"YOUR LIFE IS NOT WORTH A STRAW."

North Otago Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8009, 23 June 1894, Page 1

"YOUR LIFE IS NOT WORTH A STRAW."

Not worth a straw, tb? Thtn it wu worth Jnrt aotßiag-HMttkttg art ail. We* has not uted that oompuiion ft thoosavd times to expr*si absolute worthies™*** ? A straw ? Th* wind blow* it away, fir* barm it* ap, oattle treai it in the mad, it rots by the roadside. What of it ? Who cares for a Btraw ? Yet ihia it cxaotly what * doctor recently ■aid to one of hit pat**nts, " Your life it not worth a atraw." How moob ia * doctor worth who will speak so to on* that trusta him, and hat no hop* bat in hi* skill ? For my part, if he w*r* up for sale at auotioo, I would bid ono atraw for him— no mor*. Kv*n if what he aaid wu true, ha had no right to a«y it. Such a dootor ia more likely to kill with hi* tonga* than to o*rc> with hi* drug*. A woman tells th* story, and aht t*Ua it w«U. If it doesn't soand lik« th* truth, then I don't know what *?*r doa». Tha dates and the faota art all thera, pi tin and orderly. "Ia the lammir of 1878," sh* say», "I found myself f*«ling tii*d, languid, low* spirited, and weak. 1 f*lt as if some evil ware about to happen. My appetite w»i poor, and aft*r eating I bad exernolating pain ia my loin aad sides. There was » norribl* gnawing pain at the pit of my stom..ob, aod a rising in the throat as if 1 •hoald ohoke. My head felt as though I had a ton weight on it. Gradually 1 got won©, and for months oould take only liqu'd food. At night I lay awake for hours together. "Later on I suffered greatly from nertous prostra ion. My legs trembled and kliook so 1 feared to tall. If a knock cam* to the door I trembled ffom h*ad to foot. j I had frcqacnt attack* which began with palpitation of the heart and sudden atop* p»g* of th* breath. At thase times I was •pceoh en and helpless. They aay I looked like a ootpie, ould and bloodless, my flogsr nails and lips baring turned blaok. after a while thi» would put off, le»vinf me weak and prostrate. I got ao tmaolated anl thin that I was only a bag of bones, and so weak 1 had to take bold of the furniture to st«ady mycolf a* I oro***d th* room. As tint wont on th* ncrTousooea and foreboding! of tvil to Inoreaatd that I feared I thooid go out of my miad. Tha neighbors aaid it would be a msroy if tha Lord would r*l*as* m« from my sufferings. "In this condition X oontinaed for over four year*, daring whioh tim* 1 oonsalted tire doctors, bat nothing they fare m* did *ny good. Tbsy all aaid my ailment wm heart disease, aud one aaid, ' Your lift U not worth a straw.' •' In dtsp«ir 1 gara ap taking physio, mI felt that nothing would «aye m». In May, 1882, tsn years ago, a lady (Mrs Hiohard* son) oalled at my house, taid me of Mother tie'gel'a Cor*tiT« and stroog.y advu*d me to try it, 1 did ao, and telt nmewnat batcer atier the first bottle ; and bj th* time 1 baa Ulna thr** bottl** was completely oared. From tn*t to this 1 have haa uo retarn of th* atuoits, aad am su strong x oan ao auy kind of wor*. Dal fur «eigtl'« cytny I should haT* b*en in my grave long ago. 1 wish chert to know this, and i wm answer any oc* who o*li* or writei." (Signed) tMMk WiukkndiK (wife of Wiiliaoi Wiokenaen, gardener), Pembroke Vnlas, 123, AJoff»t Ko«u,Tnorn> ton Heath, M*rcu 17th, 18U2. So it turned out that n*r Ufa waa not only worth » straw, bat worth ■> wool* golden harvest of health aud batMr days. Yet no thanks to th<i dojtoia. Her oompli* oated symptom* puzz.vd aad alarmed them, to be aura, but wcij 1 Is it sot the dootors' duty to uQj«rstAud suoh thing*? Most assuredly. Ju«i a* a lawyer should know tho law. or a pilot the rooki, tide*, and lights ot a ooast. Had aome of thesa medical men kuoirn thai Mrs Wiokenden'a m.lidy *aa indig*ation and dyspepsia, aad not h»*r* diaeaae, tnay might possibly baTa teiisved her. iiut, Ojufasvd by th* symptoms, th*y were blind to the oaase. We may well wonder if there are many suoh dootors in England. Cases like this show that the otar aight beloagad to Mothwr <4*ig«t ; mMtX to a«r rcmeay hosts of peupl* tv this oomntry a«a indebted for ph*aio«l aalratioa whan, ut tery ttuth, tu«n u?e« saeoaeJ m stMW«. Jklemember tuis wu ten ytars ago, an 4 tha malady am oot ivtvati, *bg^n| th^i