The Washington herald., 1907-12-30

New York. Dec. "a grimy and mus
cular young Scotchman. surnamed Law,
got very sick on the Cunarder Pannonia
IN to-day from Hungarian and Mediter-
ranean ports. with what he supposed was
an old-fashioned stomach cramp
He is a coal trimmer, and a good one,
and well known under decks. although
nobody aboard could say oRhand what
his Christian name is. as il is the habit
in the stokeholds of addressing folks
exclusively by their un-Christian names.
Law tried the best he could to keep his
complaint 20 himself They gave him the
BLACK draught" a sott of q collie mix
ture," but it did not do him any good. The
chief engineer thought it was time TO call
in medical advice, and so laid the case Of
Law before the ships surgeon DR. J.
Fraser, a nervy, slim. cool-headed young
Englishman, who recognized the symp-
toms of Law as appendicitis.
Smashing Into Crests.
This was on the night Of December %,
while the ship was smashing into tall
crested seas and shipping some of the
crests. She was pitching fearfully when
the surgeon went to Capt. Irving. and
said that Law 'al trimmer. had about
one chance in "a -usand 10 get over his
afiliction, and nearly every one of the Isl
Steerage passengers was seasick Law
being an able seaman. was not affected by
the motion of the distressed liner but he
felt, as he confessed later, that he would
rather be seasick than have the fearful
pain that racked him.
DR.. Fraser called in consultation DR..
Torok, representing the Hungarian gov
ernment aboard the ship, and the ships
assistant surgeon. They made careful
examination of the coal trimmer. and de-
cided that unless he were operated on IN
mediately he would be trimming coal in
Davy Jones locker.
Capt Irving took decided interest in
the case, as he had heard from below that
Law was mighty good man, also
BTlton. But he could not see how a deli
cate surgical operation requiring a floor
That IS not erratic could be performed on
81 snip spear!ng for whales D.. Frazer
said there was "a chance that Law. coal
trimmer. might come through the ordeal
all right, provided the skipper stopped the
ship.
Rolls in Seas Trough.
Capt Irving was responsive. The liners
propellers ceased churning. and she rolled
into the trough. rolling. as the naval folks
VIII say, being less harmful to the nerves
than violent pitching. The patient. al
though suffering much, walked TO the
operating table I'm the hospital Of the
steerase. a mere cabin reserved for the
use Of the sick. There were no trained
nurses around and the seas came aboard
at times while the liner was wallowing.
The consensus of the experts who ey-
amined the coal trimmer was that he
would die in few hours unless his yer
inform was removed. They told him that
his only chance of getting back TO the
British Isles depended on the result of
the operation and he submitted IN the
ether with grace and pluck. Even after
he was unconscious and submissive tba
problem was how 20 cut out the amen
dix without otherwise injuring the ,pa-
uent so badly did the liner roll in The
angry seas and living gale
Dr. Fraser welded the knife and Dr
IoIoA assisted while the assistant sur
geon administered the anesthetfc The
u
ment plan. as the doctor had To yait
until the ship was on even keel befora
Vcnturing 20 make an incision.
He had often operated before. blIt with
the on-shOre accessories. of trained
nurses and platform as steady as tbe
planet itself. K was the deviIs own
time 10 cut out an appendix while trying TO
hold your sea legs. Also the patient mad
10 be kept on the operating table. The
gallant skipper assisted by putting oil
on the waters and giving the shin n hit
Of headway at times TO ease her.
Cabin Passengers Interested.
All the cabin passengers became in
terested in the operation, and wondered
Low II would come out. They had been
told that the ship had been permitted 10
drift into the trough purely for the pur-
pose Of saving the life OF the coal trim
mer.
Il was full hour before the shin was
sent on her course again. The appendiv
had been removed and the wound seUed
up, but the coal trimmer was stil m
conscious. The ships surgeon and his
assistants were perspiring. He had noyer
heard OF an operation in gale at sea
and expressed the hope that one would
never fan to his lot again. The fear of
Jabblng the patient in the wrong place
while the liner was tossing had mucb IN
do with the doctors perturbation.
The operation was what an expert
would call eminently successful. Law
woke up feeling fine and hungry. He was
not permitted to eat solid food. however
AT least not just then. But he was able
TO report for meals to-day. and the doc
tors think that he will be on his arduous
JoD below decks when the Pannonia sails
away again
The appendix was dead" when the
surgeon took it out. and the doctors
agreed that Law would have also been
dead possibly not less than day later
than he was laid on the table il he had