The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-03-22
RELIEVING
SUFFERING.
|Labors Of a Richmond Sur,
geon Among the Chinese.
DIR. E.S.WOoDWARDWRlT
He Gives 4 Most Interesting Accoun. Of
His Work IN a Hospital Among
the Superstitious Chi.
DIR. E.S.WOODWARDW WRITES

OF St. James Paris, this city, and a grad
uate OF the University If Virginia; went to
China III October, 1899. lie was almost
Immediately assigned to Nganking, where
| no hospital work was being done. After
years preliminary work and language,
|jDr, w oodward planned and superintendent
the erection OF st. James Hospital. me
following interesting article from his
pen appears in the current number of
,.I'he Spirit OF Mssions:'' i'll Il 81 FAY
8$1n the famotse House that Jack
Built."fit was a growing cock that just
at d avn woke the priest, etc., etc. At
Nganklng a most effectua substitute for.
arousng hetimes both priests and laity Is
afforded by the swashy 3'thud, thud.
thud" OF the hospital laundry, as piece by
piece it'(lsg swung and beaten with fall
like vigor and precision in manner Pc
culiar. to the East. Relief is finally had.
however, when the chapel bell rings out
the call to morning prayer at eight; FOR.
then the day. laundry Is finished, and
the quondanl laundrynian Is to be meta
morphosed for the day into a ward as
sistant. In this capacity his skill with
soap and water are often In demand, SO
that the combination OF employments is
Glttlng as we'll US economical. * II "a 5;
TWO MEALS a DAY. III 54s IL
The modern Chlnaman. like his wor-5
shIpful ancestors, for time tmmemorial,
has subsisted on two meals a day. This
custom is. OF course. followed in our hos
pital; but here at least the supply Is gem
erous, as Is testified by the look or ex-
pectant happiness that pervades every
face when the big kitchen drum rumbles
out the announcement that early rice
Is ready Great bucKetfuls OF the flaky
rice disappear like magic. as 1t Is scoop
ed into the Individual bowls. and. after
the addition perhaps OF a few greens or
bit of fat pork. tilted with deft chop
sticks down capacious throats. Breakfast
over ana the ward swept and garnished,
the medical work proper begins
We shall first make the morning
rounds. y which differs but little from that
customary In western hospitals. But
let lis notice. in passing, n few OF the
patients. Here In ouri@litte N"private
room" Is wealthy mandarin who can
afford to pay the heavy charge OF fitty
cents day for board attendance and
trea tment, instead OF the five cents q day
required Of the ward patients. He has
a very grave case Of appendicitis. Al
ter two months OF alternate neglect and
malpractice at the hands OF the native
quncis, during which time he has sought
relief from his sufferings by constant
stupefaction with,.the opium pipe he has
come TO the mission hospital. and VIII
undergo operation Tomorrow AS we
come up he lays down a bedside copy OF
the New Testament 5955.
Let us pass into the next room. Though
| fr.afaf Ia -fyta' II
serve as the woman's ward, and at press
ent has three patients! The story OF one
| Is unusual. She is a gray-haired old 5Wo-
man. who was brought to the hospital
| two weeks ago on her bed by her husband
| and sons. from 4 village fteen miles IN
| the country. They had travelled fast for
| many hours, and arrived after dark. Inc
| case was Indeed urgent While Chamber
| inb among the limbs or an nlanthus tree.
| to gather its leaves for their evening
| meal, the old woman had lost her pal
| ance and fallen to the ground, sustal ming
a dreadful fracture OF me leg' she IS
| now almost well. though with the loss
| OF the leg which had to be amputated at
once, to save her life. The gratitude OF
| both herself and family is very unusual
| SURGICAL CASES.
| In the general ward there are twenty
| beds-and twenty patients The large
majority Of them are surgical cases, and
| It will take an hour or more TO change
! the dressings. The first case we see Is
n n" Soldier With a thigh horribly mansled
| by order OF his mandarin In TT Of
drunken rage at n trivial offence. He
viii do well to recover IN two or three
months under careful treatment. This
| rs not an uncommon incident In our hos
| pitalF work, A few beds further on Is an
old man, blind for years. He came on
| foot more than fifty miles to test the
4 truth OF the rumor that n mission hos
i pitnl had been opened in Ngankng where
i sight could be restored to the blind. Tie
i IL happy In the certainty that tho rumor
j was quite true Yonder Is the children's
corner 1--WE have no children's wardD whore
Il there Is n bright little chap of eight. He
Is n Mohamlnndan. and his creed forbids
his eating Tho hospital food. but fortu-
; nately does not drhar medicine from the
. Same source. We might find something
, Of interest In every case VIC pass, but
there are operations awaiting us down
stairs. so we must hurry on.
The operating room. thanks to special
dona tons from home. Il now quite well
equipped for a mission hospital. It's bright
array OF Instruments in Elnss-shelvcd
cabinets are the admiration or fear Of u
visitors. The first operation for the
morning Is to he on II girl OF sixteen
{ quite comedy save for a disfiEuring hare
; lip. She is very much frightened, and
rlings to her mothers arms. but Is pa
:. thellcally eager 10 Dr cured inc Sec
: ond Is the removal OF a malignant tu-
J NOR, and the last is the amputalion of a
foot made necessary by the malpractice
, OF native doctors with uncleanly acupunc-
ture needles This is not an unusual day,
+ rs we sometimes have five or six opera
lions. Such work is very fatguinG. and
the rest of noon-day prayer ana tlin Is
: most welcome.
At half past one, we return 10 the hos
h ptal for the afternoon clinic The native
Q clergyman and catechist arc preaching
! and distributing tracts to the patients
awaiting the clinic hour In the large
! waiting room, Here the walls are made
bright and attractive by many large col
: ofed scrolls OF scenes from Bible history
! with the appropriate passages In Chinese
/, written underneath-a source OF never
: falling Interest to the patients
I ALL KINDS OF PATIENTS.
? Sharp 10 The minute the door from the
consulting room Is opened, and the pa
tents admitted as their numbers ar.
: called, To-day there are fifty odd pa.
:. TENTS to be seen, about half of them new
:, cases. Let us glance at some Of them
y The first Is a woman stark mad from