The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-05-18
DOCTOR CHEPP'S NARROWNESS:

WRITTEN o H SUNDAY REPUBLIC.
Which, of course. son." said the Old
Cattieman. between dense puffs of tobacco
smoke. which, of course, l wouldn't go
pirootin' about Doc Poets maxim no sech
disclosures, but between us / amt got no
exalted opinions touchin' these yere saw
bones sharps when took as a herd. Thar's
speCiments like Poets wherein l stands
ready 10 lose my last chip; but not as 4
rcolc. As J observes. however. l sacrifice a
BLOC stack before ever ! lets Poets track up
ag'iust me- an me talkiH' like this. Doc
tors. that away, is jealous as lnjuns, an
their word is touch one, touch all That's
straight! You go pesterin' about invidious.
AN lettiu' fly observation calculated to
draw blood on one OF EN-, an the next news
IS, you're charged by the bunch. head down,
taii up, the entire outfit lustin' for your
u=astrHctlon. This we're yooniversal eager
ness on the parts of them scientists to come
st-mpedin' 10 each others rescoo is due 10
what Poets calls their spree do core
shore, l encounters doctors who is mar
row 10 the pint Of bein' mean. Thars a
party over in the Panhandle country in my
tirae-pitches a brief camp at Tacosa, ne
Gots-lancets. knives. saws, splints, band
ages. pills an pisens: he freights in a fun
kit-now he's that narrow. he's ornery.
"Thar's nothin' about this practitioner 10
remind a CERT OF Doc Poets. you can gam
bile, Poets is that b~road-minde il comes
mighty clost 10 bein' a gift. I've knowed
P,ets-ta!k Of takin' a wide view-fve
hIowed Poets TO put TWO bullets into "a
moss thief an do his best TO plant EN-
where The miscreant lives. An then. when
he's downed this felon. turn in an exhaust
himself. medical. savin' his life. That's
what ! calls benz broad. l asks Poets about
how he Regards sech conduct himse'f.
However do you-all reconcile your &C
lions. Doe l says; Dustin this party one
minute an tyin' up his wounds the next?
" It's because doctors is dooal, that a
Way replies Poets. They're not only prac-
tItioners; they're folks. Actin in my per
s1ual capacity. / plugs this criminal. Also.
a. seCh, ! does my level utmost to snuT
him out. Later. / appears in my role as a
physician: an then l performs all ! saveys
To exhocme them bullets an save the viii
laiu's life
Il makes no comments, as sech doctrines
IS beyond me. But l recalls how they shore
strikes me as romantic a whole lot. / sub
mits I'm to Dan BogGs. Dan says freely
that if the case is his an he discovers a
boss thief who outlasts two shots, he'd keep
ON shuotin' him M.
" I'd go for'ard like I'm headed at the
time. SAYS Dan. That outcast who steals
my steed gets every cartridge in my belt
If the same Is called for by his eXtermlna-
tiou. That's logical. 1 shore wouldn't on
derstand a play where after the second
shot y0u turns IN TO heal and rehabiftate
the enemy; none whatever.
This Doc Chepp I adverts 10 comes from
no one saveys where. No one asks; as bein'
inuuis'tive is bad manners along the Ca
madam. Most likely he's a foogitive of
some sort: mebby he's done things that's
ag'iH the law.
still. that's no reason to go backtrackin'
n gent. Why, son, at the epock l aloodes
10. if you-all was to make a wind-up Of
them sports in the Panhandle for whom
rewards is offered some'ers else. they'd
been worth more in money than the biggest,
latest beef herd that ever goes trailin
out Of that region for the Northern yards.
Which neither l nor others asks this
Chepp coucernin' his heretofore. We're too
discreet for one matter; an then ag'in, it's
a rinch he'd allied. I don't believe in bein'
curious as TO your neighbors. nchow. Thar's
a equilibrium to information. an ! alters
notices that about the time you knows n
few interestin' things about a gent he
knows a equal number of highly thrillin
things about you. As Colonel William
Greene sterett well says in his Coyote pa
per just prior to Soin' s~qUanderin' over 10
Rcd Dog to peel the hide off that rival
journalist who's been waXtu' too peTnicious,
'Nacher abhors a Vacyooum an dearly
loves q even break Thar's wisdom in them
remarks. An you-all should never forget
for you're young, son., an can't acquire
habits OF caution too soon-that when you've
gene clost enough TO the game of a fellow
sport 10 discover how he turns some cum
min trick. you've likewise gone clost enough
Tor him to read the brands on you. You
all ought TO ponder these yere tenets, for
thev teaches charity. An comm down to
the turn. where's that gent who's perfect
an has nothin' to conceal? Thar's moments
when even a angel walks in the water an
tries TO break his trail; an 1 inclines with
Old Man Bnright to the theory that no gent
of enterprise an activity attains TO forty
years without cuttin' the wire fences of
some law an goin' bulgin' crim'nally
through permiscus.
But to recur to this Cheep: Let me tell