Evening star., 1937-06-12

Continued from Page B-l)
they think my work is pretty i'm.
portant. OF course, I'm really .
travelling drug store. In all Of Charles
County, there is not one store with
pharmacist. That's why must carry
thousands Of dollars worth Of medi.
cines with me-"
Before jumping in his car. DR..
Bicknell had hosted four heavy.
leather-boun bags into the machine.
Their medicines, bAndages,
implements, drugs. antiseptics-maks
him a mobile hospital. Such he must
be, because this preparedness may
save life dependent on his response
to white flag.
Sweeping his eyes continually from
side to side, ever alert for . significant
spot Of white, DR.. Bicknell spoke
casually Of his 81 years In this
unmodernized area.
Sure, I've had plenty Of epidemics.
Had one Of typhoid fever shortly after
came here. Caught 1t myself that
time. Had one Of diphtheria only last
year. Sixty-two cases had and didn't
lose one. And then, another time
oops, there's q flag!'
WE STOPPED. Up came the
rumble seat and out came .
huge medical kit. The doctor lugHed
it toward the door OF farm houss
near the road. The nag waved from
q mail box. In three minutes he was
back in the car.
Just left some pills for, an old lady
back in the woods" he said. I've
already diagnosed her case Those
people In the farm house will take
them back to her. All these people
are neighborly in this section. especi-
ally when illness strikes. Now lets
see, where were We 2"
We speeded by q country store. A
cluster Of men shouted greetings: HI
Doc! How's the new car" What
dye say, Doc?" Good luck, Doc!"
DR.. Bicknell saluted them with . wave
and q nod.
At the next crossroads, another GaR
dangled from q newspaper tube DR..
Bicknell reached in the cylinder,
dragged out note, glanced 1T It and
eased the car into gear.
They often do that" he declared.
"They often leave notes with the fags
to give me q report on the patients
condition or to signify In just what
backroad house the illness exists.
This Is another old case. Hello,
there :" and he gestured at Q
couple OF youngsters trudging along
the bumpy asphalt road.
| Some Of my babies" he said.
| We stopped again and again. Some
OF the waits were long, some OF the
cases were serious. We bounced over
deep-rutted byways, struggled up
sharp inclines and ploughed through
lonely fords where the roads dipped
into the streams. Some Of the houses
Of the sick couldn't be reached BY
car. Then the doctor, his body thrown
askew to balance the weight Of his
bag, travelled afoot. There were haks
denoting pneumonia, burns, rapidly
spreading infection. broken bones.
DR.. Bicknell responded to them all.
The conversation had lulled. NY
continual questioning, prompted at
times by wonderment, had apparently
started a chain Of memories which
temporarily removed the af1abls
physician from the present Another
query revived the talk: How viii
these telephones affect you after their
installation, doctor?"
WHAT' What's that you ..id'
w Oh, telephones Yes, they viii
certainly make things easier for me.
I won't have to cover as much mileage,
because III know just where to 10
before I start. You know, I have
Just been thinking about what all
this has meant to me. I've often
wondered, frankly, what I'm doing
here anyway; then think OF all these
people without medical assistance, ana
stop wondering. My parents, during
my boyhood In Massachusetts,. before
went to the old Baltimore Medical
College, often said they wanted me to
be q missionary. They were strong
Methodists. I'm no cleric, but I
think am somewhat Of missionary
DR.. Bicknell said this emphatically,
but his tone was modest. His standing
IN the community had already been
indicated by the reactions Of farmers
and the storekeepers and the children
when he appeared. He Is obviously
more than the epitome Of medical
science to these 1900 people. He u
their friend and counsellor. He ad.
mitted that he had dissuaded some of
them from suicide, even from murder.
DR.. Bicknell has become almost as
much a part Of Nanjemoy district ~
its woods and fields.
There was one more stop. Bowed
with rheumatism, an elderly, be.
spectacled husband approached the
car as 1t halted beside the nag. He
complained about the doctors last
batch OF pills. They hadn't helped
MIN as much as the first batch, the
green ones, he said. Obligingly, the
doctor took back the remaining brown
pills and handed the farmer some
more of the green variety. As We left,
the physician chuckled.
There's only one difference between
those two batches," he said, and
that's in their color. The ingredients
are the same. But . good doctor Il
good psychologist. That old man
will feel better tomorrow"
We drove through the last Of tho
Nanjemoy towns with the picturesque
names: Ptsgah, Welcome, Ironsids,
Chicamuxen, McConchie, Rison. Tho
| sun was setting when We rounded into
the Bicknell drive in Marbury.
As stepped into my car, the doctor
had already started his evening con-
sultatton hours. Later, he would 70 to
his ONCE in Indian Head. His routine
working day Of IS hours was still
unhnished-and he had driven $50
miles.
In less than an hour, my automobile
traversed the 30 miles to the Capftl
Building in Washington.