Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1905-01-20
THE MEDDLER.
III he os@ 6n yon f@ II on"

m ne fsH Hb toH PM " e"'
To get the fullest enjoyment out OF
eating one has 10 take many Things
for granted. When n person stops 70
think about ingredients OF certain
dishes or OF the methods by which
others are prepared his appetite Is
likely To leave him forthwith. the
Meddler knows OF people who VIII not
eat canned tomatoes because they
have heard wild tales about the way
In which they are prepared, whiIe
there are others whose tastes TOT
sardines has been perverted by listen
ing 10 the description OF a sardine
factory. Canned corn Is another art
lcle OF food barred by ~ ny because
OF the foreign articles iSft TO have
been discovered within the tins. ana
the very mention Of frogs legs con-
lures up In the minds OF some people
Visions of pollywogs, lizards and
water covered with green scum. The
Meddler IN happy TO say that ne can
eat what IL set before him without
borrowing any trouble as to It's ori-
gin, but he must confess that II Jared
him n trihe TO learn that the tuber-
culosls- infected cattle found In Brat
teboro last week would be sent TO
Boston TO be slaughtered, the beer
being put to such use as Is allowed
by the inspectors"
So many jokes have been sprung
since the opening OF our hospital
about the strenuous efforts of the local
physicians to find subjects for surgi-
cal operations tina: the address upon
Modern Abdominal Surgery by DR..
Guy l.. Hummer OF Baltimore to the
Congregational club Friday evening
came as a sort OF reply In behalf OF
the Brattleboro medical fraternity.
Perhaps explanation would be the
more fitting word TO use. for the Med
dler does not mean to infer that any
reply to these jokers is really neces-
sary. While there was nothing in DR..
Runners lecture that could not have |
been given by any local NJ. d., his re-
marks had more weight because he
talked from actual experience instead |
Of from text books. II is the belief OF
the modern school of surgery, OF
which DIR. Hummer is in the forefront,
that Situation Is as much thief
Of human life as Of time, and he gave
examples of how "explora-
i've" operations havY revealed the
presence of disease early enough to
allow a cure when no other method
would have sufficed.
THE surgeons daily bread" DR..
Hummer called appendicitis, and in
Jew of the prevalence of this disease
lis remarks concerning II were doubly
In describing the opera
ion for the removal of this seeming
Y useless organ, he said that under
circumstances ANY man
With a fair knowledge of anatomy and
ONE technique could perform 1t, I
ut he forestalled this statement with
mother to the effect that in no other
peration were so many complications .
kelly to be met and for that reason
should not be attempted by any :
ON. Dick and Harry" No one can
eny that a man of DR.. Runners re-
utation knows whereof he speaks
nd that his conclusions are not based
n theory but upon experience and
aliabe statistics. However the ap-
endicitis joke is such a good one
lat it will be some time before ii
ecomes obsolete.
Speaking of such things reminds :
he Meddler of good story that he /
card recently at the expense of this
'wn. According to the man who
insult a specialist about his finger,
hich had been badly damned and
ter condemned by local physician
he New York doctor had such sue
SIS In treating the injured member
at his patient thought he would
I'VE him prescribe for a severe cold
hich was giving him much trouble.
'ou don't want to take anything
r that" replied the doctor. Just
back and see some of the Brat
,boro doctors and they'll have
melody operate for it."
The Meddler has often heard of
ople figuratively cutting off their
ses to spite their faces, but he has OF
yer heard of anyone who did such -
thing for the purpose of expector- r
ng in his countenance, although
article in last weeks issue of
al contemporary cautions against
. latter course.
The new law relative to the en-
'yment of child labor goes into
ect Feb. l. 1t provides that no
Id under sixteen years of age shall
employed in any mill, factory or
rkshop unless it can be shown
Il he has attended school %
eks during the current year There
no doubt that in Brattleboro
re are numerous cases where
ldren under the legal age are now
rking, although in the majority of
m the children are probably doing
or with a greater willing
S than they would go to school.
: instance. however, has been
ught to The Meddlers attention
ere boy of perhaps a dozen or
years has been obliged by his
Ter to work, although anxious to
to school. This case ought to be
'nded to as soon as the law be-
les operative