The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-07-23
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 q
letter or not. 1 will try. The effort
will keep me from thinking about my
self. For month have been play
ing (" Billy in the low grounda," but
had good doctor who has nursed mo
night and day and cheered me up and
comforted me and 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 mother and nursed him
for three long months in Florida and
saved his life, and now shall not die
If he can help it. / take all his medi-
cine, quinine, strychnine, calomel,
spirits of nitre and capsules without
number, and tonics, too, and if get
we'll will never know what cured me,
but he will. What would the world do
without doctors9 King Edward and 1
would have died last week.
About twenty years ago had spell
like this one, for l 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 DIR.
Kirk was sent for and worked on me
for three or four days and got me up
again. My wife told me then that If
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
trump. He was our family doctor
until he got old and tired and moved
away to live with his children. Before
he moved to this place from South
Carolina he had love scrape over
there, and he had rival, too, and they
fell out. The girl wouldn't have either
one of them and the other fellow heard
that the doctor hail told stories on HIM
to the girl, and so after the doctor To-
Gated here his rival wrote to him and
demanded retraxit or else a fight.
The doctor wrote him stinger and re-
fused to make o 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 Goth day of Feb
ruary as the time, and the other fellow
must stay where he was and shnnt over
this way and he (the doctor) would
stay here and shoot over that way and
both must aim high 80 as not to hit
anybody between them.
But L must stop now and take
breath. A good long breath is what 1
want. The old woman was asked what
disease her husband died Of and she
said the doctors differed about it, but
she always believed he died for lack of
breath. don't want to 60 that way.
l was ruminating about these physi.
clans, for doctor is not the proper
name. Doctor means teacher of any
thing whether it be science or art or
law or pharmacy or theology. Physi.
clan is the right word. 1t is very
ancient name for the profession. The
Bible tells how Joseph got the physi-
clans to embalm his cid father, but
do not think it was very popular pro.
fesslon among the Jews, for it is men.
toned only two or three times and
with doubtful favor. King Asa had @
disease in his feet and would not call
upon the Lord for relief, but sent for q
physician, and he died and slept with
his fathers. Then there was woman
who had had an issue of blood fol
twelve years and had suffered much
from many physicians and spent al
she had and was nothing better, bu,
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 are few very eminen
ones IN the large cities, for whatever
learned Jew does he does well. Their,
is Doctor jacob In New York cit,
who stand at the head of the profession
l and Is consulted by the rich and grea
men of the nation.
I Now, let me atop for another good
] long breath. When / was q boy w
b didn't have but one doctor in the town
j, and he weighed 800 pounds and wa
r never in hurry. He left little babe
r around ever and anon and when on
Q came to our house our old cook told u
where he got them and she slyly point
= ed to his corporosity. He had it'll
s. xz~.-~Szwnu.su n-sr-,. <nRszusEsszu@ssxns