The Savannah morning news., 1902-10-26
WOMAN'S WORLD

this city ldSS week, says the RnllaQet-
mia Ledger. "They know them too
we'll"
That is not gallant" protested the
visitor.
Perhaps not" he admitted. but it
Is honest. 1t is an old saying that the
only persons who know anything about
woman's real nature are her physi-
clan and her pastor. 1t is a matter of
personal experience that what her doc
tor doesn't know would scarcely fill a
sheet of note paper. 1t is a woman's
natural instinct to confide in her doc
tor. She can't help it: neither can he
She doesn't mean any harm by it;
neither does he, but somehow after he
has listened to her babbling he doesn't
often care to marry right away. 1t
sometimes seems that she even takes
delight in revealing to him the kinks
In her disposition. A man might be
married to a. woman twenty. years and
not know half as much about her true
character as a doctor who has dosed
her with a dozen pills.
AN old doctor is more likely to over
look flaws in his patients than a
riages that take place between women
of unsound physique and their attend
ing physicians the ages of the twain
are probably well along on the shady
side. A young doctor just out of col
lege is, in some respects, the most fin
tcky creature alive. AS soon as he
gets any kind of a practice he is will
ing to marry, but nine times out Of ten
the sweet things who go to him for ad-
OIL diGn11U
trick of temperament that shocks his
unseasoned taste and he goes away
and marries a nice, healthy girl who
IS minus headaches and bile, and con-
sequently never gives him a chance to
study her at close range"
How about the nurses?" asked the
visitor. Don't they share a doctor S
contempt for the frailties of their male
patents?"
The practitioners eye kindled with
pride in his sex. mo, SIR" he said,
they don't, for the simple reason that
a sick man doesn't turn himself into
a family historian. He's a difficult pa
tent in some ways; he can't bear pain,
and he bowls like an Indian over
nothing, but he doesn't tell everything
he knows. A woman has to talk her
self dry before she can begin to get
better. 1t is this prediction for gos-
sip that makes some doctors wives go
to strange physicians for treatment.
have one patient now whose husband
is a specialist, away up at the top
notch of the profession. 1 felt pretty
squeamish about prescribing for her
the first time she called
Why don't you consult your hus-
band?' 1 asked. Your case comes in
his line
why, she said, whom should
tell things to if he were to treat me?
He wouldn't listen. And besides,
don't want him to know everything
Since I've been feeling badly I've been
troubled with a host of queer ideas
and fancies, and if 1 should talk them
over with him he would think l was
crazy, and would make preparations
for clasping me into a traitjacket.
He doesn't suspect half my oddities as
yet, and the only way I can keep my
hold on him is to consult some other
physician. If you don't want the case,
I'll go to somebody who does
Hers is by no means an exceptional
case. Dentists wives are likewise adj
dicted to buying their toothache drops
and their gold filling outside the home
office. In this they are wise. No wo-
man can ever look beautiful to the
man who has drilled holes in her teeth
For that reason dentists are even less
likely to marry their patients than
regular physicians.
Ear, eye and nose specialists, on the
other hand, are rather inclined to fall
in love with their patients. Anyway,
fine eyes and good nose are always
valuable assets"
Doctor" interrupted the visitor,
wouldn't you marry one of your pa
tients?"
well, returned the practitioner. re-
flectively 'I didn't. But came
mighty near it once. I got far enough
along to fall in love with the lady, and
the chances are I should have married
her if she hadn't got sick The ILL
ness disillusionized me. No sooner did
I view her through professional mi
croscope than many little traits and
characteristics which 1 had formerly
considered natural graces began to as
sumo the guise of nervous affections
which might possibly conduce to mar
ital unhappiness if left unchecked.
One day 1 called my patients at
tention to little trick she had of
twitching the muscles of the left cor
ner of her mouth when talking. So
long as our friendship had stood on a
social basis alone this play of feat
ures had seemed quite becoming. but
now it had lost it's charm. and 1 de-
sired to cure it,
of course said /. I am treating
your nervous system incidentally. but
much also depends upon your own eff
forts. You must constantly guard
against all such evidences of weak
ness. That twitching is miner offense
at present, but if you don't correct
the habit it will grow into a positive
facial contortion.'
The lady promptly resented my adj
vice
Dear me- she said, that is not a
nervous contraction. 1t is an acquired
accomplishment. 1t took me months
10 cultivate it. 1t was one of the habits
OF my first husband. He had several
cdd little fnannerismS such as this
twltching of the lips. plucking at the
iope OF his left ear, and wrinkling his
ieft nostril. After he died 1 wanted
70 DO something to keep him constant
~ before me, so l decided to adopt
certain of his peculiarities; then, when
ever l performed any of his odd tricks,
could say to myself, II am like Andy
now, Andy used to do this
IL was a most successful scheme.
II Kept my memory as fresh and green
as a spring grass plot. My friends al
ways said they never saw a woman
keep her husband in mind like I did
Sleary-Cleary was my second hus-
nand-was particularly impressed with
II, He was also inclined to quarrel
with my constancy when we were first
married. ut makes me feel kind of
creepy" he said. ''It is just as If
tnat other fellow was standing up there
IN the corner making faces at me and
telling me to clear out. and not go
stnmDing around in lead Ynen's shoac