The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-08-15
When tl,c Giant Was III.

Generally speaking" said the old
circus man to a Pittsburg Post writer,
1.-The great giant was as we'll a man as
l ever knew. and he enjoyed his good
health immensely.
But, like the wellest of men, he did
occasionally have his off day. It was
a curious fact though, that be IA
never sick OF the road: whether Il was
the constant excitement or what that
kept him keyed up in shape, | 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-
tised. 1t was when we got off the
road, in Il winter quarters, where he
had nothing to do, that he would have
these occasional little turns.
What | really set out to tell you
was Il funny. queer sort of IL thing that
did happen once when the giant really
got sick, when we We're in winter
quarters.
He was good and sick this time,
and, of 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 trav-
eled with the show, and lived with it,
happened just then to be away attend-
ing to some personal matter.
" got, of course, the star man
there, n he came and looked the
giant over, going at it like a man that
knew just what he was about, and
then he wrote a prescription for him
which we got filled by our swiftest
rider, and so we began doctoring the
giant, with that physician coming
thre times a day to look him over.
He seemed a wise man, sure
enough, who knew just what he was
doing, but the giant didn't improve; in
fact, he got sicker, and hen the old
man telegraphed to the shows doctor
to come and look after the giant.
"SWhy!" said our own doctor as
soon as he arrived, / can't go in and
push the doctor that you've called
right off the man. You might want to
call him again, n time, and it
wouldn't do, anyway. We must get
him to call ne ~ consultation.
The old nan didn't fancy that
much, but he did it, and the town doc
tor called u doctor in. l don't think
the town doctor fancied this very
much himself, but he did, and in about
a minute our doctor gay him Il Jolt
that must have made him change his
opinion of circus doctors.
He listened with all due dignity and
decorum, and even with a touch of
Difference, our doctor did, to what the
man from town had pres ,rihed. and
then our doctor asked to see the pre-
scription, and when had scanned this:
"DOctor,' he said Sravely and po-
litely and he could be very grave and
sis 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 l should have
prescribed myself, but | think that yea
hav perhaps overlooked one feature
of the case, and that is the patients
dimensions. 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. / think if you
would multiply the quantities in your
prescription by three o would
find the patient readily responding to
treatment
Il could see the great giants knees
wriggling under his blanket-he en-
joyed it all better than the town doe
tor did; but the doctor prescribed Oh
the spot in accordance with the con-
Sulting physicians Su2geStiOn-the two
doctors became friends, as a matter Of
fact, after that-and in three days the
giant was around again as well as