56 THE ITINERANT HORSE PHYSICIAN 



the inspection of horses which were shipped 

 through El Paso en route to California and Ari- 

 zona. These states required veterinary health 

 certificates for all horses and mules entering 

 there. The charge we made for such inspections 

 was ten dollars per car load. For just three or 

 four head we charged five dollars. It was a 

 rough inspection, all that was required, and usu- 

 ally could be done in a few minutes' time. 



For the removal of retained secundines in cows 

 the charge was ten dollars. Roaring operations 

 were fifty dollars. Country calls were one dol- 

 lar per mile. With such fees it was a real pleas- 

 ure to work, and I wish I could get them today. 



However, I found that the actual net profit in 

 a practice here running seven or eight hundred 

 dollars a month, would not be much more than in 

 a practice in the old states running three or four 

 hundred dollars. Rent and living were very high. 

 Drugs cost us big money. Help, feed, bedding, 

 everything was high. We had to get big fees to 

 make it go. 



We used much printers' ink to get the business 

 there in those days. I remember a time when we 

 carried a full page advertisement in one of the 

 daily papers. This advertisement contained cuts 

 of views of our hospital and appeared every Sat- 

 urday. 



The only competition we had here was during 

 the winter months when the "lungers" came to 

 El Paso. El Paso has quite a reputation as a 

 resort for consumptives, the high altitude and dry 

 air making it ideal. Usually there was a veteri- 



