The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-01-16
BY DIR. LEWIS a. sAYRE.


Stimulate others to persevere in the
face of difficulties, the career of a con-
scientious physician must afford them,
trihing as these incidents may appear
in themselves. After the lapse OF nearly
three-quasters Of a century, must
confess that my first two patients died
Immediately after an operation L per-
formed on them. Wandering into the
poultry yard of my fathers old fash
iened farm at Bottle Hill, New Jersey,
l saw two little yellow chickens that
had just been born united with q. cord
like that which fastened the Sia4nese
twins together. When one stood up the
other fell down. and Immediately its
struggling upset the first. New Jersey
was a slave state then, and there were
thirty or more negroes on the place.
Close by ne, as usual, was Pete, son OF
black Nanny Peg" and my chosen
companion and body servant. Prince,
another negro, was pruning fruit trees
in the garden near by.
Run and get Princes shears said
1 To Pete, ana with that l had cut the
living rope that held the little crea-
lures together, and in a moment CIR
two they bled TO death at my feet. /
put them III my apron-I was only 4
years Of age-and carried them in to
my mother. / am IS years old now,
but I remember as If il we're yesterday
how she nearly broke my heart with
her reproof for what she considered
cruelty to animals.
Now, it happened that it was just
about the time in the morning for Dr..
Bishop to drive up. The doctor was, IL
my estimation. the second citizen in.
the community in Importance, the cler-
gyman being first. DR.. Bishop always
in Ct nd.
morning ne came up behind a high
stopper, with new harness and a sleek
negro driver. It was II when he arrived
generally, and ii was just at II that
my father was in the habit of going to
the sidebOard and refreshing himself,
with much moderation, but great reg
ularity, / may say, from the abundant
stores therein. And Dr.. Bishop natu-
rally joined him. When my mother
took the two little chickens in a pre-
Serving Jar full of alcohol into DR..
Bishop that day, 1 felt impressed as [
never had before by his greatness. And
when she. came out Of the room where
he and my father were. and found me
admiring the bright brass buttons on
the drivers coat, and asked me if I
would like to be a doctor. ! unhesitar-
ingly answered, Yes" I had begun 10
think for myself, even then.
WATERING AS TO a PROFESSION.
But I was not clearly determined
whether 1 wanted to be a preacher or a
doctor, until after was u years old. It
was then that 1 went out to Lexington,
KY, to spald some time with nv uncle,
David a. Sayre, the first bal west
of the Mississippi river. The next
seven, the best years CT my life, l spent
in Lexington, and attended the Tran
sylvania university, then a famous in
stitution OF learning, the only one west
of the Alleghenies. There was a fine
law school and the able.st medical
school in the west, with such men in
the faculty as DR.. Caldwell, the first,
American lecturer on phTenology; DR..
Yandell, DR.. Short, DIR. Bush, Dr.
Drake, who wrote the medical history
OF the Mississippi valley, and Dr.. Dud-
ley, who had operated for stone
in the bladder a hundred times
without losing q case. The
medical school was the pride of Lex
ington, and young men came from all
over the southwest to attend its lee
lures I hadn't studied any medicine
as yet but the Presbyterians were so
strict that it seemed to me they didn't
know the difference between amuse--
ment and vice-it wasn't right to laugh
on Sunday-so 1 decided I didn't want
to be q preacher. To my mind there
was nothing left but medicine. But l
became SO III Oh q COuEESLlNe FEVER.
which confused my head 50 that I
could not study, that I was brought
back, all the way from Kentucky, and
stopped over night in New York at the
Astor House, on the way home to Bot
tie Hill. DR.. Bishop, our home doctor
had by this time been succeeded by
DR.. Henry P. Green, and at his sug-
gestion when 81 sot to New York !
sent for his brother, Dr. David Green.
He applied blisterS all the way down
my spine and drew out a pint OF Sc
rum. which Immediately relieved my
head. The next morning l felt well.
I sat down and wrote TO my uncle in
Lexington that DR.. Green had cured
me in one night, although DR. Dudley,
who had been treating me, hadn't done
me any good in six months. 1t seemed
to me that DR.. Dudley must have made
some vital mistake N my case. and
proposed now TO go TO work and study
medicine to find out, if l could, what
the mistake was. If ever did find it
out was going out there to tell DIR.
Dudley all about it, and if l didn't
learn it, I'd go out and apologize, and
in the meantime he could read that
letter to Dr. Dudley with my compli-
ments.
TURNING POINT IN HIS LIFE.
After this saucy epistle l went to
resolution. His Office was in his resi-
dence. at the corner of Laight and
Hudson streets. When my uncle final
~ Wrote-it took a long time for a
letter TO come here from Kentucky in
1S39-that he wanted me to go 10 Eu- |
rope and see something OF the world |
before l settled down, 1 had already
arranged to study under DR.. Green, I
and i'll return for his medical instruc- !
ton, 10 help his son John along in !
mathematics and the classics, in which !
I had been well grounded.
That decision, not TO so TO Europe |
in luxurious idleness, but to get down |
to hard wark in the profession that !
OF all others seemed 10 me the most |
honorable and useful-as we'll as the |
hardest, was, 1 believe, the turning |
point IN my life. And soon afterward |
there happened an incident which gave |
me my first professional start. which |
was the entree to the New York hos |
pital, which was then the only hospital |
in the city Of New York. OF so little
importance. in comparison to the hos
nital. was the medical school, the col !
1ege of physicians and surgeons, that |
when DR.. Green sent me to Barclay
street 10 register my name as q stu
dent, and ! came back and told him
that the college had been moved from
Barclay street TO Crosby street, neither
he nor any Of the prominent doctors
who happened 70 be there assembled
knew Of the change. Among them
were DR.. Wilkes, the eminent oculist,
DR.. Anderson and DR.. Cameron They
had come 10 Dr.. Green's fine residence
on st. Johns Park-as that part of
Hudson street was named to see him
raise the epiglottis, by pulling out the
tongue, and sponge cut mucous back