The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1902-07-24
BILL ARP AND THE DOCTORS.
HE RECEIVERS FROM
A SERIOUS ILLNESS.
The Physicians Probably Kept
Him and King Edward from

Dying.
Atlanta Constitution.
/ don't know whether can write /
letter or not. ! will try. The effor
will keep me from thinking about my
self. For n month [ have been play
ing " Billy in the low grounds" but
had good doctor who has nursed me
night and day and cheered me up and
comforted me and l am on the up grade
though as the Georgia crackers say, "i
am powerful weak" This doctor is
my son and he says he has not forgot
ten how his mothor and | nurscd him
for three long months in Florida and
saved his life, and now l shall not die
if he can help it. | take all his medi-
cine, quinine, strychninc, calomel,
spirits of nitrc and capsules without
number, and tOnics, too, and if get
well l will never know what cured me,
but he will. What would The world do
without doctors? King Edward and |
would have died last week.
About twenty years ago | had spell
liko this one, for had been working
in the water all day trying to dam up
the branch in the meadow so that the
children could go in bathing. That
night liked TO have died, and old DR..
Kirk was sent for and worked OH me
for three or four days and got me up
again. My wife told me then that if
l didn't be more careful of myself l
wouldn't live out half my days. She
told me the same thing the other day,
and she knows. Old DIR. Kirk is a
trump. He was our family doctor
until he got old and tirci and moved
away TO live with his children. Before
he moved to this place n South
Carolina he had love ape over
there, and he had rival, I'd they
fell out. The girl wouldn either
one Of them and the other fellow heard
that the doctor hau told stories on HIM
to the girl, and so after the doctor To-
Gated here his rival wrote TO him and
demanded n retraXit or else fight.
The doctor wrote him stlnger and re-
fused to make retraXit, but would ac-
cEpt his challenge and fight him until
Hades frOze over, and as the fighting
code gave the challenged party choice
Of weapons and time and place and
distance he should choose rifles at long
range and the next 29tll day of Feb.
iuai an GiS Gi1AC3 Alu tIlC oIhCI 1CllOW
must stay where he was and shoot over
this way and no (thc doctor) would
stay here and shoot over that way and
both must aim high so as not to hit
anybody between them.
But | must stop now and take
breath. A good long breath is what I
WanG. The old woman was asked what
disease her husband died of and sho
said the doctors differed about il, but
she always believed he died for lack of
breath. l don't want to go that way.
l was rumnating about those physi-
clans, for doctor is not the proper
name. Doctor means u teacher of any
thing whether it be science or art or
law or pharmacy or theology. Physi-
clan is the right word. 1t is q very
ancient name for the profession. The
Bible tells how Joseph got the physi-
clans to embalm his old father, but |
do not think it was a very popular pro-
fesslon among the Jews, for il is mon
toned only two or three times and
disease in his feet and would not call
upon the Lord for relief, but sent for a
physician, and he died and slept with
his fathers. Then there was q woman
who had had an issue of blood for
twelve years and had suffered much
from many physicians and spent all
she had and was nothing better, but
rather grew worse. The Jews unto
this day do not give much patronage
to physicians or quack medicine. !
never knew but one jew doctor,
though there arc few very eminent
ones IN the large cities, for whatever a
learned Jew does he does well. There
is q Doctor jacob IN New York city
who stand at the head of the profession
and is consulted by the rich and great
men of the nation.
Now, let me stop for another good,
long breath. When was boy we
didn't have but one doctor in the town,
and he weighed 800 pounds and was
never in a hurry. lie left little babes
around ever and anon and when one
came to our house our old cook told us
where he got them and she slyly point
ed to his corporosty. He had little
office on the street and q few shelves
with bottles on them containing calo-
mel, salts and castor oil, SIENNA and
cammomile and Peruvian bark, balsam
of copaiba, AMI such simple things, and
in the corner was n skeleton in box
that stood upright, with screw In the
skull, and sometimes the little, long
door was open and We school children
could peep in and then run for our
lives. 1t was an awful sight. But the
old doctor got too old and fat to prac-
tice and sent to New York for his ne
phew, DR.. Philo ID. Wildman, "a student
of Valentine Mott, the great New York
physician and surgeon. He was as
smart as his tutor and went to cutting
and slashing our people just like killing
hogs. He strightened cross eyes ant
sewed up hare lips and cut stonos on
of bladders. The agonizing scream.
of poor little John Thompson, m,
school mate still haunt me, for he wa,
Simplifying dying of stone in the bladde
and the doctor cut it out. 1t was a
large asa pigeon egg, and the lit i
boy got well. My brother and jim