The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1903-01-15
THE DOCTOR
WHO LEFT
copyright, 1902, by c. B. Lewls.l


In the old days there. were couple
Of hundred of us at Turkey Bend and
no doctor within thirty miles of the,
camp. Now and then, miner fell sick
and died. but, we argued that his time
had come and he couldn't have been
saved anyhow. There was pot of tar
for cuts, pot of grease for sprains and
bruises, and if any one felt that his in
ternal economy needed bracing up he
went out and dug bearwood or gath,
cred bark from tree. If a miner was
really i'll, his tent mate nursed him as
well as possible, which consisted in
washing his feet, cutting his hair and
asking him whether he wanted to be
buried on the hillside OIL, in the valley,
but it was considered a point Of honor
not to fall sick. Now and then a stray
doctor passed through the Bend and
left a few doses of calomel or quinine
behind, but we were not prepared for
the surprise when stranger sat down
among us one day and announced that
he was "Jim Ford, phys, surg and
doc" AS far as his personal looks
went, he might have been taken for a
wagon driver who had got the bounce
ana was picking up the next best
thing, but looks often belle a man in
a mining camp.
We rather liked the idea of doctor
coming among us, as it helped to dig
nifty the camp, but old Joe Hurry, who
had been elected as general boss"
felt it his duty to call upon the man
and say:
Look we're, stranger, ar We willin'
to answer q few questions about yer
self?'
"oh, certainly" was the prompt re-
ply.
Eye claim to be reg'lar doctor, do
ye?"
II do, sir. am a graduate Of six
different colleges, and have practiced
for ten years in Illinois,"
THAT orter pass" said old Joe, who
didn't know whether the doctor grad
uated from a college or a woodward
Got a stock of medicine with ye!"
Enough to last for year, sir. Here,
try my elixir for general lassitude.
It's my own compound, and it works
like a charm"
He handed Joe a pint bottle of good
whisky, with a little wintergreen
rubbed on the cork to get up an odor,
and after taking swig the old man
smiled all over his wrinkled face and
said:
II don't know nuthin' bout medi-
cines, 'cept calomel and ointments,
but believe if was dyin' that elixir
would draw me back from the grave
I reckon We kin go right ahead and do
bizness thought at first that ye
looked like man who'd run a saw
mill or driv' six mewl team, but see
I was mistooken."
What old Joe thought and said set
tied it with the rest of us, though we
didn't accept the newcomer as literally
as he did. However, Ford soon Sc
cured confidence enough to insure his
being called on. If any one needed his
services, so long as there was no COM
petition in the medical profession at
turkey Bend.
His first case was that Of Sam
Adams; who had nothing more serious
than bilious attack and wouldn't have
been laid up beyond thirty-six hours
il there had been no doctor to send for.
Sans pulse was counted, his tongue
inspected and his eyelids turned back,
and DR.. Ford solemnly said:
"It's case of what we call febris
flnitus, or water on the brain. I may
possibly save you, but had you waited
five seconds longer before calling me
your clavicle would have been driven
through your diaphragm and produced
a mortal fatality"
He didn't have any more of the elixir,