The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1894-10-25
RAILROAD DOCTORS.
Every Company has its Own
Relief Corps.
PLENTY OF FRAUDULENT CLAIMS.
How Passengers, With the Aid of UnscPu-
pulous Lawyers and Doctors, Try to
Work" the Companies.

the medical title is applied, but, with
the exception of the unfortunate indi
viduals who have come into contact .
with the gentlemen, few people know
anything about the routine duties of
the railway doctor. 1t would be false /
reasoning to suppose that, because an
eye doctor treats the orbs of vision, and
horse doctor prescribes for horses, the
business of a railway surgeon is to re-
in general the disciple of Galen and
Hippocrates knows as much about rail
roads as the ordinary railway man
knows about the art of Esculapius.
Actuated by principles of philan-
thropy and business Ga cynical outsider
would in all probability reverse the
order, nearly all the large railways in
this country have instituted what is
known as relief corps says the Fort
Worth Gazette. -" Prominent mem
beers of this corps have formed an asso
citation known as the National Associa-
ton of Railway Surgeons. So large
has the corps become lately that at the
convention held recently in Galveston,
it was decided to issue paper, to be
known as the Railway Surgeon. At
present there are more than 1900 mem
bers in the organization, most of whom
are Western men. The new paper will
treat of the three great branches of the
railway surgeons business, viz: the
sanitary condition of the cars, accidents
to employees, and accidents to passen-
gers. Eastern railroads that are con-
tinually getting new and improved
cars, are not much troubled about the
first branch.
The greater part of the railway sur
geon's time is taken up i'll attending to
accidents in the yards. The men who
sustain these injuries are in majority
of cases the switchmen. A New York
gentleman who has been connected
with several railroads said "You can
always tell a switchman by one of two
things-a bruised thumb and griev-
ance. If he hasn't just come out of an
accident, he is just getting ready to
strike.
Whereas there are numerous cases of
passengers being seriously hurt. the
vast majority of the claims made upon
the railroads for injuries are fraudu-
lent Half of thee claims would never
! De heard of if there did not exist a class
of lawyers who just watch the papers
for news of a railroad accident, and
pounce upon the injured with alacrity.
Allied with them is different class of
railway surgeons" that cost the COM
panies a great deal, but who are paid
indirectly. If they find a man who
has slight confusion, they prove to
him and to jury sometimes that he is
suffering from severe conclusion of
the spine. Their fine work is in what
are known as spinal injuries. If a
train of passengers happens to be slight
ly jostled, nearly every one aboard with
the aid of these doctors, may develop a
case of spinal disease. If man insists
he has shooting pains" in the back
no one can say him nay, and in absence
of proof that he has not, jury will
naturally give him damages. The
railway surgeons referred to have no
association that is known, but they
know their business from Alpha to
Omega. They instruct their pupils as
to all the symptoms of the disease they
are supposed to have, and in learned
terms amaze the ordinary country jury.
Roads on which a surgeon is paid
official claim that through him much
money has been saved. Outsiders would
grow dizzy with wonder if they knew
of the number of suits and claims that
arise from railroad accidents. The off
Gals, however, remain imperturable.
They know that most of the claims are
spurious and on investigation will fade
away like mist before the rising sun.
To investigate such claims and to settle
in cases of real damage are the duties
of the claim agent. The railway sur.
geon and the claim agent are to the
man who has a fraudulent claim q
source of horror, disgust and everything
!, else that is disagreeable.
An Illinois surgeon tells of one inter.
esting claim. A man who was travel
ing in company with number OF
friends, was thrown across the aisle OF
a car by slight accident that jostlet
every one, but in reality hurt no one
He went home all right. but after sew
eral days deliberation he made up his
+, mind that his head was paining him
: From then on he would drop in to SCI
the people who had seen him thrown
- and in the midst of serious converse
e ton would make some idiotic remark
about the price of beans in Pennsylva
MIA. After while he induced hi
friends to believe he was crazy. TIL,
+ company heard of his strange proceed
q ings, anda began little investigation
t They found that his crazy fits wer,
confined to certain circles. Among
: business people his actions were thos
q of perfectly sane man. He neve
overpaid his workingmen, nor did h
q buy anything at double what it wa
worth. People with whom he was do
{ ing business were informed, from wha
source may be guessed, that Mr.. A
was insane. Mr.. A. finally came t.
+ the conclusion that if he wanted to re
+ tain his business, the best thing h
B. could do was to spread abroad report
O of his rapid and complete recovery, an,
he did.
;. The surgeons are frequently the spec
I. tators of almost incredible GOODNESS
One tells story of Texas enginee
4 named Ben Blunt. The surgeon give
the account in the words of Blunt:
well, you see, l was i'll the cab, an
everything looked all right ahead
when suddenly the engine turned by
misplaced switch. and the first thing
T knew l was all tangled up between tn