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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 17, 1908)
4 DR. GRENFELL A REAL HERO OF THE FACTS ABOUT DR. GRENFELL. Graduated from Oxford uni versity, 1880, and from the medi cal department, London university, 1800. Began his life work on a mission-boat of tho deep sea trawling licet, 1S91. Wont to Labrador to carry tlio Gospel to the deep sea flsliera In 1S99. He reaches 20,000 flHhormon on the coasts of Labrador every year. Ho got from Andrew Carnegie 30 portable libraries to assist him In Ills work. Ho hns started a series of co operative stores In tlio north. He operates on patients any where, wherever called, without charge. Ho carries his other and Instru ments In one pocket and his Mb a In tlio other. Ho raises $12,000 in Now York every year for his work. fOW ho did It. Dr. Wilfred Gron- fell, tlio Arctic missionary phy slclnn, enn hardly tell. Hut ho did and ho Is safe homo again now after an experience that would havo ended In the death of nlnety-nlno men out of a hundred. Out In the Ice pack, surrounded by n pack or eight hunger-mnddened dogs, lighting him for their lives as hnrd as ho was fighting thorn for his ho had to faco them alono In a tempera- turo ton degrees below zero. How ho survived Is a nine days' wonder even up In frozon Labrador, whoro men bat tle 3fiG dayB a year to wrest a living from forbidding nature. And when ho had conquered tlio dogs ho still had tlio olemeuts as his deadlier foo. ( Dr. Grenfell lends a strango life He has dovoted himself and his life to the Esquimaux and the natives of 'Labrador deep sea fishers all. Ho Is .their doctor, missionary, friend. graduato of Oxford, ho haH choson that Iniost barron spot In North America .as one whoro he may do sonio good In 'the world. His headquarters ho ninkos at Bat itlo Harbor. Labrador. From there, as u bneo of supplies, ho makoB trips of hundreds of miles Into tlio frozen north, carrying his surgical Instru nients nnd his medicines along with his Illblo and his great good cheer, to Bay nothing of his books nnd His foot brills. Until Dr. Grenfell went to Labrador men and women lived ami died without as much us ever scolng a doctor, much los3 having his serv Ices. Ho has had many adventures but this is the story of his latest: HAD left Bnttlo Harbor," ho said i "t mllos away In a llttlo settlement across the Ice pack. It was bitterly cold tho thermometer showed It to bo ton degrees below zero. I was travollng over tho lco with my pack of dogs whon 1 found I was being carried away from tho coast by tho moving Ico Hold. Iloforo I realized it I was lloundorlng In broken drift Ico, and be foro I could stop tho dogs wo wero all In tlio freezing water. "They, of course, know no law ex cept Belf-iireservatlon. Thoy tried to save thomsolves by climbing up on my shoulders. I had to light them back before I could clamber to safety on a 'pleco of solid drift Ice. Then the Jdoga had to save thomsolvos. Ono by ono thoy scrambled, up on tho Ico i floo besldo mo. m urn 1 V;1WM&1 li FAR NORTH "I had lost overthlng. My robes wero gono and tlio supply of food for myself and the dogs. It looked as If It was all up with all of us, because a gale from tlio northwest was driving the Iloo rapidly out to sea. And tlio temperature was falling fast. My clothing was soaked. "So I took off my skin boots and cut them In halves. Those halves I strappod to my chest and back. "Tlio wind and cold Increased as the night enmo on, nnd I could sco tho dogB wero growing ravenous. When they aro that way they aro what their ancestors were, nothing better than wolves. Thoy wero yelping for food and 1 knew It wns only a question of time before they would attack me. "It felt Uko murder, but I killed three of my largest dogs. I stripped them of their skins whllo tho rest of tho pack kept aloof, sunrllng and yelping. Finally tho bravest of them camo after me, but I was able to light them off until I could skin tho three1 dead dogs. Then I throw tho meat to the survivors and kopt tho skins to wrap about myself. "When morning camo I saw tho Ice -wns rapidly drifting from shore. I had nothing to put as a mast on which I could swing out n signal of distress until I thought myself of tho bones of tho logs of the dead dogs. "These I managed to spllco together. Krom tho top of tho polo I Hung out n plcco of my shirt. It was soon by George Held and some of his men off Locke's Cove and they camo out In a boat and took me off." Fw OR 17 ycitrs Dr. Grenfell has linen orklng thero nmong the fisher- folks or nnybody olso that needed his services. Ho has hud two hospital ships lost In tho treacherous Ico and now ho hns a third. Hut very often whon ho gets a call miles away tho ship Is powerless to reach tho patient and ho goes over tho Ico with IiIb pack of dogs. Already ho 'has established three land hospitals In Lnbrndor, 23 loan libraries, nn industrial school and half a dozen co-operative stores. Ho haB seen to it that wireless telegraphy Is Installed on land as well ns on tho fishing boats. This gives him many chances to nnswer calls which cost nothing. , Occasionally Dr. Grenfell comes to Now York to tell of his work. Ho has Interested Andrew Carnegie and Uov. Dr. Honry Van Dyke. Thoy solid ns many footballs ns Bibles to tho Arctic, but chlefest of all nro tho medicines nnd surgical npplianccs. "It Is queer doctoring," laughed Dr. Gronfell when last ho was hore. "I havo Canadian nnd Newfoundland llsltermon among my patients, as well as American, Scandinavian and British sailors, whalers of nearly all nation alities, and Indians and Esquimaux. Some of tho diseases they spring on mo would puzzle tho best of special- lata. Why, only lust winter they callod on mo to caro for a shipload of boil- berl. It cleaned out tho whole vessel every one of them had It. TpHK Indians and Esquimaux of tlio A frozen north aro gradually dying off becauao of tho disappearanco of tho Kroat forests. . This drives away the caribou, which moans starvation for the Indians. With tho Esquimaux It is disease, brought by contact with tho white men. Wo white people are Immune against ninny diseases, but when thoy strlko tho Esqulmnux tho Bonus light on virgin soli. For ox ampin, a whlto sailor brought a aim pin caso of influenza Into an Esqui maux village of 300 souls, Before it ran Its course 11 of the nntlvcs wero dead. "The Esquimaux up hero aro nil Christians tho Moravian missionaries converted thorn years ago. Christianity is a saving Influonco for them; thoy would havo been oxtlnct long ago from tho vices which rollow trado. As it Is, their number decreases with every decade. They nro now Installing tho wireless nil the way up the Labrador coast. It Is nlroady as "far north ns Hello Isle, which has summer connec tions with tho mainland nnd tho world. Wlroloss litis now been put 200 miles nearer the pole thnn It ever was be fore. It is of great assistance In my work: It puts mo within cnll whon t there Is an epidemic or n serious case. I "Wo havo found tho wireless n great help to tho llshlng Industry, which Is I what our pooplo live upon. Tho run ; nlng of the ilsh Is uncertain and when one ship strikes the Ilsh It can sum mon tho entire llcot. "Wo aro gradually getting tho na tives to llvo a proper life. Liquor has crept In among them, mid has given ! us trouble. It Is not an essential in cold latitudes for physical well being. 1 can toll when liquor has seized hold of a place as easily as I can toll im epi demic of diphtheria or borl-bori. Per sonally I remain a teetotaller. ' itWTH havo many cyo-dlseases In tho TV frozen north, duo chiefly to tho glare of tho sun on the Ico and snow. The groat white plaguo Is creeping l' upon us, too. Hut Labrador Is still al most germloss. Wo can perform op erations out In the open nlmost as easily as thoy do In tho marble lined operating rooms In Now York. "We wenr dressed rolndeer Bklna for clothos, nnd tho lighter nnd softer tho garment Is tho warmer It Is. ou could almost put your overcoat In your pocket. With the thermometer nt 20 and 80 below zero, with your bread and condensed milk frozen, your but ter no good, thon's the tlmo for fat pork It Is ncctnr! You can never understand It till you llvo in tho frozen north. "There aro more foot In Labrador than shoes nnd wo are often called upon to amputate frozen limbs, not only of men but women nnd children. I remember ono case that shows wo havo no creed In tho Arctic. Tho wife of a Roman Catholic had n frozen leg amputated and l was called upon to supply an artificial limb. I had ono In Btock, and aftor I had given It to tho patient 1 learned Its history. It had belonged to n llaptlst soldier who lost his leg In the civil war lighting for the union. His wife was a ProBby terlan, but. when ho died she gave It to an Episcopalian cripple. It worked around to my mission In n dovlous way and I gavo It to tho Homnn Cath ollc." Now just a little about this man who works away In tho Arctic that tho poor creatures who dwell there mny havo a little light and comfort in their frozen lives. "It I wero asked to nnmo tho most useful man on tho North American continent to-day, tho man who most nearly approaches tho heroic Ideal, I think 1 should nnmo Dr. Grenfoll," said Lord Strathcomi of Canada not long ago. THE man ho was 'talking about Is just n plain, weather-beaten, self deprecatory doctor, who 1b living his llfo Just where he thinks ho can do tho most good. Ho Is a captain of In dustry under God! Don't think for a moment that ho la a Boft-spokon, smug country parson no, Indeed! Ho can play a gamo of football with tho best of them, and ho Battle Harbor, Labrador, Showing Two to th can amputate a frozen limb, sot u broken bone or euro for a desperate pnoumonla caso. Ho can also put up a pretty good fight against tho wrong kind or men, Just ns well as ho put up his fight against the hungry dogs. Ho Is a robust, doopchosted, jolly sort of a fellow. Ho loves adventure. Ilo'd rathor set u broken shoulder a thousand miles away from civilization than preside over a well-ordered op erntlon In a city hospital. Thoy never know what a surgeon was up In Lubra- dor until he went thoro to muko It his i llfo work, lie Is known now from tho I Arctic clrclo down to where real civil izatlon begins. If ho knows ho la neodoU ho will take uny chnnco this doctor who carrlos his Iauuotu in ono hand, his ether In the other and his Hlblo in his pockot. And If tho opera tion la a success ho may bo crowding a football or a lmsobnll and bat upon his patient aa soon as ho Is able to get about. Ho may also hand him u tract. S.ono English newpapor said of Dr, ronfell: "Ho Is a Burgeon, a master manner, n magistrate, an agent f Lloyds In running down the rascuU who wreck tholr vessels foi tho Insurance, a mnnnner of a string of co-operative stores, a koiiqi-u) oppo nent of till fraud and oppression. NiW '-Set " 17 "Hp ran amputate a leg, contract the walls of n pleuritic lung by short pnlng the ribs, or cure with tho nld of modem methods nnd homo-inado an pllanres a man suffering with cortaln forms of paralysis; a hundred miles from n shipyard, ho can rnlso tho stern of his llttlo steanior out of wa- tor by tho rough application of tho principles of hydraulics and mend her propeller; ho can handle dynnmlto and blnst an excavation under ono of his hospital buildings In which to plnco n heating apparatus; ho can start a lumber mill and tench tho inhabitants of lonely Labrador not only how to handlo n saw but how to soli the product na n living wngo." Dr. Oronfell roaches 10,000 people every year. Ho found an lmbecllo girl bound In harness nnd ho rescued her. He stamped out smallpox In n Dr. Grcnfcll's Ship, llshlng llcot. lUi hns operated out at sea on board n tossing smack on two men who were doomed to death had he not como nlong with his merciful other and his Intelligent knlfo. Dr. Grenfell Is u grndunto of Christ college, Oxford, and of the medical de partment of London university. Ho began his medical missionary work on board a hospital boat of the North Sea llcot. Ho was sent to Labrador for a vacation nnd ho has been there over' since. Krom tho Now York World. CHILD AND THE RATTLESNAKE. The Little One Played with Death, Dut Knew It Not. The child Haw tho Beautiful Death that lay In tho Bunshlno on tho odgo of tho bending grass; ho had novor been afraid of nnythlng; ho was not afraid of tho unako. Ho stretched out his llttlo rosy amiB townrd It and laughed and gurgled. Tho snako shortened IiIb coll. and In IiIb IiIbb now thero was menace. Tho last rayB of tho sun shono on tho head of tho rep tile: they seemed to light up all his ovll fcaturos. They showed that his ovos had a touch of red la them and wero lustful; thoy showod a flock of dried blood, not his own, on tho cruol curve of tho Hp; thoy Bhowod tho spreading nostrils and tho Jiiwb of Iron. Hut tho child could sco nono of those things; for tTio child know noth Ing of liiBt, of cruelty, of blood. Ho rolled over on his Btomach and, taking hold on tho grass, pulled himself play fully toward tho snako; hu touched the monster's cold head with his llttlo warm flngors. And not ovou then did tho Handed Death strike tho child's touch was ii caress; In tho child's faco and voice was neither hatred nor fear. Then tho rattlesnako glided slowly out of his coll and disappeared In tho grass by the fence. And tho mother, Buildings of'the Deep Sea Hospital e Left. coming up, found her llttlo boy talking faithfully though sleoplly to his toes. That night, after tho child had been tucked In his crib, tho mother and fa ther sat on tho porch by the open door nnd planned for tholr boy's future. Then sho told him of her afternoon trip; of how good tho little boy had buen; of tho quiet snfty of tho green fields; of tho sunset over tho plnos. And as her lovo for their child and for 111 in thrilled In her voice ho bent near and kissed her tenderly, for they wore lovers for nil time. And nono of thorn, not oven tho child, over know how near the Bunded Death had passed, That night, fur up in tho dim and silent plno woods, the rattler found his old den and his mate. Why had ho not struck tho child? It Is n mystery. Archibald Hutlcdgo, hi Outing Maga zine. Corn Long a Kansas Crop, The earliest mention of corn In what la now Kansas Is found lu tho account of Coronado's expedition lu 1541-42. Prof. Wllllstou found chnrrod corn in tho ruins of prehistoric In dian pueblos lu Scott county, esti mated by him to bo at least 2 cen turies old. Bourgmont found tho Knw uidlaus cultivating corn on tho pres ent town slto of Doniphan In 1721. The Wakening ( ( i i i By Stanley aitwiiii'iiiijiitiiiiit'iiwiii''wm'"" (Copyrlsht, by BluirUtory Pub. Co.) Twenty yoars ago nobody went to i Wlldwood, and yet. 20 years ago, Its I tnountnlns wore ns picturesque, Its sunsets as gorgeous, the white moon light, streaming through tho tops of Its tall, dark pines, wiib as glorious and lmproBBlvo ns to day. Hut now, from an unknown cross-roads, It has become ono of the moBt noted and Im portant places on tho Whlto Mountain map of summer travel. Tho llttlo placn that slumbered Is hounding with llfo. From tho llrsdny of July to the urn wook or uctoucr, ovory year, more baggage Is handled at Wlldwood Junction In a single day than hud en tered tho township In the whole course of Us existence prior to Its awakening. And Its awakonliiK wns brought about by tho Kront transform er, Death. This Is how It camo to pirns: In tho "boBt room" of tho lonoly hillside farmhouse of Abraham Jen kins n room Boltlom opened nxeopt to the minister nnd book agents wore assembled.' ono November day, tho clans of tho Jenkinses nnd Perkinses, to nttend the fnnornl of tho Into Mar tha Perkins Jenkins, tho farmer's wlfo. A stalwart son, the eldest of a family of nine children, had, after Abraham himself, given voluble testimony to their high appreciation of tho depart ed. The leanest of n covey of muldon sisters of tho deconsed took the wit! owor asldo nnd said: "1 only hope she knows how yo'r feolln' for hor; It would be n good bit satlsfyln' to hor, I'm sure. Sho noz to mo once, nor she, 'Ef 1 go, I know that Abo'll marry some young thing that nnvor'll tek no Interest In the young nuos, and thoy 11 bo loft tor Bhirt.' Hut yo wouldn't do 1in umiM vo Alio?" Disregarding this pointed nppoal, Abraham Jenkins cleared Ills throat and addressed tho assembled com pany: "I've Jest decided tor loll ye, H'long ' yor all here, that I've sort o' foil oz of I sh'd follor hor Boon. So 1'vo bought u lot In tho graveyard to bo paid for In Instalments nnd whon 1 die I want yer tor put mo by tho Bldu of Marthy. Thon 1 shell rctit In ponce. Thorn's my final Instructions." Turn ing to tho ninldon Bistort) of his la mented wlfo, ho added: "I know yo'll tek good enro o' them thai- youngsters that Mnrthy sot so much store by. Thon ho broko down and Bobbed wild ly, "Oh, Marthy, Marthy, why hev yo gono; Four montliB after tho funeral an other Mra. Abraham Jenkins wub In stalled In tho lonely farmhouse, and Bho wns all that tho first Alts. Jenkins had foroboded. Young and frisky, pretty Matilda Biico had attracted Abraham Jenkins at a Grungo soda bio, and his mourning had ceased from that moment. That there should bo great ludlgnii Hon nmong tho Jonklnsoa nnd more or less astonishment In tho community- nt-lurgo was a matter of course, but it was sonio months after the wedding of tho widower beforo a marblo Blab mysteriously appeared In tho now Jenkins lot In the village cemetory, bearing tho following Inscription: Tho first Btrangor to notice tho od dity of this bit of mortuary sculpture wns a touring bicyclist. What could it mean, ho wondered. -The sexton, whom ho happened to cntch on the premises, denied all knowlodgo of tho significance of the- Inscription, hut ho grinned. Tho bicyclist wnB followed not long aftorwarda by a visitor In buggy. Soon tlio country bwiiIiih, with their companions, drove from places 25 miles away to read and ponder upon the strange Inscription.. Picnic parties camo and gazed upon It nnd after eating luncheon In tho grovo of tall pines now known as Wlldwood went away to spread the lutelllgouce of the peculiar monument In Wild wood coinotery and extol tho charms of the neighborhood. The years sped swiftly by, and bits of moss and lichen gnthorcd In tho deeper lines of tho en'rved Index and clung to the angles of tho sculptured letters, but an Increasing army of vis Horn noted that the traces of tlmo and decay wero periodically cleaned uwny by unseen bunds. The seasons passed WASN'T MEWASIYMWE Visitor Look on tho bright sldo, ok' man. Alt?iough you're laid up, your wlfo is all devotion to you. Crabbod Old Grouch Yes. confound H; I don't know wlmt'B nllluu her. of Wildwood E, Johnson ench bringing now curloslty-sookera from a wider radlim to behold tho In- explicable legend and oxorclBo their ingenuity upon Its interpretation. Summer bonrdora began to como from Now York nnd Boston, and tourists from tho south nnd tho lint, treeless regions of tho inlddlo west, to whom the towering poaka nnd denso, sweet smelling woods wero as lnflplrlng ns they wero unfamillnr. Then, to the amazement of every body, whon Abraham Jenkins became a widower for a second time, tho lone ly nlnb wns discovered to have n com panion on the opposlto side of tho family lot. It was thus Inscribed : He was Mine This second dnzsllng gravestone ap peared one day In March. Before tho season wna over Wlldwood hul mllt Its first summer hotel nnd phthiied and subscribed tlio capital for the narrow bhiiro branch around Swallow Hill to connect with Ihe railroad nt what Is now Wlldwood Junction. The now road had hardly boon run nlng two aeneous when Abraham Jen kins, whlto-lmlred toltorlng, fol lowed his second w to tho grave yard to which, alter his funeral, all eyos were again turned, Among the townspeople It had nlwaya been sus pected that tho first slab was put up by tho Porklnses and the second with money left by tho consort who had boon Matilda Hrlce. Thoso conjec tures wore conllrmod whon tho will of iMiruham Jenkins wiib rend and a gravestoilo was erected in accordance with hit) last Instructions, between those of his departed partners, nnd It was iiIbo concoded that In death ho had proved equal In wit to nil his wlvos' rolatlons, for this was tho itr.ulp turo It bore, surmounted by hands nt tachnd to arms spread out us If In benediction: Tourists to day throng to Wlldwood In greater numbora than over. Tour- naiuoiits aro played on tho golf links of Hotel Wlldwood nnd tho tonnlB courta of tho Mlnstor, near tho Clois ter PInoB. Bern- Nook glen, Artists' point nnd Lectern lodge nro visited by shoals or slghlseors In buckboards, lu automobiles, uwhoel, on horseback and afoot, and tho vlows from Sunsot rock woro novor liner. Hut tho tide of curi osity has obbed away from tho llttlo coiuotery on tho hill whoro tho bonea of Abraham Jeuklna rest between thoso of his two wlvos, nnd thoy unci tho feuds of tholr famlllea are almost forgotten. Breaking the News. At a rocont dinner of "Tho Fossils," given recently, JamoB M. Beck wan ono of tho Bponkors. "Tho Fossils" la an organization composed of farmer amateur Journalists, and Mr. Bock, na ono of tho orgnnlzers of tho National Amateur Press association In Philadel phia lu 187(', has novor lost his Inter cut in this most admirable training school for young writers. "In looking hack upon thoso days when tho publishing of amateur pa pors scorned tho most fascinating thing lu the world," snld Mr. Beck lu tho courso of IiIb addross, "I fool In deed that I am qultu In tho fossil class, Tho organization of tho Na tional Amateur Proas association seams nlmost prehistoric. In looking back through tho years It Is almost ns misty as tho Htono ago. I waB n very small boy when I took part In thoso wolghty deliberations. I feol like the youngster who said to his ra thor: " 'Father, wub writing dono on tab lets or stone In tho old days?' "'Yes, my son,' replied tho dutirul parent. "'Geo!' mused tho boy. Then It must havo taken a crowbar to break tho nowa.' " USED TO IT.