Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-08-15
RAILWAY SURGEONS.
EVERY LARGE RAILROAD NOW t:As
 ITS CORPS OF DOCTORS.

Doctors Try to ''work- the Companies
 This Is the Railway Side.
 Doubtless every one knows something of the business of the eye doctor, the horse doctor and divers others to whom the medical title is applied; but. with the exception of the unfortunate individ- uals who have come into contact with the gentleman, few people know any thing about the routine duties of the railway doctor. It would be false req soning to suppose that, because an eye doctor treats the orbs of vision and a horse doctor prescribcs for horses, the business of a railway surgeon is to re- pair railways. It might be said that 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 or der. nearly all the large railways in this country have instituted what is known as relief corps" Prominent members of this corps have formed an association known as the National As sociation of Railway Surgeons.
 | The greater part of the railway sur geon's time is taken up in attending to accidents in the yards. The men who sustain these injuries are, in n majority | of cases, the switchmen. A New York gentleman who has been connected with several railroads said: You can always tell n switchman by one of two things "a bruised thumb and a grievance. 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 fraudulent. Half of these claims would never be heard of if there did not exist q class of lawyers who just watch the papers for news of railroad accident and bounce upon the injured with alacrity. Allied with them is different class of rail way surgeons that cost the companies a great deal, but who are paid indirect ly. If they find man who has q slight confusion, they prove to him, and to a jury sometimes, that he is suffering from a severe concussion of the spine. Their fine work is in what are known as spinal injuries. If train of passen- gers happens to be slightly jostlcd, near ly every one aboard. with the aid of these doctors, may develop 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 n jury will natu- rally give him damages. The railway | surgeons referred tO have no aSSucia. ton that k known. hut they know their ! business from alpha to omega. They instruct their pupils as to all tho symp
 toms of the disra$c they arc supposed tC have, and in learned terms amaze the ordinary country jury.
 On roads like the Pennsylvania and the Central Railroad uf New Jersey thcrc are regular surgeons at stated ! points, and aS soon aS an accident oc CurS they arr immediately sent for. They have the power of calling such extr: help aS they deem necessary.
 Roads on which n surgeon iS pait , official claim that through him mucl money has been saved. Outsiders woulC l grow dizzy with wonder if they knew . of the number uf suits and claims tha arise from railroad accidents. The off
 cials, however. remain impcrturhablc , They know that most of the claims arr spurious, and un investigation will fad,
 away like a mist before the rising sun | To investigate such claims and to settl,
 in cases of real damage arc the dutiCz of the claim agent. The railway sur geon and the claim agent arc to the maI who has fraudulent claim a sourC, u horror and disgust.
 , An Illinois surgeon tells of one inter
 esting claim. \ man who was travelling $ in company with n number of friends s was thrown across the aisle of a car hN T a slight accident that justled every one but in reality hurt no one. He wen home all right. but after several days
 deliberation he made up his mind tha
 his head was paining him. From thcI
 on he would drop in to sec the people
 who ha,nseCn him thrown and in tn,
 midst of serious conversation woul,
 mako some idiotic remark about th
 price of bcans in Pennsylvania. Aftc
 awhile he induced his friends to hclicv
 Inc was crazy. Tho company heard u
 his strange proCcedings and began lit
 tic investigation. They found that hi
 crazy fits were confined to certain cir
 clcs Among business people his action | WtTt liltt~t' Ni d III
 never ovCrpaid his wurkmen, nor did h
 buy anything at double what it wa
 worth. People with whom he was dOinl
 business were informed-frnm wfa
 source may bc guCsScd-that Mir. t.
 was insane. MT. A. finally came to tlI
 conclusion that if he wanted to retail
 his business the best thing he could d
 was to spread abroad reports of his rapi'
 and complete recovery. and he did.
 The surg, ons arc frequently the spec
 tators of almost incredible coolncss
 Ono tells g story of a Texas enginoc e named Ben Blunt. The surgeon give l. the account in the words of Blunt: Well, you sec. was in the cab, an !, everything looked all right ahead, whel = suddenly the engine turned by a mis e placed switch, and the first thing 1, kne" was all tangled up between tn E, ep and freight train. The mex 0 tn knew heard some one say s He dead But wasn't As soon a e they had pulled the engine of me ha n them telegraph back to the station 90 a ,' to stop the oncoming express, sent , message to my wife and saw that tn
 fireman was properly bandaged up. Wa
 I hurt? Oh, no. I had one leg and on '. arm and several ribs broken, but moth
 ing that you could call serious Ne, York Advertiser.