OCR Text |
Show 279 fatherless babies-these starchy comments emanating from a bright-eyed little wisp of an octogenarian who never would admit to being old. She affirmed that she always went to a room by herself and prayed before attending her patients; that she sometimes thought herself more ill than the patient, but found it prudent to forget about that while attending them. On this occasion she claimed being in attendance at 6,000 births. In other places her count is 5,000. From where did the sixty years of practice come-which are attributed to her in news clippings of various birthday observances through her late eighties and beyond? She began her practice at thirty-one and was in her early eighties when her family insisted that she relinquish it. That adds up to about 50 years. By continuing to teach her classes until eighty-eight, she added another 5 years or so. But this is mere straining at a gnat when a career of such length and with such effect is under consideration. The same loving care that Ellis offered her own daughters in their confinement she gave, by her own account, to everyone she saw. She likewise treated the rich and poor equally, and performed much charitable service where satisfaction was her only payment. While this is not quite the modest, introverted young woman who undertook to make herself useful to society by studying medicine, it may be that the desire to b_e somebody was a part of the vision which stirred her soul and helped to motivate her through long years of |