VOICES FROM THE PAST Sally Pedley Northfield Historical Society More about Dr. William B. Mayo from THE NORTHFIELD NEWS, APRIL 29, 1930. From Green Mountain Heritage, “These was a high indignation among some Northfield residents when in 1905 doctors got together and raised their fees fifty cents for an office call; one dollar for a house call, plus a charge of twenty-five cents per mile if over a mile from the post office; a dollar and a half for calls after eight o’clock in the evening; and ten dollars for obstetrical cases. The physicians involved in the fee raising were the Drs Porter, Mayo, Winch…Judkins…Hurley. From Picture Northfield, “Health care in Northfield from the 1860-‘s to the 1930’s may well be summed up in the career of its popular and energetic Dr. William B. Mayo, a most remarkable gentleman. “Blessed with a pleasing personality, he was much sought after as a doctor. ‘People felt better just to have him in the room, but he was a very good physician for his time and what he had to do with,’ said a nurse who worked closely with him. ‘In the wintertime he would go as far as he could (to see a patient) with his horse and sleigh, then he would hitch his horse and go by snowshoe the rest of the way.’ The following is a tribute by John H. Judkins, a practicing physician in Northfield since 1893. “Fifty years of residence in Northfield means a long and varied experience. Fifty years in the practice of medicine means interesting work, and incidentally plenty of hard work. During the first ten years of Dr. Mayo’s practice the principal occupations of the people were slate making, the manufacture of flannel at Northfield Falls and agriculture. There were more farms in those days than there are now…there were no deserted farms… more farmers to till the farms. This was the time before we had the telephone, rural free delivery, or even the radio or victrola. “The practice of medicine had not made the progress it should have…surgery made very little progress except that after the discovery of ether, surgery became more prominent. Doctor Mayo was called upon to treat appendicitis without surgery (or antibiotics); abscesses of the middle ear and of the mastoid without surgery…diphtheria without antitoxin, and inoculations for the prevention of typhoid fever and other diseases were unknown. Doctor Mayo practiced in Northfield nine years before the tubercle bacillus was discovered. At that time more people died of tuberculosis than of any other disease. At the present time tuberculosis stands fifth (1927). This shows the progress in the treatment of the disease in 41 years.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 02:59:48 +0000