594 



The Review of Reviews. 



DOCTORS IN NOVELS. 



Mr. S. Squire SpricgF':, M.l)., writes an enter- 

 taining paper in the December Cornhill on medicine 

 in fiction. There is a great deal of mordant humour, 

 which novel readers and novel writers will appreciate 

 with different feelings. One passage may be 

 quoted :— 



The novelist never scem» to liave llie slightest knowledge of 

 the professional medical life, lie is ready enough to credit the 

 members of the medical profession with many shining virtues 

 and equally ready to daiken their reputation with calumny, ihe 

 unfortunate result bting to leave upon the public mind the 

 impression that the average medical man is not an average 

 member of society. The idea which the public might well 

 derive from reading many novels is that to call in a doctor is an 

 extraordinarily lUiky proceeding, as the medical profession is 

 divided sharply into heroes and knaves. The heroes lead a 

 strenuous life, succouring ihe sick in desperate circumstances 

 and refusing fees ; operating at the briefest notice when a hair's 

 breadth to the right or left in the making of an incision would 

 be certain death to the patient. The knaves murder, cozen, 

 and keep bogus sanatoriuuis. They vivisect for pleasure, their 

 humanity is dead within their breasts, and they pass existences 

 that are a standing reproach to the law of the land. Now 

 undoubtedly either sort of description of the medical life, 

 whether the roseate glow of eulogy or the green cast of 

 detraction is employed, does no good to anyone. 



BESIEGED BY STRIKERS. 



In the Cornhill. for December a railway clerk who 

 had been an Etonian describes his experience of the 

 railway strike. He took on duty as signalman along 

 with an ordinary signalman. A dense crowd sur- 

 rounded the signal-box, called them "blacklegs," and 

 shouted to them to " come out." Gradually the 

 crowd came nearer and got on the line. A dozen 

 climbed up the steps, threatening the occupants with 

 fearful penalties if they did not come out of the box 

 that instant. The railway clerk remained sitting in 

 his chair, but the other signalman got up and left, 

 saying, " It's no use ! I must go out ; they'll wreck 

 the place if I don't." 



Next day the clerk was moved to another impor- 

 tant junction, which he reached by circuitous routes 

 on his bicycle. He found that a previous signalman 

 had been forcibly removed by the strikers, and the 

 box had been empty for about three-quarters of an 

 hour. Later in the day four soldiers, a sergeant, and 

 three men arrived, with rifles, blankets, mess tins, 

 and bayonets, all complete. Next morning he 

 learned that the pickets had been prowling around all 

 night. 'J'hey had not tried to come near the box 

 because of the soldiers : — 



Picketing at this p.irticular town w.as anything but peaceful. 

 One of the clerks in my office, when going to the station, got 

 a severe kick on the shin from one of the pickets, wlio, how- 

 ever, got in return a blow on the point of the jaw which 

 knocked him senseless. 1 think I am correct in saying that 

 this man took no further picket duly during the strike. Then 

 at a level crossing in the town a mob of strikers forced the gates 

 across the railway and damaged them, and savagely attacked 

 some loyal men who were sent down to repair the gates. On 

 one occasion, loo— I think it was on the Saturday night — a 

 number of men threw stones from a bridge on to an engine 

 which was leaving its shed to lake a train forward. On the 



.appearance of the military, however, things calmed down, and 

 we had little further bother. 



The writer and another old Etonian, when the 

 strike was over, could tay truthfully that there had 

 been no hitch : — 



No one could sa)- the Company had endangered the lives of 

 the public by putting incompetent men in signal-boxes, in spite 

 of the many speeches to this effect which the various strike- 

 leaders had delivered. Not only had the passengers travelled 

 as safely during this time of stress as at any other time, but we 

 could also say with truth that we had not caused any unnecessary 

 delays. Nothing would have been said if we had, as safely is 

 the first consideration ; but both of us were positive that even 

 if the regular signalmen had been on duty they could not have 

 got the trains past with any less detention than we did. 



CHECKING WATER WASTE. 



In the December Windsor Mr. C. J. L Clarke 

 describes the methods for the detection of water 

 wastage by the inspectors of the Metropolitan Water 

 Board. The efforts of these inspectors have saved 

 London at the present inotnent some ten gallons per 

 head per day. The chief instrument of detection is 

 the Deacon meter, which is fixed in various places in 

 the mains, each recording on a drum the amount of 

 water passing. The line of the normal is arrived at 

 by the knowledge ol the habits of the people of the 

 neighbourhood and the amount of water likely to be 

 consumed during the night. Should this normal be 

 greatly exceeded, then inspection follows. The detec- 

 tives are armed with stethoscopes, which they apph 

 during the night along the line of the mains, and 

 where they hear a hiss they know that there is 

 leakage proceeding. They apply the same method 

 also to the pipes leading into the houses :— 



The search is continued at each house supply, the stethoscope 

 telling readily when water is running through or escaping from 

 the lead pipes which join the main. At times the men on 

 night inspection have more than ordinary difficulty in finding 

 the cause of waste, and sometimes they descend into the sewers 

 and watch for a flow of water reaching the drains. As soon as 

 they find this, they measure the distance to the manhole through 

 which they have descended, and then run the tape along the 

 surface until they arrive at the spot under which the running 

 water was found, and so are able to decide the particular house 

 which has water running to waste either through defective 

 fittings or carelessness. Such a discovery is followed by a 

 drastic notice to the householder to put things in order, or 

 become liable to a fine of five pounds and have the supply 

 cut off. 



They have discovered that in the East End it is 

 quite a usual thing for taps to be left running all 

 night, to wash vegetables, or even clothes. Great is 

 the surprise of the householder when he is confronted 

 with the discovery made by the stethoscope. 



In the Dciilschc Revue for November are published 

 a few letters from a forthcoming volume of the 

 Correspondence of Dr. Joseph Joachim. Dated 

 1856, several of them reter to the last days of 

 Schumann. Joachim had gone to Heidelberg, where 

 he hoped to spend the summer, but he was suddenly 

 called to Bonn by a critical turn in the illness of 

 Schumann. 



