The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1898-03-01
THE NEWBERRY HERALD AND NEWS. MARCH l. 1898.


ty-one days took no drop OF food, save
little milk with brandy, and daily
grew weaker and weaker, until one
day | passed totally out Of conscious
ness, and l thought ont OF the world
without shade OF regret. Days after
wards, when came to myself, the good
doctor was sitting by tho bedside as
bright as Il May morn. His very pre-
scnce seemed TO impart new life to my
wasted frame, and recovery was rapid.
There was anOther-Dr. Ca noble
specimen Of the Carolina gentleman of
the old school-cultured and refined,
neat Us pin always. punctilous as q
Spanish grandee, and thorough Chris.
tian in every faculty and fibre OF his
being-who used to ride ten miles every
day to bring me through severe case
| OF fever; and he had IL large circle OF
patients besides. have no doubt there
| were often times when he rode, day
and night, fifty Or sixty miles in the
twenty-four hours. He never spared
himself, and never failed to respond to
call, night or day; and it did not mat
ter a whit VIII ether the call came from
the highes or the humblest, nor
Whether the summer kindly warmed
with life and light,
Or gusty winter bowling stormed the
lang, dark night.
The call of the distressed was to him
the call Of duty. For years after his
kindness and skill in my behalf, I used
to see him riding hard and late; the
| last time to sec poor patient that
lived some miles from his home. His
usually erect figure was bent with sick
ness and exhaustion, his face was drawn
| with pain. a fcw days later he died, a
martyr to his profession and to his high
sense of professional duty. Peace to
his ashes. We shall not often look
upon his like again.
l have told Of some doctors OF the old
school. Let me tell of one of the new.
[ was at college in 1877. For years
dear old DR.. K. had ministered to all
the boys complaints, with the kindness
OF n father, and with like unselfishness.
for he would never permit them to pay
him one cent. Some OF the boys-my-
self among the number--took it into
their heads that the old doctor was out
or date and was not up in the new
things OF the profession. There was a
new doctor in town, who had been hail
fellow with the boys and who had Just
got back from Philadelphia with his
diploma. l was never free of .ouble
OF one kind or another. 1t was an in
growing nail thcn-on my great toe
which tho old doctor had taught me
how to treat, with cotton underneath
and emollicnt applications. This
method OF treatment greatly amused
the young Aesculapius when I went to
consult him. He declared the approved
method of dealing with such nails was
to "pull them OUT" by which 1 sup
posed he would raise the nail out of
the groove in which it had imbedded
Itself. He came round to my boarding
house on Saturday morning, when my
roommate and the other boys had gone
to society meeting. I sat on one chair
with my foot on another. The doctor
opened beautiful mahogany case and
took out number Of sharp and scary
looking Instruments which he handled
| with great fondness, and laid conspicu-
| ousiy on the washstand. do not know
to this day what all those instruments
had to do with the nail, and T have
sometimes suspected the doctor need
lessly caused me much unpleasant ap,
prehcnsion. He selected sharp-point
cd thing with which he scraped down
the middle Of the nail until it reache
the quick and became somewhat pain.
ful. Then he took a bright pair OF
tweezcrs, fastened them upon the of.
tending half OF the nail, and gave q
| quick, sharp pull. was never so as
tonished in my life. I uttered q veil
that lifted the roof off the house al
most and scared the landlady down
stairs into fits. At the same time l
sprang up like q jack-in-the-box, one
foot on the floor, the other clinging tc
the tweezers in the hands of the now
confused and excited doctor. He was
still pulling and backing away and |
was hopping around on one foot after
him, my hair standing on end like the
quilts Of the fretful porcupine-not from
fright, but from anger. thought it
was an outrageously cruel way to treat
any human being, and l was fcarfully
and wonderfully mad. In a few seconds,
which seemed ages to me, the nail came
away, and brought along with it n good
deal of the skin and flesh OF tho toe. I
grabbed a chair; the doctor saw the
situation, and dartcd down the wind
ing stairway. The chair went sailing
after him and smashed against the wall
just behind him. AS he rushed out at
the front door ran to the window apd
let drive at him with the watcr-pitcher.
He heard me and duckcd his head in
the nick of timc and the pitcher md