The morning journal-courier., 1908-11-23
THE MAN WITH A BOIL.
"Reminiscences of Those Who Have
 Thus Lost Friends.

q never knew how interesting and congenial q boil on the back of the neck was to other people until this morning." said o. U, Crouch, as he held nis head slightly forward, his fa. cal expression recalling in a measure the panic of 1893, when everybody felt badly.
 Everybody has something to say about another mans boil. The street car conductor examined 1t closely. No, it is not boil he said. I don't know q whole lot about hoils, but my opin- ion Is that you have a carbuncle l nursed one of those things for a week once, thinking it was a boll and then discovered that 1t was a carbuncle, Carbuncles, of course, are more dan gerous, and harder to handle.
 Ut was very kind of the street car conductor to hand out this optimistic opinion of my ailment The cigar man viewed the boil with fully as much interest as the conductor did My brother had a boil once i'm exactly the same location, said the cigar man. He had 1t lanced after suffering great pain for two weeks. He had eight other boIls before he finally got his blood cooled. You know tradition teaches us that when tho first boil comes exactly on the center of the back of the neck 1t Is sure to be fol- lowed by eight other holls on various parts of the body
 'T was glad to get away from the cigar man, and didn't half enjoy inc smoke, either. When ! went down tc the theatcr to buy a couple of tickets for to-night's performance. though the box office man proved to be an ex. ! boil victim. I had three of them or the back of my neck, he said Don't kid yourself, you're in for an awful siege The doctor who treated my first boil told me that they always came in trios, either all together or ir quick succession. l would advise vol to sec physician at once and in thc meantime. cut out the booze. cigars and all other minor vices It's fir your blood you know and boil lr the back of tho neck, such as yours, i, liable 10 be followed by fatal results.
 "'Ah, l sec you have a nice boil said the barber, as got Into the chah to undergo the ordeal of q dulrl shave Tho barber asked the man m the next chair f. no remembered th, boil that he (my barber) had had ( year ago The other barber remem bered 1t well. That was the time yot let shorty squeeze lt before it wa, ripe, wasn't it?' asked the second bar i Der, It suro was, said my barber and you remember how laid dowl on tie floor and nearly died. too. don you?
 It is very easy to squeeze a boil said the barber. addressing me, but i Is likewise dangerous Even when ! doctor lances a boil the patient gener ally faints dead away.
 This boil of yours is about ripe, said the barber. Tell you what IT do,' he said as he finished going ovc me second time I'll just open i with this needle, And he did,
 By the way" said l. It strike me that that needle should have beei 1 sterllzed.'
 No danger al all, said tho barbe, calmly I've opened a thousand boil and carbuncles and pimples with tha needle, and I've never heard of any body dying yet. This storillzing argu ment Is scientific wheeze, that's all don't take any stock in it.
 T just went over to my lawyer [ sign up a will" concluded MT. Crouch but he talked me out of it. He sail there wasn't any danger of blood pois onng until I had at least seven, am that it was cinca that 1'd live tw months longer, anyhow" -- Kansa City Journal