaps great deal, that after
ward they may suffer less They are of all
ages, i'll rags many of them, some of them
hmping on crutches, some of them with
their heads and faces swathed deeply in.
bandages, some of them with hands
wrapped around and around until they are
rs big rs feather pillows, some of them
with feet crushed and mangled, and all oi
tHSii suffering. ANA among
them are the white aproned, swift fingered
hurrying surgeons, dressing wounds by the
dozen, dressing some of them marvclouslv
quick, and always going on to the nc..t
without Il pause, with no trcmor at the
touCn of any wound, however deep or foul
and with no twitch of the lips mt any c;.y
rr ilinching from pain.
us there any body under eighty-nva.
enshty-siX, cighty-scven-- So, here you
are! No; go to the next table You can't bc
dressed here; you are Infected. Is Their.
anybody under eighty-eights"
There is Il short pause; then, sharply:
"Eighty-ninel Is there anybody undr:
ninety! All, here you are. Let me see
your card" for every patient has card
on which is written little history of his
reception at the hospital, his trouble and
how he has been treated. "Where's your
cards"
No answer to this.
where's your card, card, card?"
Still no answer.
Cant speak English, eli?"
Then follows series of pantomime The
card is fshed out, the patient is placed OH
the stool, and off come the bandages from
his hand. The surgeons fingers move SO
lightly and rapidly that before one knows
that the man has been touched he has
slipped off his stool to the floor and on his
knees, with his stomach pressed close to
the stool, his eyes shut, his teeth locked
and his one whole hand clinched and ouiv-
ering he fights his pain while his wound is
dressed. He has not opened his mouth.
for these people are used TO suffering; they
have to bear it, but when he gets up five
minutes later with n spotlessly white and
clean looking bandage on his hand he looks
as if he had marched into the valley of tor
n NJ
Come again day after tomorrow" SAYS
the surgeon, and then the same old as
there anybody"-
1t is boy this time. When the linen
strips are removed from his head you see
that he has deep cash over his eye He
IS Il little pale. but he does not even whinl-
per, for he has been through it all before.
and knows what must be, must be.
Nov, when | was little boy" says the
surgeon, taking the boy between his knees
and looking down into the young eyes,
you should have seen the cut had That
was cut, and he rattles along with his
cheerful talk, all the while his skillful
fingers fitting around that wound until
he leans back, gives a half sigh and saws.
You needn't come till next Monday" IL
is MI over before the boy knows it,
LISA busy day today" he says brightly
and then, lis there anybody below 40? Is
there anybody And then you get out
and walk through into the open air. which
is sweet and pure and refreshing. But
something seems TO follow You. 1t is the
odor of carboic acid and icdoform, and il
sends dizzying sensation through your
brain. so that out in the street, where
wheels are pounding on the pavements and
men are pushing and huIrying you can
almost hear it--that monotonois never
ending rs there anybody nnder"-
New York Tribune
Few Americnuisms,
have alWaNS rnnnrdl.I .auarrr