The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-10-17
cHIcAao's WOMAN SURGEONS.
Work of brilliant Coterie Who Weld
the Scalpel and Knife of the Surgeon.
(Chioago Times Herald. }

Never" exclaimed we'll known local
practitioner recently. sit is impossible.
She has neither the temerity nor endur-
ance to accomplish commendable results.
She is handicapped by constitutional
and mental deficiencies. She is infring-
ing on province for which men only
are fitted, and by her foolish, tottering
and half-reliant encroachment she is
taking the bread out of the mouths of
innocent children, whose protector has
been despoiled of his rights
"What great pity" said woman
surgeon In reply to the attack. chow
the poor men suffer at our meroiless
handsl How they writhe under our in
dependence; more SO than a broken
legged patient under the knife, long be
fore the days of ether and chloroform. -
why, woman cannot perform five
or six hours operation" said the man.
She would faint before she were half
through. The close attention which ne
cessitates severe mental and physical
strnin combined is impossible for her."
Faint" exclaimed the woman snr-
geon, and she laughed ripping laugh
of genuine mfrth. ''In all my expert
once which covers period of about ten
years. L have seen many women operate.
have seen some who surpassed the gen.
eral run of men. have seen them WELD
the soalpel as dextrously and as nicely
as your noble fellow, who glories in be-
ing called man, but l never. in my
a Of
at the operating table. The endurance
of woman is greater than that of
man, for she sustains her power by nerv-
GUS efforts. His endurance is mere brute
force. And, cs for temerity, why that is
o matter of habit. When o woman knows
her ground, she will rush In, where even
Ia man would fear to tread, and carry
eysry thing before her.
"Faintl Why. 1t is only an old fash
Toned man who would conjure up such
ridiculous excuse for denounoing a
woman. He is far behind the times.
His opinion is as old-fogyish as hoop
skirts and poke bonners.''
Woman has begun to demonstrate to
the world that she can operate The pos
sibility of her rise 20 position of rscog-
nlzed ability is not matter for specula-
ton. She has already risen. She stands
shoulder to shoulder with the men. She
Ia the able member of many hospital
staff of surgeons. She is the prominent
figure at many progressive clinic. She
is a surgeon, and an excellent one, not
because she Is an advanced woman, but
simply because she possesses certain in
nate qualities which fit her for the posi-
tion, as 1t fits her for the sohoolroom or
the home.
Within the last few years has come a
full recognition OF woman s capacity and
suitability for the practice of surgery and
medicine. She has always been recog-
liZed as the friend of the sick and in
Jured. and a nurse par excellence. She
has shown her ability to practice the
hum bier methods in the healing art, not
only in the household. and in the hospi-
tai, but even on the outskirts of battle
field.
OPPOSITION OVERCOME.
The university system, with it's exclu-
sive advantages for men, debarred women
from career for which they were espeo-
tally suited. and in which they were abb
solutely needed. When the proposition
arose to admit women to study, 1T Great
ed great opposition. And it was not I'M
til within fifteen years that reform was
inaugurated. The wisdom of the change
became apparent imm edfately. The SER
viz Of
demand all over the world, and today her
value is recognized.
Chicago has been especially favored
with brilliant ooterie of women who
make surgery the sole channel for the
outlet of fine scientific power and train
ing. DR.. Mary Thompson was the
pioneer among Them Her death in the
spring of last year took from the active
work woman whose attainments won
Tor her the unstinted admiration of such
men as Sem, Murphy, Byford, Fenger
and others, with whom she peri ormed
her daily labors. She was a mem Der of
the ssatf of the Woman's and ChiIdren's
Hospital, with which she had been con-
nected at least twenty years. Byford
once SAID OF her that in genealogical
surgery she never had an equal.
Close upon her heels there have followed
dozen or more women surgeons, who
seem destined to make lasting name
for themselves, as well as to perform
some glorious work for humanity. What
they ara daily mplishing is evident
from the reports and statistics of every
one of the hospitals and colleges in and
around the city, where they are at work
daily, operating not only on paid, but the
innumerable charity patients that come
to their doors.
The scope Of woman's surgical work is
constantly eularging. With the advance
of science and progress in surgery along
experimental lines, her own advance is