54 THE ITINERANT HORSE PHYSICIAN 



bling, I never gambled. In like manner, with 

 every opportunity and every inducement to 

 become a drinking man, I was always temperate. 

 I drank a glass of beer when I thought it would 

 do me good, and at times I drank whiskey; but 

 not at any time enough to get under its influence. 

 The only reason I did not have a bank account 

 and a good practice was because I let wanderlust 

 get the best of me. 



I had a good name, professionally, and outside 

 of the fact that I was beginning to get the repu- 

 tation of being a rover, I had nothing to be 

 ashamed of. With a thorough realization of my 

 status quo and a firm resolve to become anchored, 

 I arrived in El Paso. 



My friend, Doctor Thacher, was happy to see 

 me and I was very happy to see that he had 

 equipped a neat veterinary infirmary during my 

 absence, operating tables, sterilizers, electric den- 

 tal machines and other modern appliances not 

 omitted. At this point I may remark that many 

 of our eastern colleagues would be surprised if 

 they could see the numbers of modern, fully 

 equipped veterinary hospitals throughout the 

 west. Even in many of the small towns one will 

 find such institutions frequently. 



My work was cut out for me and began the 

 moment I arrived. The practice was a mixed 

 practice, horses, mules, cattle and dogs. The lat- 

 ter constituted nearly fifty per cent of our 

 patients. 



Like many other people in the north I had the 

 impression that mules were practically immune to 



