The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1923-06-07

and to move around amongst your
neighbors, certainly made for sue.
cess"
Doctor Stevens Is a medium sized
stocky man. He does not look his n
years by any means. His hair and
beard are silver gray, and his eyes
half smiling most of the time, look
as IL they had found contentment
more or less In life.
He Is very active, and he attributed
that half to the way he has interested
himself in his work and half perhaps
to the fact that his family has always
had great many years to its credit
II have a great deal TO live up to.
he said, my mother lived to be 81
years old and my aunt lived to be "a
So there's a record that's been set for
me.
ut Is inactivity, both mental and
physical, that makes old age bur
den to SO many people. Hardening
OF the arteries comes because the
blood does not get rid Of the impuri-
ties, the poisons that it should.
People sit down and say, We'll, I'm
old now and it's about time | quit
and the first thing they know they
are twice as old as they were yester-
day, all because of fixed idea. They
were ready for 1t and so 1t came. The
mental strain works on the body and
the physical weakening reacts back
on the mind. 1t works both ways
Two years after DR.. Stevens began
his practice as a physician and sur
geon in Cambridge he moved to the
little, low-roofed red house in Porter
square that he occupies. 1t Is old
and quaint with its iron fireplace and
its lacquered stair-lamp, square-pan-
cd windows and low ceiling.
1t Is just the kind of hourse where
you would expect to find the easy
going, kindly country doctor, and il
must remember back to when Cam
bridge was little more than a village
wakened by the occasional rattle oil
horse-car or perhaps tally-ho
dashlng by on its way to Concord
UP WITH THE YOUNGEST
DR.. Stevens manner fits into the
easy grace of these surroundings. His
simple courtesy and other-day gentle
manliness seem to be part OF re-
membered atmosphere. But that Is
as far as DR.. Stevens can be said to
belong to another generation.
In the world of science and OF
thought he is as decidedly of today
as the youngest in his profession. He
Is perhaps the only surgeon to whom
the Cambridge Hospital has granted
a diploma of merit for his services
and his faithfulness to his duty. DR..
Stevens Is very proud of that bit OF
parchment that hangs In his outer of
flee, although he will not admit 1t
before the world. He will only adj
NIT his gratitude.
His three sons, now grown men,
have all followed the advice of their
father. That was: ITO be happy, a
mans best chance Is to find some
work where he can be his own mas
ter" One son, the oldest, has gone
to Porto Rico and become farmer
with wide plantations to oversee. One
has kept up the family tradition and
become a physician and the third Is
an engineer.
~ spend q months vacation every
year with my son in Porto Rico and
then ! spend few weeks with my
other son in Maine" !,
Have you found 1t hard to keep UP
with the advance of science
mo | study great deal, and OF
course | take more time than | did In
my younger days. One thing we have
learned, and that Is not to use SO
much medicine We have learned to
train the people how to live. hygien-
ically so that they will not require
medicine. And surgery has leaped
forward in the last so years with
amazing bounds
DR.. Stevens office is fairly lined
with books, great hooks and little
books, treatises and arguments, new
theories and old theories In new
clothes And the doctor follows all
of them. His interest in his pro-
fession has not waned in the slight
est
"That is the worst thing that could
happen to me-" he said.
DR.. Stevens folks are New Hamp-
shire people who first moved to Maine
and then came down to Massachusetts
His father was physician who prac-
tised for many years In Skowhegan
Maine.
We had been talking for quite q
while, not noticing the time that was
passing. Then the doctor looked al
his watch. He rose and courtesously
said: There are some sick people
waiting for me-" He needed no more
excuse than that. And so he went out
to practice what he preached, hard
work until 1t was no longer possible
ax...... SaIa,y AIhuno