OCR Text |
Show Governor - Doctor Keeps t ' fT 1 . I ' t it in n i ' 1 Right On Racing Stork y f 1 .- . If ; 'U r jk i t r Dr. B. B. Mbeur, - Arizona's governor-elect, will keep ngnt on bringing babies into the world. He is shown here seated with' his grandson, John Moeur, and his wife. Standing, at the left, are his eldest son, Dr. John Moeur, and his wife; at the right, Mr. and Mrs. B. B. Moeur, Jr. By NEA Service ..... PHOENIX, Ariz." Nov. 21 The telephone rings in the state executive's office.- An urgent voice pleads, "But, Doc, she insists upon you. Won't you come and hurry?" , A stocky, bald-headed man chews vigorously on his cigar, glances at his daily memorandum. No, there's no legislative conference or other important business scheduled for the next few hours.; . "AJ1 rignt,-' he snaps into the telephone. -,-, i;. "Another baby at the Joneses," he mutters to his secretary, grabs a small leather satchel and strides out of the capitol. That's what may take place in the office of Arizona's governor; after January 1, .. . : . . For Dr. B. B. Moeur, the coun-'i try physician Arizona has just elected to her highest state office, has said he will not refuse to answer an-swer a call from a former patient, provided it does not Interfere with the affairs of state. " "Lots rather be taking care of sick -folks than chasing around to social' affairs," he says. "Neither I, nor my-wife, have ever cared about that. Never owned a dress suit. Just . wear one -kind of clothes. They're . good enough to gq anywhere.' .. ;Jc jjc sji Dr. Moeur entered politics to run for Arizona's Democratic gubernatorial guberna-torial nomination after 36 years of medical practice in the little college col-lege town of Tempe, nine miles east of Phoenix. Members of his family and many of his friends tried to persuade him against making mak-ing the race. - In addition to Governor G. W. P. Hunt, who was seeking an eighth term, and who had been elected i governor more times than any - : , At Arkansas Industrial Medical school he won every medal for which he was eligible and graduated grad-uated in the spring of 1896. A few months later he and his bride came to Arizona and located in the house which has been their home ever since. In it their two sons and two daughters were born. The elder son is now associated with his father in the practice of medicine. medi-cine. While waging a battle against death, Dr. Moeur is apt to command com-mand assembled relatives of the stricken one, "Get down on your knees and pray. I've done all I can." la 1917 when Tempe young men begatl leaving for war, Dr. Moeur sent each of them a letter saying he was cancelling any bill they owed him and that he would care for their families without charge while they were away. . Perhaps children of some of these same men may tell in future years that a governor rushed from the statehouse to officiate at their births. other .man in the United States, three other candidate were in the field. It was thought the doctor, doc-tor, unversed in politics, hadn't a chance. But Dr, Moeur was not to be dissuaded. "The state needs a doctor,'' he said. "It has been suffering from extravagance and dominance of a political machine. Costs of government govern-ment need to be. operated on." And when the primary vote repealed re-pealed hi8 large majority, the politicians poli-ticians gasped. "How did you do it?".they asked. "Just got out and talked with folks," the doctor answered "Never asked anyone , to . vote for me. Neyer had to .deny anything and never had to look over my shoulder shoul-der while I talked." ' s I)r. Mouer was born in Decherd, Tenn., December 22, 1869, but with his family moved to San Antonio, Texas,, when four years old. His boyhood and manhood were spent on the Texas range. He went broke in the cattle business and then ae-i ae-i cided to become a doctor,. |