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Show Is u (Being tho personal opinions of tho i writer and for which no ono olso is in j any manner responsible.) h j: Tho Supremo court of tho groav r stato of Illinois has decidod that any f surgeon who performs a major oper- ation on a patient without said pa-: pa-: tient'B consent Is, under tho law, guilty f of malice and llablo to punltivo dam-j dam-j ages. Even tho consent of tho nearest relative, provided tho patient bo of i' sound mind, docs not relieve tho scion-, scion-, tlst of liability. Tho court holds, how-I; how-I; over, that omorgoncy cases do . not II como under this decision, which gives tho doctor a bit of a chanco for his 1 whlto alloy. Tho case which resulted in tho Judgment of tho court was ono tf whoro a surgeon oporatod on a woman i for opllopsy. Sho was not unalilo to ?' caro for hor household duties and ; looked after her thrco children ns well ns a woman thus afflicted could look after children. At tho solicitation of t, hor brothor-ln-law, during hor bus- band's absence, she was taken to n t.l sanitarium for treatment, nnd while V thoro, without hor consent, sho was i chloroformed and tho surgeon por-?' por-?' formed an operation ho designated as L "hystoreotomy." Aftor returning to her homo, hor mind failed nnd sho was taken to tho hospital for tho Insano, fe; whoro she now Is. Hor husband r brought suit and was awarded a vor-f vor-f diet of $3,000 damages. Tho physl-i' physl-i' clan pleaded In dofonso tlmt tho hus-L hus-L band had given him carto blancho In ! tho case, but tho dofonso availed him This is a correct doclslon. "Wlillo ' It Is truo tho patient may at tlmos do-F do-F cllno to consent to an operation which p might bo tho means of saving life, tho Li afflicted ono, In cortaln Instances, Ji ought to havo tho right of olectlng whothor an operation should bo peril per-il formed or not. Many tlmos surgeons i nro too hasty with tho knifo, although it is gratifying to noto that greater jjs caro is oxorcised now than thoro used Vj .to bo. A caso in point right horo in I Utah will boar repeating. David Mo v Donald, a prlvato' in Battery A, N. G. I V., was injured during a parade, his right log being crushed below tho knee. Tho surgeons at tho hospital were a unit In declaring tho injured mombor should bo taken off. McDonald objected, and declared ho would dio ji with that leg on if it was his tlmo to I dio, but, novor would ho give pormis-f pormis-f sion to oporato. Ho was reasoned I with In vain; no sort of argumont would convince him. That ho was right Is demonstrated by the fact that ho got well and Is today shoeing horses, an occupation a man with a weak log would havo to abandon. The writer does not pretend that a patlont knows more than tho surgeon, but thero aro so many instances whoro "tho operation is a success, but the patlont dies," that too much caro cannot can-not bo exercised. In tho caso of this Illinois woman, sho would havo doubt loss lived happily for many years but for tho experiments of tho doctor who did tho cutting, it being proven on tho trial that sho was an exceptionally bright woman. It seems to mo that in many cases It is bettor to placo tho responsibility upon tho patient than on tho physician. A very old poem relates tho story of a sergeant of tho French army, wm. reported to his general: "Present four, and I, all wounded; Praised bo God, wo hold tho fort." This old narratlvo has n duplicate In tho story of a Russian regiment at tho battle of tho Shakho river. Artei being mercilessly raked by Japanese Are, six men and an ofllcor reported to General Stakolborg. Tho ofllcor and his men, woro all blooding. Tho general gen-eral raked them mercilessly for abandoning aban-doning their regiment, but when Informed In-formed by tho commander of tho remnant rem-nant that thoy woro all that remained of a bnttallon, was horror-stricken. Tho wounded ofllcor fell from exhaustion exhaus-tion after making tho report. Ambu-lnnco Ambu-lnnco attaches at once attended to tho wants of tho "regiment." Tho incident inci-dent Is worthy of being embalmed In song and story and no doubt some Russian poot will some day toll the ju-vcnllos ju-vcnllos of tho autocracy tho talo of how thoso men reported "present." & For tho benefit of the fair sex, I reproduce re-produce a "special cablo" from Paris to tho offoct that "double skirts will bo tho feature of tho now season's models. Tho sleovos will bo short nnd very Hill at tho shouldor." M. Hector Granet, a resident of Versailles, Ver-sailles, Franco, has tho remains of his fnthor, kopt In a cement sarcophagus, filled with alcohol and covered with glnss, through which admiring visitors can seo tho perfectly preserved form of tho old man, whoso hair nnd whiskers whis-kers nro still growing. This gruesome exhibit demonstrates ono thing; tna. nlcohol makes tho hair grow. From tho Brickvlllo Vindicator wo clip tho following Items: Colonel Silas Watson was a pleasant pleas-ant visitor nt this office Inst Wednesday. Wednes-day. Colonel Watson was accompanied accompan-ied by a dressed turkoy, whltfh ho kindly forgot when ho departed. Tho colonel expects to run for sheriff of this county next fall. It Is rather early to open tho campaign, but wo predict that if tho colonel lives and nnd keeps his health, ho will sweep ovorythlng boforo him. Mrs. Rev. Springer Is on tho sick list with tonsllltis. It Is luckv that It Is her Instead of tho rovorond, as ho is busy this week with ono of tho most enthusiastic revival meetings over hold In our midst. Major Whlto of this placo went to St. Louis recently, nnd while thoro saw Mr. John Walker, an old Brick-ston Brick-ston boy, who has boon meeting with wonderful success since ho loft hero sovornl years ago to seek his fortune in a Inrgor placo. Mr. Walker now has a very lucrative position In a flour and food store. Mrs. Cnptnln Ellis entertained a party of friends In a very pleasant manner Thursday afternoon. Thero woro more than seventeen ladles pros-ont, pros-ont, nnd games of various kinds were Played. Each of thoso In attendance was Invited to bring pie, cako, or cold moat of somo kind, and an enjoyable luncheon was given as one of tho attractive at-tractive features of tho occasion. Henry Briggs, living three mllos cast of this placo, had tho misfortune to fall through his hay mow ono day hist week, landing in a stall occupied by a mule. Wo aro glad to say that no bones were broken. Tho mule did not happen to be In tho stall at the tlmo. Mrs. Editor Howe of the Spring Valley News Is visiting friends In this place. Better look out, neighbor. Tho men of this town havo a sharp eye for beauty. |