Fitzgerald enterprise. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1895-1912, 1903-01-09
STARTING OUT IN THE WORLD.

it lacked aroma, or lacked apprecia-
! ton of it, / sat at the table, idly
watching the people come and go.
Some would rush in as. if all Of life
must be crowded into the next half
hour, hastily give an order. swallow
T the meal when it came as if mastica-
ton was one Of the last acts of their
lives, and rush out again. These peo-
/ pie evidently begrudged the time it
took to pay the bill. Others would
: saunter leisurely in, scan the entire
| place with cool, scrutinizing stare,
! pick out the table promising the most
elbow room and calmly await the ar
rival of their diuner
1t was at noon. / had finished my
! midday meal in a restaurant in San
Francisco, and sat thinking, not very
placidly, Of the scenes around me, and
! also OF my uncertain prospects in a GER
! tain game called 'Iife, 2 in which L was
about to start as professional man.
[ had just graduated from the Ann Ar
Dor Medical College, and equipped
with my diploma, few hundred dol
lars and what of experience and hope
attaches to twenty-six years Of age, L
had como West to build up a prac-
| tice.
had but recently reached the
Golden Gate of the great Western
! slope, and had spent the first few
days seeing things" But now /
had had my fill of idleness. L was
anxious to get to work, both for the
pleasure of occupation and the fnan-
cial emoluments thereof, OF which I
would soon be in need.
[ was practically alone in the world.
1t had not been 50 up to the second
year of my college life. My father
was q merchant of St. Louis. He was
very fond of me. He and I were all
that were left of small family. He
had generously provided for me dur
ing my school-days, and been ex-
tremely liberal as to my allowance
after L entered the university.
But he succumbed to sudden
attack of pneumonia, leaving me en-
tirely alone. He left no large estate.
After settling up his affairs, L found
myself with enough money to com
fortably see me through college and
leave to me the little now possessed
us working capital"
L had not yet opened an office. That
was to be my work that afternoon; so,
shaking off the somewhat morbid spirit
that had come over me, I paid my
bill, and strolled out of the restaurant.
| had noticed in some of my walks
through and around the city that in
the northern suburb, where many new
houses were being built, there were
comparatively few physicians signs.
In this direction L turned my steps.
did not know soul in San Fran
cisco, save those whose acquaintance
had made during my present short
sojourn. But was full of the pluck
of youth, My ambition was to be-
come successful practitioner and,
some time, to be the owner of one of
the beautiful fruit ranches that make
California famous.
L experienced little difficulty in
securing an Office. The rent, after all,
was trifle higher than [ had expected
to pay; but, after something of a
search among dingy and ill-ventilated
places, l fell in with the good-natured
lanitor of fine new dat, who offered
ne at what was really a reasonable
figure the four front rooms of the first
floor. This would leave him and his
wife the four rear rooms-all they
needed for their comfort. The rooms
were finely decorated aud we'll lighted;
and as flats were something of o nov
city i'll San Francisco, paid deposit
and concluded the bargain, reasoning
to myself that the very novelty of itself
would serve as an advertisement.
[ expended four hundred dollars in
getting my new abode furnished. The
front room. which, if occupied by
family, would be the parlor, I fur
nished neatly but not extensively as a
reception and waiting-room; next to
this my consulting and operating-room;
then small, cosy affair of a library,
in which L stored my books, instru-
ments, cabinets, skeletons, relics and
the various trophies incident to stu
dent life.
had good lot of books, of which
was very proud. Part of them were
medical works had purchased dur
ing my college career, but the greater
portion of them had been my fathers.
Back of the library was my bedroom.
Having arranged these things to my
satisfaction, after careful survey, I
considered myself the best-located
physician on the hill. l listened with
degree of pride to the lauda-
tory remarks of my friend, the JAM
tor, and his estimable wife. who fain
would believe me already ON the road
to professional glory. In fact, 1 had
yet to earn my first dollar. Next door
to my fiat a mothsrly sort of woman
kept clearinghouse. Acting upon
the advice, freely given, of the jani-
tor. made an enrapement at This