The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1915-05-28


other divisions and he hopes to be
able to spend an evening of this kind
with each OF the nineteen divisions at
least once a year.
DIR. A. +. Sohmer. the local North
western surgeon, was the toastmast-
er. Those present included Drs. N. s.
Adair. Owatonna: ID. s. Fairchild,
{ Clinton, Iowa; II. NJ. Workman.
Tracy; c. II. Mayo. Rochester: r. +.
Campbell. WATERFOWL. s. d.: +. l..
Smith. Eyota: J. w. d. Welcome.
Sleepy Eye; G.. r. Pease. Redwood
Falls; A. J. Rudolf. Waseca; II. J.
McGaughey. winona: NJ. c. Piper,
Sanborn; ID. J. A. Slocumb. Plain
view; J. w. Andrews. local surgeon
OF the Omaha; and II. N. Andrews,
&c. G.. Pratt, A. V. Denman. and j. III.
James, all of Mankato; also, G. l..
/ Young, assistant claim agent, Huron !:
II. j. Wagon, general agent. Winona !:
IC. f.. Helmer. assistant superintend
ent Winona; c. Coleman. master me-
chanlc. Winona; John Degnan, trav-
cling engineer, Waseca: NJ. j. Boyle,
division superintendent, Winona; and
J. Johnson, trainmaster; c. II. John
son. freight agent. and r. Kearney,
roadmaster. all OF Mankato.
Best Attended Meeting.
DIR. Hopkins remarked this was one
OF the best attended meetings OF the
kind he had yet had on any division.
lie remarked that such meetings
brought the various surgeons and
other railroad men into touch, so
that they could work far better,
knowing each other personally, than
they could II they were acquainted
by correspondence. DR.. Hopkins urged
that every case be reported to him.
He did not wish TO have any of the
surgeons or other railroad men think
he was too busy to read their letters
or TO reply to them. He wanted every
injury reported I'm separate letter
There was quite a discussion Of the
topic OF reporting on small injuries
and many instances were cited
where supposed small injuries had
developed into big lawsuits. A case
was cited where man claimed 10
have lost an eye. because cinder
from q locomotive smOkestack was
lodged in Il two years before. The
discussion brought out that IL was
desirable to have each case thor
oughly on record as soon as il de-
veloped. Each patient should be ex-
amined. and the facts should be down
in black and white. Many OF those
| who spoke cited instances where
men. who claimed To have hernia OH
account of railroad accidents. had
simply old cases or hernia. and tried
to get money out OF the railroad com
panies by claiming the old trouble
was a new one. due To Il railroad nc =
cidcnt.
Lack Of Co. Operation.
| DR.. J. w. Andrews stated that one
of the chief difficulties with which a
railroad surgeon had to contend was
the lack OF cooperation on the part
| OF the patients themselves. The
thought that is usually uppermost In
the mind of the patient Is how much
damage money he is going TO get out
OF the railroad company. The doctor
as rule finds the patient not AZ all
anxious TO get well until he has set =
tied with the railroad company. An
| other great difficulty was with prac
titioners of the medical profession Il E
self. DIR. Andrews told of time when
just after a court session. In which q
personal injury case against rail :
road was being tried. he said to an
other physician, who had been on
the stand. Doctor. you know very
well that In meeting OF doctors. you
would not get up and make such
statements as you did on the witness
stand" The other laughed and admit
ted that he would not. Another diff
Guilty OF which DIR. Andrews spoke was
that OF the attorney. when q man was
hurt and sent TO a hospital, the at =
torneys did not come to see them, but
others did, who came as friends. Aft
er these friends had seen the patients
II was frequently impossible 10 make
n settlement.
Should Undergo Examination.
In the discussion several OF the
surgeons urged that all those who
came to work for the railroad com
pany should undergo n physical ex-
animation, in order TO determine
whether there was any standing de-
feet that they had. Such defect nigh,
otherwise later develop into law
suits. Master Mechanic Coleman OF
Winona stated that this would do
very well for the positions that were
more desirable, such as that of engi-
neer. but II would not do for all bran
ches OF the service. There had been
times In his own experience when he
was willing to hire anything that
wore pair OF pants and was pc
tween the ages OF eighteen and eighty
and then he could not get what he
wanted
DR.. c. c. Pratt spoke about work
men with contagious diseases going
about among other workmen. He said
he know OF a man having n we'll
developed case of tuberculosis and
yet working In one OF the crews EN-
ployed by a local contracting firm.
Seriousness Of Injury.
Another point on which several
laid a great deal OF stress was that
OF not Understanding the serious
ness OF the injury or the probable
time II would require To cure the pa :
tient. When these things were un-
derstated, the claim agent was handi-
capped. He would try to settle on
the basis OF the report. He would en-
deavor to make settlement with q
patient who was likely to be laid up
FOR month on the basis OF his being
disabled for only one week. n the
settlement was successfully made
and the patient was disabled longer
than the claim agent represented
l..a l..