Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-10-23

DIR. r. c. J. Meyer. democratic can.
didate for coroner. fills the bill for
that important Office exactly. He is
in every way qualified for the duties.
DR.. Meyer comes from stock of
sturdy Germans who settled on
farm in Coe township about 1864.
There the doctor was born and raised
and afterward he was employed at
the carpenter trade as an apprentice,
while working on the farm and at the
trade he studied nights and later
went to college, graduating from Rush
Medical college, tie medical depart
ment of Wooster university. Ohio, and
the American Institute of PhrenologS.
(Fowler & Wills, New York City. He
located in Moline 20 years age. where
he has practiced ever since. He was
at one time examining surgeon in the
| bureau of pensions at ROCK Islanu.
/ He was for a number OF years senior
/ surgeon OF the Illinois naval reserves
with the rank of lieutenant comnanu-
er and surgeon. and also held the
position of assistant surgeon general
of the patriarchs militant |. o. o. +.
of Illinois.
He was the first health commissiul-
er of Moline. lie is by education and
! training well qualified to fill the posi-
ton as coroner, and as a physician
he will be able to save the county
a great deal of expense, where in
quests and autopsies are held mneces-
sary, and save the people great
deal of Inconvenience and annoyance.
He was nominated by the democrats
because they believed. as others be-.
lieve, that the corOners office should
be held by a doctor, and because of
his special fitness for the office.
He will, if elected, IN holding in
quests, select young men, men who
are honorable men and not interested
in the case, so that everybody will
get a square deal and an honest YER
dict and no verdict will be rendered
until all the evidence bearing upon
the case has been thoroughly con-
sidered. After the inquest he will
deliver the body to the family and
friends to select their own undertake
er, and where the family or friends
cannot be located, that this work viii
be divided among the undertakers.
Where the coroner is an underttker
he is tempted to convert an official
act as coroner into an act as under
taker. thus converting an official act
into a business proposition for per-
sonal gain, which is unfair to the 9TH
er undertakers and to the people
whose choice of undertakers should
be respected
1t is generally believed that a doc
tor can best conduct the office as
! coroner, as it requires the skill OF
a physician to determine the cause
of death. and being able to determine
the cause of death. he is able to de-
| eide whether or not an inquest or
7 even an autopsy is necessary and
, save the expense of the inquest
, Many states recognize this fact and
2 lave laws enacted making it COM
pulsory for a coroner to be a doctor
. But there is no state in the union
r that requires a coroner TO be an un-
, dertaker. Some may think that it is
immateriaI who ID elected coroner. but
| when they stop to think for a moment
p that some member OF their family, or
some person may die under unusual
p circumstances and what may happen
n as the result Of the coronsr's inquest.
!. they can readily see that it is all i'm
n portant that the man elected as cor.
r oner is not only honest and fair, but
g competent by education and training
d to the end that justice be done to all.