The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-04-04

when the open ditch into which she falls
is an open grave?
Can such things be?
Such things are every day in this greedy
world of ours. Weak and suffering wom-
en-. blind as to their own needs put their
hands in confidence into the hand of some
! seIf-styled leader, with the result that
both fall into the ditch of failure, and she,
poor thing, staggers on a few more PAGES,
only 10 fall into the last ditch, the house
appointed for all living"
AN EXPERIENCED EXPERT NEEDED
Let US drop all figures of speech and
face the facts frankly. Here are thousands
of people suffering from disease Of some
form or another. Sometimes the seat Of
disease is in the kidneys, sometimes in the
liver, sometimes it is the heart that is
affected, and at other times the lungs or
the stomach. And sometimes there is that
general decay, that slow wasting, which
we call consumption. The cry Of the SUI
ferer is for some one TO lead him out Of
this desert of disease into the promised
land of health. A hundred leaders rise up
in response TO the cry. do you know the
way TO the land of health? Can you lead
me there? Are you familiar with the road?
Can you see plainly which is the easiest
path for my falling feet?' All these
questions the sufferer showers on the
leader" And to all Of them he answers
with a satisfied yes" And so he puts his
hand into the hand of a blind guide and
they start on the journey. Not once in a
hundred times do they reach the land Of
health. The result is a failure, most disas-
trous and most terrible. Do We want 10
dtscredit the medical knowledge ard abil-
itv of the guides" of the land who treat
disease-the doctors who are the leaders
n whom the sick intrust their lives? BY
no means. We only want to call attention
- = fsllacv that IS behind all these fail
ures. and that is, that a guide must not
only be a guide by profession and license
but he must be also familiar with the ter
ritorv in which he works. You wouldn't
% On broadway. New York, and select
man to guide you through the Mammoth
caves Of Kentucky, because ne was the
most expert guide TO the sights and scenes
Of New York that money could hire You
wouldn't go to London and pick cut a man
who knew every street and turn in the
vast city, as the most capable man 10
Guide YOU across the trackiess Sahara.
you recognize that in these things man
must he A specialist. A man may be =
nerfect New York guide and be an utter
failure in London. 1t isn't the guides
badge that makes a man j guide; II isn't
his license by the city, its his practical
experience in the locality IN which he
works. Apply this to medicine. Any Phy-
sfciar j. considered a safe guide ont Of the
condition of disease. because ne is an ac-
credited physician. But Is he safe. Does
he know this particular disease? Does ne
lnow IL thoroughly, intimately, closely
\ man may know London in A way he
NAV he able 10 follow the broad thorough
fares Of oxford street, Piccadiliy. Tratal-
oar Square. The Strand: but take him
favv blocks outside Of the main arteries Of
.r,-e1 nut him into the network Of streets
and alleys that lie barely ouJ Of sound 81
he roar - travel on these Ereat thorough
fares and he is hopeIessly lost So Il IS IN
the trea -ment Of a disease. Many 2hySi-
clan knows its broad symptoms. He IS al
right while It follows the general lines he
is familiar win. Let il take him OUT Of
the beaten path. into the labyrinth Of
s,-mn,oms that lie close by and he Is Ut
+srIv lost. The only sale guide in disease
= the man that cant get lost; the man
v,ho knows the alley and the cuI-de-sac as
we'll SIS he knows the main artery OF
travel. the man who knows not only what
a disease IS dong. but what s; can DO. and
can keep up with it in every turn and twist
of its winnings through vein. artery and
nerve. or blood and brain.
Is THERE SUCH 4 MAN?
Is there such guide? There ought 70
be. Every city has its man who knows
each street and building. who Is thorough
~ oonversant with every house and alley
Of the town. The seas and rivers have I
their pilots. who know every rock and
shoai. every eddy and every current. The
painless prairie and the dusty desert have
guides VINO have lived their lives on these
expanses. and go as straight 30 a gwen
point as q homiaE pigeon - It's cote Why
should one fail OF safe guide in disease
There should be one. and there IS But
how shall We know that the guide IS safe?