The Lakeland evening telegram., 1917-06-21
An Elephantine
Pill
By F. A. Mitchell

mining center OF Luckyville till some
OF the miners went away and got mar
Red The men while alone didn' I
think they needed a doctor. When
they shot one another they shot to
kill; when they got sick they waited
till they got well or died. Up to the
time the women came no one had died
from disease. The women had been
used to having doctor within call
and could not readily get used to hav-
Ing no one on whom to shift the re-
sponsibility when they were ailing.
When children came the necessity
seemed all the greater.
They called upon a doctor to come
and settle among them from q neigh
boring mining town where the men
had not taken to themselves wives and
the cry Of the babe had not been heard.
The men were uncouth and needed or
at least expected radical treatment.
But the doctor at last won their con-
ddence and was permitted to give them
medicine when they needed it and to
tell them frankly when they did not
need 1t.
DR.. Truax was new thing In Lucky
Vile. Some of the men-those who
had no family-poohpoohed at the idea
OF a sawbones in a place where no one
ever died. They said that his pills and
his powders might have some effect
on the children, but to give such doses
to men was like pouring water down
q hole In the ground. They sneered at
the women who relied upon the doctor
and who when told to give a baby
teaspoonful Of few drops diluted In
q glass of water every two hours would
watch the clock to make sure that the
dose went down on the minute.
One Of the most contemptuous Of the
men In his opinion Of the doctors
methods was Mike O'Rourke, whose
name indicated that he was son of
Erin. Mike stood six foot three and
was large in proportion. One day he
failed to feel as well as usual, but
went to his work expecting to wear
out whatever might be the matter with
him. But he came home feeling no
better, and the next day it was the
same with him, and the next and the
next. He did not grow worse, but fail
ed to grow better.
why don't you go to the doctor,
Mike" said friend. "Mebbe he'll
give you sOmepin to get the trouble
out of you
The docther!' sneered Mike. What
do want with the docther? He'd give
me drop O. somethin' III a gallon of
water and expect it to make me we'll"
But after weeks waiting for a re-
turn of health Mike concluded that II
the doctor didn't do him any good al
least he would do him no harm. So he
yielded to the advice Of his friends and
called on the physician at his Office
Truax asked him his symptoms, test
ed him for fever and other troubles.
then gave him some little white pills.
telling him to take one every hour and
come again the next day. Mike de.
parted and when asked about his visit
said
He stuck little glass rod into me
mouth that looked like toy thermom-
eter. Then he looked at me tongue.
felt as If had gone back to me child.
hood. and everything was got up for
me in thin days. When he'd got
through with his tiny fussin' he give
me these pills. Look at 'em. Ye can
hardly see 'em without a glass"
The next morning Mike reappeared
at the Doctors office.
"Docther," he said, II took the little
pills ye give me. didn't string em
out; took 'em all at once, and even
then there was SO little Of 'em that ]
couldn't taste em. Give me a dose
for a man; not measley little chap
with an arm like an ak handle. but
good, big feller 200 FOUNDER like me.
self. want sonnet that'n take
hold Of me and push the disease out
of me-"
The doctor looked at the speaker un.
til he had finished, then without a
word turned and went into a room
where he kept his medicines. When
he returned he gave Mike a pill as bic
as walnut.
reckon" said the man Of drugs
that didn't consider your size. You
need larger quantity and stronger
medicine. There's dose that will
take hold of man like you. was
once called to menagerie to treat a
sick elephant. | gave him one of those
pills. and the next day he was so full
OF vim that he cleaned up his keeper"
Now ye're gittin' down to business.
docther," he said.
Come again tomorrow" said Truax
About noon the next day the doctor
saw a tall man whose clothes seemed
too big for him staggering up the walk
that led to his Office The party came
In and sank on to a sofa. He was !
Mike O'Rourke.
"Docther." he gasped, "are We shure
1t was an elephant ye give that pill to
or was 1t one o them big fellers they
dig out o. the ground they call mann. |
moths?"
How did it work. asked the doc.
tor.
Work? 1t worked like a stick o,
dynamite"