Hide Article Text (OCR)
“I first became acquainted with this part ofthe country by driving the horse for my father ashe made calls out of his Fremont office. In thosedays the country doctors would travel in severalcounties — if the need arose.“This was true when I joined the practice,”he continued, “and it kept on through the years.To a lesser extent, we still have patients acrosscounty lines today.“I answered calls driving a Model T Ford,”the doctor elaborated. “The automobile era hadbegun — but in those days of the early twenties,the roads were something else.”The doctor recalled getting his vehicle stuck“in Contentnea Creek during a freshet. I wasanswering a stork call over toward Fremontwhen the car oozed down in the water and mud. We made it with some timely help — finally getting to the patient’s home in time, thanks to a friendly farmer, a sometimes stubborn mule and a sturdy wagon. Yes, we made it — but the stork wasn’t far behind.”He recalled many such instances — in-eluding walking for miles in the snow — delivering babies by fireplace light — and heating bricks to put in the beds of patients to warm them when emergency conditions prevailed.“Being a doctor in those days,” Smith said, “simply meant that you had to meet situations head-on and do the best you could with what you had at hand.”He recalled particularly one case in which mouth-to-mouth resuscitation worked and a newborn started breathing after 20 minutes of hectic work.“Oh. there were many such cases,” the doctor observed. “It was just a case of doing everything you could while hoping for the best.” Smith recalled another instance in which he
Newspaper Details
Wilson Daily Times
Wilson, North Carolina, US
Sat, Jun 05, 1971
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Wilson C.
NC, USA 10 Jul 2023
Other Publications Near Wilson, North Carolina
Wilson Flag Of The South
Wilson Advertiser
Wilson Advance
Wilson Times
Wilson Mirror
