Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-10-03
DONE IN PHILADELPHIA

Mot many persons who read the war news
IN from Europe every day know that the
hospital service and the Red Cross work
generally, which is doing SO much to relieve
the sufferings of the soldiers in all the
armies now engaged was started fifty years
ago by the efforts of Philadelphan. That
fellow townsman OF ours was the American
dentist, DR.. Thomas w. Evans.
! There are still some persons who laugh
| at the mention of the man who has been
! alluded to as the little dentist" and "the
royal tooth-puller," but forty years ago
there was probably no other American in
Europe on such familiar terms with the
majority of it's sovereigns. Part of this high
regard in which Doctor Evans was held by
monarchs undoubtedly was due to his high
/ professional ability, but that alone never
would have given him such confidential re-
lations with royalty. The secret was his
/ personal qualities as a genial and educated
| gentleman. He never overstepped the line
convention placed between himself and his
royal friends. At the same time he never
ceased to be an American, and could stand
upon his dignity when occasion demanded
LIE HAD to do this once with the Emperor
IL of Russia, Nicholas 1. The incident
occurred during the early years of Doctor
Evans residence in Europe. Already he had
been called professionally by the French
Emperor and his family, and by Queen VIC
tora and her royal children, cousins and
aunts. Consequently his fame had reached
the Gear.
One summer holiday took him to ST.
Petersburg. Like other travellers having no
friends in the capital he went to a hotel.
His presence in st. Petersburg, however was
soon known to Nicholas, who sent an equerry
to Doctor Evans, commanding him to wait
upon the Gear and examine him profess
sionally.
If Doctor Evans had been as little" as
some persons have accredited him, he would
have called cab and been driven direct to
che palace But he did nothing of the kind.
He was pleasant enough about it, but he
gave the Cars equerry to understand that
ne was an American, visiting st. Petersburg
his vacation, and that not being Rus
sian subject, he respectfully declined to obey
the Cars orders
TTNHAT equerry's face must have been a
i study of blank establishment, If not hor-
or, when he received the message. How
he ever got courage enough to convey it to
his Imperial master will never be known,
but that he did do so was evident from what
followed
In a short time the equerry was back
again with cordially worded invitation to
Doctor Evans to call at the palace. The
American accepted the invitation, and an
appointment was arranged Doctor Evans
visited the Car of all the Russas at the
appointed hour and found him a very
charming man. They got on together most
agrceaby and until his death Nicholas I
numbered the American dentist among his
friends.
nOCTOR EVANS studied dentistry in his
~ native city at time when the science
had still long way to go to attain perfec-
tion. Yet even then Philadelphia dentists
among the foremost in the world, and
the city was renowned as the home Of this
branch of surgery After studying with DIR.
John D. White who was a prominent dentist
here, Doctor Evans took a course at the
Jefferson Medical College, and when he left |
Philadelphia to practice in Maryland was a
good practitioner He did not remain in
Maryland long, but removed to Lancaster, |
where he obtained his first recognition as |
dentist above the average. About 1876 he !
went to Paris and became the assistant to |
Doctor Webster, the only American dentist |
then in Europe. He succeeded Webster, and |
being an exceedingly skilful and learned man |
IN ms profession was soon on the way TO |
fame. He became the Surgeon dental" to
Napoleon III and his family, and probably |
was on as intimate terms with that unfortu-
nate monarch any foreigner ever was
Doctor Evans was trusted by his royal
clients, who regarded him as an agreeable
companion. His learning, combined with his
strong, American good sense, made the
friendships lasting.
TNHE Civil War In this country brought
L forth the first attempt to attack in a sci
entifc manner the problem of the sick and
wounded which confronts combatants in
two months the Medical Bureau of the
United States army found itself unequal to
the task A sanitary commission of volun-
teers was organized in June of that year,
and through this agency camps and hospitals
were placed on as good sanitary footing as
the science of sanitation could then achieve.
The work of the medical side of the Civil
War attracted the attention of all Europe.
But very little was known of the methods
practiced here. Doctor Evans studied the
subject. purchased supplies of every kind,
ambulances, and had models of the
military hospitals constructed
and then went back to Paris to write book
describing the work that was being done
here. This volume he sent to all his royal
friends, and from that book and Doctor
Evans collection Of illustrative objects Eu-
rope received its first lesson in taking proper
care of the soldiers in the field. The book
also was quoted at the Geneva Convention