Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-04-30
DX n. l.. Dnhcnck.
Me brudder Willie got a pain

Me brudder Willie got pain
In his stomick an II cost Pop n
hun'crd nm NIFTY bucks"
This Is the remark I overheard one
1ittlc chap make to another as they
were returning from school the other
afternoon. Judging from the boys
somewhat shabby appearance. the
cure of that stomach ache must have
proved a rather heavy drain upon
the family cxchequer. Doubtless the
diagnosis OF the Ill was appendicitis
and doubtless Willic's father is men
tally regarding with CONSERVATION all
tho appendices still remaining to be
heard from In tho hidden depths of
his family circle.
OF course. there are free hospitals
for stricken Willies-just az these are
bread lines for hungry folk. but
II Ia barely possible the father OF
this particular Willie felt quite as
reluctant to have his offspring cut
AZ 10 have h!m fed by The hand o.
charity There arc persons like that;
persons who have always paid for
what they got. and who prefer
patched clothes 70 Tho cast-om gar
nents OF the rich.
But II this healthy spirit OF indie
pendencc Is 10 he retained by all such
o, w as ar" not III the millionaire
class. let us hope we may remain
bodily healthy. II used TO be said
that going To law" was expensive
but today ouch an expense Is In
ToiVed In going to bed" as our
forcfathcrs would never have
dreamed OF. Had littic Willie's "ston-
ach-ache' Ind nothing TO do with his
appendix. even the discovery Of that
fact through investigation ~ med
ical e1per, would. az rates go today.
have cost "iIl!e's papa very much
moro than the papa OF W!l!ie's papa
would have been asked to pay IL mis-
little boy had gone TO bed with a
pain In his stomick."
when the Doctor Comes Today.
II there is any place in tho United
states whore the average cost of
''doc:oring" has not increased from
100 TO 200 per cent above what it
was a Few years ago. there arc null
ttudrs Of persons who VIII be glad
to learn OF II. II the butcher were
suddenly to double the price Of your
Sunday roast: II the child you had
sent with a dime to the bakers to
buy lonf OF bread returned with
the announcement that the baker
man wants 20 cents" you would feel
IKE writing letter TO the papers.
but II seems TO me q matter quite as
deserving OF !nd!Enation when the
doctor who formerly charged you 81
for visit to his Office now demands
50
one would suppose With an incrcas-
ing number of sales the price OF any
comm odity would come down But
TINS Is not the cas-" with the wares
Of tho average NJ DIS OF today. Never
In the history OF the world was there
such Il market for these wares as has
OF late years been opened up through
tho multiplicity OF proclaimed dan
gerons symptoms" and never has
there been time whom nriCCg
so high.
In olden times ono wasn't sent TO
bed and kept there whenever his
temperature exhibited the sTigfitcST
irregularities. and. II perchance he
was sent there. and heard the doe
tors een!a! voice conversing in the
hall below, he could draw the bed
clothes IN tn his chin and rest easy
In the fact that even IL doc came
every morning for week and LOOKED!
at HIS tongue and fel; his pulse tho
total cost couldn't we'll be over $40
or Si2. Imagine tho effect upon his
temperature had he been told in those
days That tn. price per visit was So
what Is This Gcrmf
What IS The germ that has sudden
~ got into the medical mind and
convinced II that IL is today worth
three times per minute more than Il
was Just before the war? To be sure
there are more symptoms" per pa :
iient tor II 10 consider than there
used to he. but there are also (and
This must be consolation) more
means OF making It's uncertainties
and possible vaguencss unrccogniz-
able by the patient Whereas IL for
merly sought 10 deal only with such
information as was conveyed by a pa =
t!chts tongue or pulse. 1; now prizes
Tor facts beneath the bedclothcs. first
upon chest and then between shoulder
blades, with Investigations sometimes