The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-04-13

IiIdS' III Ddu u'" W 'iV-' W l'NC'
though we do it for loycS sake. but
these brave men must daily, nay. in
some cases. hourly. qucnch hope, last
ray and bid mon set their houses in
order. Nor doe, use harden those
best endowed for this stern duty. |
have seen the blood leave "A great doe
tor check as pale as that Of his pa
ticnt, a. he forced himself to say that
disease had conquered nature and sci
cncc had no remedy. | haze known
such tidings told so tcndcrly that the
first instinct Of the f~orcdo0mcd man
was to grasp the Doctors hand.
Strange burdens are laid an the doe
Tor, shoulders; lie must advise where
one is TO live, what school will best
suit the boys, how much exercise the
girls may take, how much wine the
father must drink, where the family
must travel. When you come to anal
we these questions they have a pro-
fcssional germ in them. but if they
were honestly thought over and scri-
ously answered, a great deal Of brain
work is gotten from them which can
not be put into the bill.
Nor do the demands stop with these
questions which do remotely bear on
the mutual relations between the
medical adviser and the family. Doc
tors are Frequently called upon to try
moral suasion on troublesome boys
and hayward girls. Many times, cs-
pecially, if the advice comes from one
familiar at their bedside from infancy,
it will have extraordinary influence
for good, and succeed where the earn
est expostulation Of q clergyman has
failed. There is a certain preiimi-
nary acknowledgment, especially in a
young mans mind, that "the doctor
knows all about it, and that no dis
guise or prcvarication will prevail.
There is much invcighing against
doctors bills, and q very common
feeling that the grocer and butcher
must be paid, but that the doctor can
wait. This arises unqucstionably
from the fact that we are already bur
dcned when we send for him, and that,
unlike our other needs, VIC cannot
control how much or how little it will
take to satisfy them. Die we must
unless the doctor can aid us. and
what he does for us he measures him
self. With people living ON small
salaries, or in any way under the re-
straint of narrow means, days Of i'll
ness mean always added expense Of
every sort, and if it be the head Of the
house who is i'll, loss Of income also,
and iii this way the Doctors bill be-
comes part Of the general intiction.
The English habit of paying n fee
at each visit is, when practicable, a
short but not pleasant way out Of the
difficulty of Il steadily increasing in
d%cbtcdncss. But, following the Gus
tom of orr own country, it is not only
just and honorable to try to lay a lit
tie aside for the meeting Of this re-
s%ponsibility as time gees on. l knew
a ~singularly provident man whose only
deposit in a savings bank was what he
callcd"thc Doctors contingent" and
it proved IN excellent ex%pedient, al
lowing him to meet his physician al
ways chccrfully and be ready and glad
to discharge the moncycd part of his
debt to him.
That a thousand dollar fee seems an
immense sum to pay for an operation
which takes only an hour of u man $
time is surely true, and there is a
very bitter feeling natural to those
who crave the utmost skill for their
dear ones that such u demand puts the
relief out Of their reach. Yet, who
shall weigh the strength which goes
out Of a a the loss of nerve power,
and vitality in that hour FOR which ne
demands so much? Who shall meas
urc what he has done and endured to
achieve his skill? Who shall analyzc
what he has to bear when under the
knife a patient dies? In the making
and the. working Of a great surgeon
there are experiences which they only
know, which no money can repay.
Those who grumble most over the
dues demanded by doctors are least
aware what noble libcrality is shown
by the profession in the gift of their
highest skill and Of priceless time in
which they might refresh themselves,
entirely without money and without
price And this, outside the walls
of hospitals, merely in response &c
appeals in behalf Of those who were
not able to come to them as having