The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1898-10-18
"A WONDERFUL sT0Ic.
An Old g. A. n. Man Smokes Cigar
While Being Out Open bv .
Surgeon.
-can I light . oigar?''
sCertainly. II you feel like ~
/. 'ssT4uv,s xoss - ~ n f~h ~

~Certatnly. II you feel like ~
~Havs you . mstch7~
| The abovs. oonversatfon took place
tn the anphitheater of the Cincin,
| nati oity hospital q few days ago be.
tween q wsll-known staf surgeon and
EA patient ON The operating table. Cigar
and q match were soon Forthcoming,
and with extraordinary self-satisfao-
tion the patient blew the rings Of
smoke high In air, and II seemed as Il
never before had he enjoyed the weed
80 much. Yet while the smoke wreaths
were ascending a keen-edged knife was
plowing Its way into the mans abdo-
men and the blood was squirting in
streams from numerous arteries. Oc-
casionally the mar would raise hia
head and watch the progress Of the
work, then continue Placidly putting
his cigar. On such occasions the sur
geon would stop long enough in his
work to ask;
@Does 1t hur4?~
"Not bit"
And still the knife would slash and
cut with lightning speed, nurses and
internes standing around watching the
proceedings with interest or. handing
the instruments to the operator, or
catching up the flowing blood. But
still the chief actor in the scene con-
tentedly pulled away at his cigar.
Raise your head q moment" said
the surgeon. The patient obeyed
.Look down here" The patient did al
he was told, while the surgeon held a
mass of connective tissue in his hand
which, apronlike, covers the intes-
tines. Beneath it the intestines,were
clearly in view.
"You are perhaps the only man who
ever saw the workings of his own in
testines," observed the doctor. The
patient was not in the least alarmed
and took more than negative interest
in the further progress of the opera
tion.
The stole who had this singularex-
perience is Martin Cohn, aged GA, a
veteran of the civil war, whose home
is at 390S Indiana avenue, Chicago.
Three days ago he limped into the
city hospital, and the lines about his
face indicated great physical suffer-
ing. His blue coat, with G. A. r. but
ton in the buttonhole, insured kindly
reception. He stated that he had left
Chickamauga three days before and
was in severe pain from an old rupture,
a relic of his soldier days. To the skill
full eye of the examining physician it
was at once apparent that only an
operation would bring the desired re-
lief, and he was therefore sent to the
surgical service to prepare himself for
the ordeal. An examination there by
the staff surgeon confirmed this con-
but also showed that the man
was suffering from heart trouble,
which would make it dangerous to en-
ploy general anaesthesia. Under chlor-
oform or ether rendering him uncon-
scious, and therefore oblivious to pain,
The doctor was apprehensivet that their
action upon the weakened heart might
prove fatal. In this dilemma he da-
.ided to use local anesthesia, which,
applied to the surface of the skin,
ieadens the pain caused BY the knife.
1ut is only used in minor operations.
John was told the existing conditions,
,ut did not finch for moment. In
act he seemed to take certain pride i
n being able to demonstrate his cour-