The Princeton union., 1922-08-10
gIlllIlllillIIllIInIlIllHIlIHIlllilIIIIjIiIII
The
$50, 900 Operation
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
BY HUBERT RAY

S +O9O~O OH~A OASAAA =
= >~~~~~~>~~~~~~
= BY HUBERT RAY e
Copyright. 1892. Western Newspaper Union.
Breathe away! Breathe away. Mr..
Fotheringay."
There was Difference even in the
voice of the anesthetist, and in the
way he deferentially placed the ether
cone over Mr.. Fotheringay's nose, for
it was $4,000 operation, and Mr..
Fotheringay was many times mil
liOnaire.
Yes, that was Mr.. Fotheringay, that
hulk lying unconscious upon the glass
topped table; that bloated bulk of a
man, to operate upon whom Professor
Openhim had been summoned by spe-
cial train from Chicago.
The table containing the inanimate
form Of Professor Openhim's~ patient
was wheeled into the operating thea
ter adjoining The benches were
packed with serious-faced students
and many medical men Of the city
who had assembled to see something
removed from the stomach Of Mr.
Fotheringay. .
Mr.. Fotheringay had swallowed a
small, hard, round metallic object. So
much the X-ray had revealed. There
1t lay, in Mr.. Fotheringay's stomach in
terfering with the processes of di-
gesting lobster la Newburg and
other viands such as are prepared fo1
men Of Mr.. Fotheringay's social posi-.
tion.
"How did you come to swallow
that2" the surgeon had asked Mr.
Fotheringay.
Must have been biting It," Mr.
Fotheringay responded.
The white-robed nurses were grouped
In solid phalanx about the operating
table. At least half dozen of Pro
fessor Openhim's assistants were
present to assist. One had to hold
the forceps, another inserted sponges
In the wound that was to be inflicted
upon Mr.. Fotheringay. Others were
simply there to lend prestige to Pro
fessor Openhim and to dignity the day
for it was $4,000 operation.
Mr.. Fotheringay was we'll known in
the city, not only as the richest man
but as the biggest skinflint imagin
able. He was the sort Of man who
would foreclose on a widows mort
gage and turn a starving child from
his door. Nevertheless, such was the
prestige of Mr.. Fotheringay that ever
his incredible meannesses vanished into
nothingness before the stupendous fact
Of his wealth.
The surgeon took his scalpel in his
hand, and a low sigh Of distress went
up as he made an inctsion in the body
of Mr.. Fotheringay.
It seemed sacrilege. Only a mar
with nerves so we'll attuned as Pro
fessor Openhims could have venturet
upon the act. Nevertheless, once he
had begun he continued just as If Mr.
Fotheringay had been an ordinary pa
tient.
Professor Openhim's hand did no,
tremble in the least. Nor did the an
esthetist's fingers shake as he slowly
and methOdically let the ether dr1
upon the cone over Mr.. Fotheringay's
nose.
The operation was drawing to ar
end. Mr.. Fotheringay had borne thu
shock we'll. He was still unconscious
and he had not stirred from first tt
last. Only the stertorous breathing
had indicated that Mr.. Fotheringay'!
soul still inhabited it's earthly tab
ernacle.
One might have wondered what +
was doing while Mr.. Fotheringay, look
ing like a distressingly fat turkey, wa!
being carved. But such speculation:
are sternly discouraged among physi
clans and surgeons, especially of Pro
fessor Openhim's eminence. The las
stitches were drawn and the suturin,
completed. A horrid thought strucl
all those about the table si1nultane
ously.
Suppose sponge or a pair of for
ceps had been left In Mr. Fotherin
gays wound!
They counted the sponges and tn
forceps eagerly. Nothing had beer
left behind. And in his hand the op
Grating surgeon held the metal dis]
that had been taken out Of Mr.. Foth
ingay's body.
Mr.. FOther1ngay was wheeled out 0
the operating room, through the anes
thetic room into the private room tina
had been allotted to him. 1t was tn,
most magnificent private room in tn
hospital. There lay Mr.. Fotheringa.