The Topeka state journal., 1905-07-27
TOLD By THE OLD CIRCUS MAN.
An Incident Which Showed That There
Are Points In Giving Medicine.

Generally spea king said the old
circus man, the great giant was as
well a man as I ever knew, and he en-
Joyed his good health e-mensely.
But like the wellest of men he did
occasionally have his off day. 1t is a
curious fact, though, that he was never
sick on the road; whether it was the
constant excitement, or what, that
kept him keyed up in shape, I don't
know, but in all the years he was with
us there never was a day when the
great giant failed to show as adver-
tlsed- 1t was when we got off the
road, in our winter quarters, where he
had nothing to do. that he would have
these occasional little turns
What really set out to tell you
about was a funny, queer sort of a
thing that did happen once when the
giant really got sick, when we were in
winter quarters.
HE was good and sick this time, and
or course. the minute we realized this
fact we hustled for a doctor on the
jump. And we had to get a doctor
from town. Our own doctor, who
travelled with the show, and lived with
it, happened just then to be away at
tending to some personal matter.
I'VE got, of course, the star man
there, and he came and looked the
giant over, going at it like a man that
knew just what he was about, and then
ne wrote prescription for him which
we got filled by our swiftest rider, and
that physician coming three times a
day to look him over.
He seemed a wise man, sure
enough, who knew just what he was
fact, he got sicker; and then the old
man telegraphed to the shows doctor
to come and look after the giant.
Why said our own doctor as soon
as he arrived, I can't go in and push
the doctor that you've called right off
the map. You might want to call him
again any time, and it wouldn't do any
way. We must observe the proprietfes.
You must get him to call me in con-
Sultation.'
THE old man didn't fancy that, much,
but he did it, and the town doctor call
ed our doctor in. don't think the town
doctor fancied this very much himself,
but he did, and in about a minute our
doctor gave him a jolt that must have
made him %lange his opinion of circus
doctors.
He listened with all due dignity and
decorum and even with touch of de-
ference, our doctor did, to what the
man from town had to say about the
case, what he had prescribed, and then
our doctor asked to see the prescription,
and when he had scanned this:
" Doctor he said grayely and polite
ly, and he could be very grave and po-
lite, doctor he said, your diagnosis Of
the case If you will permit me to say
so. does credit to our profession, and
the remedies you have prescribed are
precisely those that I should have pre-
scribed myself, but I think that you
have perhaps overlooked one feature of
the case and that is the patients di-
mensions. The quantities called for in
your prescription are such as would be
administered to a man Of normal size,
but this man is approximately three
times that size. I think if you would
multiply the quantities in your prescrip-
ton by three you would find the patient
readily responding to treatment.
| 81 could see the great giants knees
wriggling under his blanket-he enjoyed
| it all better than the town doctor did;
but the doctor prescribed on the spot,
| in accordance with the consulting ply
sician's suggestion-tfie two doctors be-
came friends, as matter of fact after
that-aYd in three days the giant was
around again as well as er."-Wash-
| ington Post.