Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1922-11-30
Old Time Doctor Was
Picturesque Character
SCHOOLED BY EXPERIENCE HIS
METHODS SEEM CRUDE COM
PARED WITH TODAY

| Who remembers the old-time coun-
! try doctor? He wore whiskers and
carried saddlebags and rode around
the country visiting his scattered prac-
blackboard. He measured his quinine
and calomel and powders out on the
blade of his pocketknife, tapping the
blade with his finger to get the, prop
er dosage. From long experience his
| eye and index finger had become as
accurate as an apothecary's scale. AT
his Office he kept a mortar and & nestl 4
where he mixed and pounded the in
gradients of his pills into putty. He
/ would reach in the mortar and take
out a piece of the putty and with one,
roll of his palms turn it into large,
round, perfect pill. His pills were not
sugar coated, but they were honest,
conscientious, Woodworking pills.
He was strong on the ethics of his
profession, but he was no business
man. He seldom kept books and rarely
presented a bill He would ride all
night in a storm to visit and treat
patients that he knew would never pay
him. For an all-night obsterical case
he charged probably SIS with strong
probabilities of never collecting that
moderate fee. A modern city surgeon
NTH n 1ror1d y,rootioo ,,oolzoe, y,,oy,o iy,x.,
mornings operation at hospital than
the old country doctor made in year
pounding over bad country roads to
treat patients on widely scattered
farms. How he lived is mystery.
Probably the ravens fed him. Frequent
ly his collections did not pay for the
drugs he furnished from his saddle
bags
The modern way of writing prescrip
tons has one advantage. The druggist
files the prescription away, and if nee
essary it can be produced at the post
mortem, but otherwise the benefit OF
the community is offset by the added
cost to the patient.
The old country doctor never heard
of the germ theory or of appendicitis
Probably all this talk of transplant
ing monkey glands into decrepit mil
lionaires has caused him to turn over
rapidly in his neglected weed-covered
grave in the old abandoned cemetery
where he has been lying this many a
year From a modern scientific stand
point he was probably sadly lacking
to cure sick folks. Years of battling
disease at the bedside had made him
wise in his trade.
Not only did he relieve physical
suffering, but he was generally a
father confessor to half county. All
the family secrets, the family scandals,
the family troubles, were poured into
his sympathetic ears. In time OF trou-
| BILE he was a rock of comfort. Some
times he was orthodox and sometimes
heterodox in his theological opinions.
But the older he lived and the longer
he practiced the more strong grew his
faith in Providence and the goodness
of Cod The old-time country doctor
was often a sad and solemn man, but
he never was a sOured or bitter man.
He spent his life working hard and
doing good. He went to his grave a
poor man, leaving little behind him
save the love and respect and honest
admiration of community he had
sDept his life serving. He and his
compeers have vanished now from the
haunts of men, but in the world to
come. he is wearing his old SLOUGH hat
like a crown right up in the front seats
with the saints, the martyrs and con-