104 THE ITINERANT HORSE PHYSICIAN 



Dr. C. W. Neok 

 Veterinary Surgeon and Dentist. 



This was on the face of the card; on the back 

 of the card were the words : 



"Tell the truth and stay sober; 

 It will win!" 



This was the "slam" at Asa, who violated the 

 above named virtues with considerable regularity, 

 and his weakness for drink was especially well 

 known. 



Now began a campaign of price-cutting and 

 mud-slinging, the like of which I had not seen 

 before nor have I seen its equal since. Den- 

 tistry, which was regularly done at three dollars, 

 was shoved down to one dollar, and I have seen 

 Dr. Asa float a mouth for fifty cents rather than 

 let the job go to Neok. It got so that the farmers 

 took advantage of this state of war among the 

 veterinary fraternity and they would "get prices" 

 from each of us before they hired one of us. It 

 was the most exciting time I ever went through 

 in practice, but it was great fun for a youngster 

 such as I was at the time. 



About three weeks after "the big competition" 

 located, things were getting to a dangerous pitch 

 between my partner, Dr. Asa, and the big quack, 

 Dr. Neok. They did not confine their energies to 

 drawing trade; they made slanderous remarks 

 about each other and even threatened one another 

 with physical punishment. 



It was quite a difficult matter for me to main- 

 tain a neutral attitude because of my association 



