The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-26
WONDERS In A CITY HOSPITAL.
OBSERVATIONS or 4 MAN IN
WITH APPENDICITIS.



been liberal education. | thought | was
pretty we'll in touch with modern science;
but l never dreamed of the vast amount
| Of clever work being done nowadays in
| any up-to-date hospital, Books could be
| written about the happenings in the hos
pitfalls OF New York during a single year
and every one OF those books would make
very interesting reading,
II was laid up with a bad vrrmiform
| appendix, They took it out, and all had
| to do was to do nothing, and do it as hard
; as | could, for the remaining four or five
weeks. | became pretty chunmy with
| the doctors and nurses and picked up lot
Of Information
'One day one Of the physicians who was
making me a social call nodded his head
| in the direction of the door of my private
room. in which we were. The door was
open and a man passed it at the instant
the doctor directed my attention.
/ See that man. said the doctor. He's
no business to be alive. According to all
theories, he should have been dead long
ago
1.-The man was sort of assistant porter
| around the hospital, He had been in and
| out of my room for days, and had noticed
nothing unusual about him He was a
| colOred man, and was as cheerful as most
darkies.
He came in here one day continued
the doctor. or'was brought in, with the top
| of his head ripped Of When we got him
on the operating table we found that we
| could take the upper portion of the skull
clean away from the head, like a cap.
We'll, we went through the usual proce-
! dure. Cleaned the edges oil the skull, and
| so on, and then took about double handful
| OF antiseptic gaize. stuffed il in over the
brain, put on the cap. drew over the scalp
| sewed 1t up, and left the patient to die
| as We all of MS believed
The surgeon in charge said thai the man
| would probably. be dead in a few hours.
The next day he was still alive; moaning a
! little, but still alive, AT the end OF forty
! eight hours he was living, to our amaze
| ment. and at the close Of the third day he
! had still refused to breathe his last.
Now Wa were in a pickle. The gauze
must he got out and all preparations made
for the man to live, although it still seemed
preposterous to think that I've could.
!
took out button Of bone, inserted instru-
ments and drew out the gauze, cleaned
the wound put the button back and left
| the patient. We found that the skull cap
that had been torn of had already begun
| to knit with the skull proper and it could
| not have been taken Off without a violent
! wrench.
1.-The man improved quite rapidly after
this. and got well. There's nothing the
| matter with him now no far as any one can
| see. Was il one chance in a thousand?
! Yes. one in ten thousand
| As grow stronger had my room door
open all dav. / Got to know every one
| who habituallv passed up or down the cor
| ridor. and l soon got to realize that the
| patient in room nearly opposite mine
stayed there only during the day and after
! II o'clock at night
! About seven O'Clock every evening there
would he a great h,lstng Of nurses in and
| out Of that room and then out would come
| the patient. glassy-eyed and moving
slowly by aid of cane. At II back
| ne would come. crawling TO the door.
! Il got the nurses 70 explain. Thar man
was an actor, and good one, lie was a
comedy man with some well-known COM
pany. He suffered friGhtfully when on
! the stage. and the nurses said they had
never seen such pluck.
How hs could go brough his part. make
! funny cracks, do little dance, &c. is a
! mystery, but he did IT. The doctors wanted
TO operate, hut the actor fought them of
.For q time he sworc he would die before
Ii
! got him in bed. and wouldn't let him out
until they had cut him open. He got we'll
| rapidly. hut in the middle Of his GONZALES
| cence his money gave out, and he had TO
! 90 10 the public ward for men,
| "Then he came near losing all his splendid
nerve. 1t broke him up badly to hear
| the groans Of the sufferers about him. and
| 10 see silent bodies carried out in the early
| morning made him crazy to get out. He
| cot ont too ten days before the doctors
| said he ought To go. But his company
had gone on TO Boston, and join it he would
and did
something amusing in his hospital expert
ence popped into his mind BY way Of ex-
| PLANTATION he said:
| Nurses in a big hospital, or in a little
| one, I suppose, like patient, who ia reason
ably bright and cheerful. They have SO
| many gloomy and grumpy. not to say cross
| persons 10 Zeal WIFI, lIld' any one VINO tries
| to be pleasant wins their regard at once
~ remember that after a little run in
I had with one nurse they were all very
| nice 70 me, and il wasn't anything of much
| consequence either, This nurse was a
| prim denure little body who would blush
! II you said boo TO her. I didn't say it g.
but one evening, when she brought my
supper in and placed II on the little table
| on the bed over me, she proceeded to lift
! me IN on the pillow.
A'Now. she said, if you'll place your arm
around my waist can lift you easier"
| my, N.Y. I remarked; this ia so sud-
| den
| THAT nurse dropped me as if had hit
| her, and she ran out of the room with her
| face as red IA danger flag. I heard n
great tttering in the corridor, and pretty
| soon another nurse came in the prim ones
| place.
"She was grinning, and so was every
nurse who came in for the next two DAYS
! But the prim little nurse did not come
/ in my room for week II was all right.
though, and there wasn't anything I could
| not have from the nurses after that -
|
GOLF MORE EXPENSIVE NOW.
| Because Clubs Have to Keep Tennis Courts