R. Vashon Rogers

“ The chief distinction between a boarding-house and an inn, and the one from which all others naturally flow, is that the keeper of a boarding-house can choose his own guests, admitting some and rejecting others, as to him in his discretion or according to his whims and humors may seem best; while an innkeeper is obliged to entertain all travelers of good conduct, and possessed of means of payment, who choose to stop at his house, and those who do stay he must provide with all they have occasion for while on their way. ”

“ As the train came to a solemn pause in a deep cutting a number of us gathered together in the warm and cosy Pullman, the ne plus ultra of railway cars, far surpassing in comfort and luxury an English or Continental first-class carriage, though not adorned as are the Italian cars with those abominations of the sterner sex—tidies for the head to rest against. ”

“ All science is the result of a voyage of exploration, and the science of medicine can hardly be said to have yet reached the shore. Men must be guided therefore by what is probably true, and are not responsible for their ignorance of the absolute truth which is not known. If a medical practitioner resorts to the acknowledged proper sources of information—if he sits at the feet of masters of high reputation and does as they have taught him—he has done his duty, and should not be made answerable for the evils that may result from errors in the instruction which he has received. ”

“ Protoplasm maturing into perfect humanity is as nothing to them. See how, through many gradations, the primeval well has become the well-stocked bar-room of to-day; the antique hovel is now the luxurious Windsor, the resplendent Palace, the Grand Hôtel du Louvre; the uncouth barbarian, who showed to each comer his own proper corner to lie in, has blossomed into the smiling and gentlemanly proprietor or clerk, who greets you as a man and a brother ”

“ Fortunately for my friend the attention of our fellow travellers was drawn away from him by the language, more forcible than elegant, of a man who had been carried past a small way-station at which he desired to alight, and for which he had a ticket. He vowed vengeance against the company because the train was not stopped and a reasonable opportunity given him to alight, and threatened loudly to sue the company for the damage which, he said, he would inevitably sustain through his non-delivery at his destination. ”

“ After the repeal of the old Medical Acts, and before the enactment of the law of 1874, the New York Court of Common Pleas had to define who was a physician or doctor, and it said the words simply meant, “a person who made it his business to practise physic; and it was wholly immaterial to what school of medicine he belonged, or whether he belonged to any. The legal signification of the term doctor means simply a practitioner of physic. The system pursued is immaterial. The law has nothing to do with the merits of particular systems.” ”

“ Quite excusable, sir, for I am only speaking in the cause of right, and because I think some judges are inclined to cut loose from the safe moorings of the old common law, rendered dear to us by the adjudications of the learned men of the Bench for generations past, both in the old and new worlds; and I am satisfied that a contrary doctrine will be terrible in its effects in this great commercial community of ours, where our business men spend so large a portion of their time at inns in pursuit of their calling. ”

“ It matters not whether the individual consulted be the President of the College of Surgeons, or the humblest bone-setter of the village; but, be it one or the other, he ought to bring into the case ordinary skill and diligence. I am of opinion that if a person who has ever so much or so little skill sets my leg and does it as well as he can and does it badly, he is excused; but, suppose the person comes drunk, and gives me a tumbler full of laudanum, and sends me into the other world, is it not manslaughter? ”

“ If people avail themselves of the benefits of railway travellers, they should make some allowances. Ah! look at our fair friend!”
She was at the far end of the platform, and an engine attached to a freight train seemed to be rushing straight at her; she turned and fled, with a scream, to avoid the charge of the iron horse, and in her hurry tripped over a barrow and fell prostrate. The career of the locomotive was stopped. It appeared that its antics had been caused by the negligent displacement of a switch. ”

“ Whenever death ensues as the alleged consequence of malpractice it becomes necessary to inquire into the conduct of the physician, so as to determine how far his want of skill, or negligence, has conspired to produce it. The offence may, under certain circumstances indicating a wanton and malicious disregard of human life, amount to murder. Of course, a medical practitioner who should intentionally, and with malice, cause the death of a patient, would be held guilty of this crime ”

“ As men of all sorts and conditions are so constantly travelling on trains, it is not only a reasonable regulation, but almost a humane duty, to have on every train a ladies’ car for women and men accompanying them, from which creatures wearing exposed bifurcated garments, unblessed by the companionship of the fair sex, and women of offensive habits and character may be excluded, so that all the good ladies may be together as they will be in heaven. ”

“ There is no implied contract that one to whom a particular room has been given shall retain it so long as he chooses to pay for it. [75] You pay your money, but you don’t take your choice.”
“But I liked the room so much,” said Mr. Complaining Grumbler.
“It matters not. The proprietor is not bound to comply with your caprices. [76] When you go to an hotel you have only a mere easement of sleeping in one room, and eating and drinking in another, as Judge Maule once remarked.” ”

“ In the absence of any statutes, therefore, limiting the common law right to practise medicine inherent in every person, the term physician may there be applied to any one who publicly announces himself to be a practitioner of the art and undertakes to treat the sick, either for or without reward. The common law knows nothing of systems or schools of medicine. In its eyes, Eclectic, Botanic, Physio-Medical, Electrical, Thompsonian, Homœopath, Reformed, Indian Doctor, Cancer Doctor, Indianopathist, Clairvoyant Doctor and regular physician are alike. ”

“ When on the point of crossing a track about the time a train is due one should not bundle up his head, so as to impair the sense of hearing, and then go straight ahead without looking out for the cars. If a man does so and is made mince-meat of, he has only himself to blame, even though neither bell nor whistle sounded. ”

“ Judge Sanderson remarked that in times of political excitement persons might be provoked to make wagers which they might regret in their cooler moments. No obstacles, he thought, should be thrown in the way of their repentance, and if they retracted before the bet has been decided, their money ought to be returned; but those who allow their stakes to remain until after the wager has been decided and the result known, are entitled to no such consideration; their tears, if any, are not repentant tears, but such as crocodiles shed over the victims they are about to devour. ”

“ His diagnosis may be faulty, his medicines ill-selected, or ill-timed in their administration, and still no blame be incurred by him for any evil consequences that may ensue. For who will presume to say, in case of the patient’s death, that he had not naturally reached that last illness foreordained to all men, and of which the physician’s unsuccessful treatment is only official testimony? Who knows, in fact, when a man has reached his last illness until he dies? ”