Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-09-30

ceived. Ten dollars a year in our
money is a good fee. One hundred
dollars a year is princely. AT the be-
ginning of the year you put tho
amount In an envelope and send IL TO
the doctor by a messenger with your
card He sends back his card with
an acknowledgement of thanks and
the compliments of the season. 1t is
very bad form to talk about II. al
| though grateful patients often write
their physicians affectionate letters of
gratitude for his devotion and the
benefit he has brought them. II is
| n good deal like the relation between
a minister and his parishioners In
other countries. and the annual con
tribution for the support of the doctor
| is just as voluntary as the contribu-
ton TO the treasury of the church. If
| there is any reason why one should
feel grateful to the doctor; If you or
| your children have suffered severe
illness and he has pulled you through.
he expects n present in addition to the
annual honorarium. just as you send
| the minister "A present after mar
| riage or funeral or some other spe-
| cial occasion at which his services
were required. The amount you pay
depends upon your ability and the
value of his services, but 1t Is viola
| tion of the most sacred canon OF pro
| fessional etiquette for doctor to ask
compensation or question the amount
he receives, He keeps no accounts of
his visits and no books, If stranger
int
tribute regularly makes one call or
| two upon the doctor and asks his
advice or a prescription he leaves
something on the table. but it would
be equivalent to an insult if he should
ask for bill.
When person is very sick he is
taken to hospital. Swedes have some
of the best hospitals in the world
His own doctor looks after him there,
| assisted by the house physician and
nurses. who expect fees, but the regu-
lar doctor gets none. He supervises
the treatment and acts as medical ad-
| wiser to the house physician.
The government pays subsidies to
doctors in remote parts of the coun-
try, just as 1t pays the salaries of the
ministers where the people are so
poor that they cannot support doe
tor and parson. In fact, all clergymen
of the established church are paid by
the government and are government
officials. The members of their par
| ishes give them presents. because the
salaries are small. and If there hap
pen to be rich men In the parish 1t
is the custom to send around a hand
some present to the minister's wife
or to himself on Christmas day.
The police of Stockholm have uni
form very much like the full dress OF
n brigadier general. without the gold
| lace. They wear helmets of steel and
white gloves and carry swords, and
| seem to have been selected because
of their fine appearance.,I have not
seen homcly policeman since have
been in Sweden, and the patrolmen of
Stockholm are the handsomest men |
have found in the country thus far.
but never saw one of them doing
anything They pace their beats,
stand AZ the intersection of the streets
and pose for the admiration of the
public. but never design TO take any
interest in the affairs of the popula-
tion. If you ask them questions they
will answer with great courtesy and
dignity. but they never interfere with
anybody The other day a New York
lady who was driving in the streets
OF Stockholm met with an accident,
The cab horse fell down and sha
was thrown at full length on the pave
ment. She fell within six feet of one
of the handsomest policemen In the
city. Bystanders came running from
every direction to assist her. but he
stood like a statue and did not ap-
pear to see or to care what was going
on around him. When | related the
story to an official of the government
he smiled and said:
That's the custom here. Our po-
licemen are to be admired for their
self-controi Nothing can disturb
their serenity"
| TELEGRAPH NEWS.