Around the world by an oculist

Front matter

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Dedication

Dear Son Flavel:

I have often said that I have realized every ambition. The first that I remember was to rival a small Winnebago Indian boy in picking a dime frotn the end of a split stick by means of a bow and a flinted arrow and sending it whizzing among the tepees. Later I wanted to finish the grammar school and enter the Minnesota State University at St. Anthony. Then I wished to study Medicine, and I received my degree at Ann Arbor, Class of ’74. I was not yet satisfied, but must spend a few years in the schools of London, Paris, Berlin, and Vienna.

* * *

CHAPTER I. ‘The United States, Chicago, 3 !

Battle Creek, Michigan, .

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Delaware, Ohio, Niagara Falls, .

New York, .

To Plymouth, .

CHAPTER IT.

England, . : Plymouth, London,

Scotland, .

Melrose, Abbotsford, Edinburgh, ‘The Highlands, Glasgow, .

Ayr.

Dumfries,

Wales,

Chester, .

CHAPTER IV.

France, Pats.

Versailles, St. Cloud, Sévres,

Greece, : : Corti, ; : Patras, . : Athens, .

Corinth,

CHAPTER VIII. Palestine

Jaffa, Lydda, Ramleh, .

Jerusaem, .

Bethlehem, Jericho, Jordan, .

Dead Sea, Bethany, .

LOL: Tre

CONTENTS ti

CHAPTER TX.

Page

Egypt and the Nile, . a 124 Port said, ¢, ; ‘ ; : 124 Cairo, ; : : : : ; 124, 154 Beni-Hassan, . ; : 135 Assiout, y f : : . ‘ 139 Dendera, . : : : ; I41 Luxor, : ; : P a 2AS Thebes,: . : : : elas Karnak, : : : : : ‘ 151

Chapter X

Made ia ae : : } § SO On the Macedonia, . i ; ; : 156 Aden, $ ; : ‘ + T5Q Bombay, . ; Z ; f 160 Elephanta Caves, . : ; ; ba 5 En Route to Agra, { : f : 166 Agra, . : ; } : : ; . 169 Delhi, : : ; i ; d 177 Papettsar,. ; : , ; : TOs Lucknow, ; A : ; : ; 193 Pcuares, cee Sh, : ; : : . 196 Calcutta, . : p : eater L051

Homeward-bound, On the Pacific, .

Hawaii, Honolulu, California, .

Grand Canyon, .

Kansas, Home Again,

CHAPTER XVII. The Tucking Operation for Strabismus

281, 301

215, 326

. 256 256, 262 + 250 267

- 304 313, 332

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page Mrs. Flavel B. Tiffany, . : - Frontispiece Dr. Flavel B. Tiffany and Sets Havel Pee i ee “The Castle,’’ Kansas City, Mo., . ; : ‘ 23 Madame Le Brun, the Louvre, : : § wie “The Broken Pitcher,” the Louvre,. . ; : 47 Venus de Milo, the Louvre, . : : : 22 AD “La Verité,” the Luxembourg, . : : 51 “La Lecon de Clavecin,”’ the Lixembourg, ; ; 253 The Cathedral, Cologne, . 57 View of the Rhine, : : : : : . 59 ‘The Money-Counters,’’ Munich, . ee 68 Old Gate at Brindisi, . 78 Ruins of Temple of Zeus, tli heronalts in ‘Background, 85 The Parthenon, Athens, . : : : : 87 View of Ancient Corinth, : : : Serie aae i aes Toy ‘Turkish Prisoners at Patras, Greece,. . : : 92 Egyptian Woman, Alexandria, . . 99 Pool of Bethesda, Jerusalem, — . : : 106 Caravan Encamped in Valley of the jendart : : 109 Inn of Good Samaritan, on Way from Jerusalem to seeaa, Ill Crossing the River Jordan, . : ; : Vis Wading in the Dead Sea,. Pea Gi Spot Near Bethany Where Martha “Met the Lard ie LEO Sphinx and Pyramid of Cheops,. . pEt20 Mrs. Tiffany on a Camel Before the cae : 5 128 Egyptian Plow, . 53 ; : ; : = B30 Water-Carriers, ; : : ; ; : 132

Egyptian Water-Carriers, ; ; ; : eae!

14 PELUS ERATIONS

Party at Tomb of Amenemhat, Upper Nile, Modern Tombs at Assiout, Egypt, Ibrahim,

The Temple of Deer

Obelisk at Luxor,

Avenue of Sphinxes, ane

Harbor of Aden,

Bullock-Cart, Bombay, .

Sending Out Washing from Gai Hotel, We The Taj Mahal, Agra,

Sereen Before Tombs in Taj Mahal, Waiters at Cecil Hotel, Agra, : Decorations on Outer Wall of Taj Mahal; Old Fort, Delhi,

Pearl Mosque, Delhi,

Workers at the Kutab Minar, Now Delhi, Snake-Charmer at Lucknow, Bathing-Ghats, Benares,

Banyan Tree in Calcutta, .

Burning-Ghats, Calcutta,

Jain Temple, Calcutta,

Bullock Hackery, Ceylon,

Native Gathering Cocoanuts, Golombo.

ieee

PaO

168 170 172 174 176

BEN eit:

a TO2 a

Native Servant Wearing Tortoise-shell Comb, Calome: Z2%

Scene in Kandy, Ceylon, .

Scene at Lake, Kandy,

Sacred Elephants Belonging to thé Eandy sy enti, Mrs. Tiffany on Lady Horton’s Drive, Kandy, .

Scene Along the Bund, Canton, .

Sedan Chair and Rickshaw, ae"

+ 239

ILLOST ERATIONS 15 : Page Chinese in Stocks, Canton, 245 Road Leading to Cable Station on the Peak, Fons ony 257 Group of Chinese, 259 Coolies We Met Carrying odds Up the Peak, Hons Ko. 265 Japanese Coaling a Vessel, Nagasaki, 271 Scene in the Inland Sea, Japan, ee rE A Temple in Japan, . 276 Japanese Geisha Girls, . . 293 Japanese Street Scene, 280 Torii, 284 Sehool of raiiece Girls, 288 Little Japanese Foster-Mothers, A207 The Chrysanthemum Girl, . 299 Hakone, 2 BOS Lake Hakone, are tee Paid in ae Diskinee, 307 Fujiyama from Lake Hakone, . 308 ‘Big Hell,”’ in Hakone Mountains, . 312 Madame Butterfly, aaa The Sacred nes Nikko, 223 A Japanese Girl, ee, Japanese Ladies in a Bickehaw: 329 Japanese “ Little Mothers,” et Dr. Dukes Examining Steerage eee on Board he Mongolia, - 1336

Avenue of Palms, Honolulu, .

AKOUND THE WORED BY AN: OCULIST. 19

Foreword

As Nature dons her robes of green and mantles of bright colors, I take to the woods, meadows, and orchards; for here it is that I find more recreation and enjoyment than on golflinks or ball-grounds.

It was early in the morning, after spending the previous day on the farm, while I was returning to the city, that I saw standing upon the lower steps of the old Union Depot gangway this person who attracted my attention; not that she was so surpassingly beautiful, but the tout ensemble was something unusual. She seemed very much prececupied, and wore a far-away look, gazing on the ever-surging throng of people who were moving up and down the steps where she stood. She seemed more intent on looking into the vacant court in the distance than upon the people. I say she was not so beautiful, yet she had piercing dark eyes, almost: black; the lids were almond-shaped, the lashes were long and curved; her brows were arched, and her dark, thick hair fell in ringlets. Her skin was almost olive—somewhat suggestive of a Creole, but she was not so languid as the daughters of the sunny South. Her hair was very dark brown and curly, such as you often see in Scotch lassies—in fact, she reminded me of the Celtic girls I had seen in Scotland on my first visit to the Trossachs some years ago. She was not so stately and erect as most of the daughters of Scotia, but had more of the student stoop, as though she looked more to the classical appearance than to grace of form. However, with her well-turned limbs, classic features, and athletic movements, “she was marked,’’ and in fact she was so attractive and unusual that one could not help gazing at her as she stood looking at the crowds, wholly unconscious that she was more than the most ordinary of the mass that was crowding by. It was when short sleeves and bare arms and hands were fashionable, but she wore long lace gloves. When the gloves were removed, I noticed that she was unadorned by jewelry.

I could not put her out of my mind; and as soon as I reached my office I related to my assistants, Drs. H and B , and office force, what a remarkable-looking person I had seen at the depot as I was comiing in from the farm that morning.

As usual, my office was full of patients waiting to have my personal attention; so I forgot for more than three hours my pleasant experience, and it was nearly 11 o’clock when one of my office-girls announced the fact that a Miss C : of O——., had been waiting and wanted to see me. You may imagine my surprise when I found myself before the young lady who so impressed me at the station, and I was more surprised _ when she gave her name, and said that she was first a patient of mine more than a year previous, and had come back for more treatment; remarking that she did not know whether she needed most to consult a neurologist or an oculist.

She said she wanted to return to O—— that night. It was decided that she had better remain with her oculist, and that he would take care of her nervous system as well as any error of refraction or overwork of the optics. Suffice it to say that she did not return to O—— that night—not until I left for my vacation in Spain.

We read together all the literature we could find relative to the country I was to visit. It was one day when we were reading Stoddard’s lectures on Andalusia and the Alhambra that she remarked that she did not think it at all necessary for me to quote from Stoddard—or anyone else, for that matter—to make my writings more interesting. I asked her when she had read any of my works, and she said that she had read my little book on “The Land of the Midnight Sun,” which the author had sent her—but she did not say why she had not acknowledged receiving it.

She kept me informed how her eyes were all the time I was abroad and many months, even years, after my return.

It was in the year 1912 that she consented to go with me around the world, and it is on the 12th of September that we start on our journey. _ I say we, for there are two of us, and - yet we are one. Bishop Partridge read the service making us man and wife; and, in addition to the Episcopal ceremony, “‘Zoe’’ repeats: j

‘““Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.”

- In feeling, I endorse the words of Burroughs:

‘Serene, I fold my hands and wait, Nor care for wind, nor tide, nor sea; I rave no more ’gainst. time or fate, For, lo! my own shall come to me.

‘““T stay my haste, I make delays, For what avails this eager pace?

I stand amid the eternal ways, And what is mine shall know my face.

“Asleep, awake, by night or day, _ The friends I seek are seeking me; No wind can drive my bark astray, Nor change the tide of destiny.

“What matter if I stand alone?

I wait with joy the coming years; My heart shall reap where it hath sown, And garner up its fruits of tears.

“The waters know their own and draw The brook that springs from yonder heights; So flows the good with equal law Unto the soul of pure delights.

“The stars come nightly to the sky; The tidal wave comes to the sea; And time, nor space, nor deep, nor high, Can keep my own away from me.”

The members of my family and office assistants, with the servants, are present to witness the service and send us on our way. My nephew and niece, Ed and Eva, drive us to the station, but James (colored) follows in another car, and after placing our luggage in our state-room, he brings a smile to our faces when he says at parting:

“T am glad, Mrs. Tiffany, that you are going. I feel now that the Doctor will be as well taken care of as though I were with him myself.”

Chapter I. The United States

Chicago, Niagara Falls, New York.

The following morning we are nearing Chicago when we - go into the diner for breakfast. We find the tables decorated | - with flowers; and one of the colored waiters, with whom I have made the trip many times, hands Zoe a cluster of red roses, remarking:

‘Doctor, you are a little late in coming to breakfast this morning.”’

_ On reaching Chicago, we go to the Art Gallery and out to as Lincoln Park. Ihave visited both places many times, but Zoe has not as yet seen anything east of Kansas City and scarcely anything west of the University of Kansas. Her travels north

and south have been hardly more extensive; she has been only as far as Leavenworth on the north and Oklahoma on the south. Feeling that she Shquld extend ker horizon of observation beyond Kansas City, I proposed that we take a journey eastward, stopping here and there as we liked, but continuing until we should have again reached Kansas City. Some of the countries, with their varied features, interests, peoples, arts, and industries, I have already seen many times, but she never. So, with new eyes and new heart, new vigor and enthusiasm, I shall enjoy old things as well as new.

Battle Creek.

We return to the station a little too late for the 10:30 train to Ann Arbor. Nothing daunted, we get our money refunded, and take the Grand Trunk to Battle Creek, where we shall arrive in time to go by interurban to Ann Arbor.

We reach Battle Creek a little before sundown, and have two hours in which to visit the Kellogg Sanitarium, one of the largest hydropathic institutions in the world. Here we meet the man who has perhaps been most instrumental in bringing about a reform in dietetics—a reform which has been a great boon, especially to those of rheumatic or alcoholic diathesis. To Dr. Kellogg we owe most of the prepared cereals which appear on nearly every breakfast table throughout the country.

Our ride from Battle Creek on the interurban to Ann Arbor is through a beautiful country, which at this time of the year reminds me of my first weeks at Ann Arbor when I became a student there. The town itself I find to be the same lovely place of earlier days. The University has made wonderful strides since my school days. Nearly all the old buildings have been replaced by larger and better ones, and students from all parts of the United States, and even from foreign lands, crowd the campus and the class-rooms. ‘The enrollment has reached 7,500, and the graduates are occupying important positions in all the avenues of life.

Our few hours’ stay at my alma mater is made doubly pleasant by the hospitality shown us by my life-long friend and former colleague, Professor T. C. Trueblood.

From Ann Arbor we go on to Delaware, Ohio, where we visit another colleague and friend, Professor R. I. Fulton. Both Professor and Mrs. Fulton welcome us heartily, and we spend a pleasant day with them in their college town. At parting, they give us letters of introduction to some of their friends in the Orient, whom they met last year on their trip around the world.

A night’s ride brings us to Niagara, where again I am thrilled by the grandeur of this wonderful phase of Nature. Zoe’s enthusiasm reminds me of the pleasure of my first visit to the falls, more than a quarter of a century ago, and I am stirred again by the spectacle of magnificence and power. We visit Goat Island and linger, fascinated by the dashing waters and their ceaseless roaring. As we cross the bridge from the American shore into Canada the little Mazd of the Mist is just passing through the spray of the falls where in former days the Indian maid leaped to her death as a sacrifice to the Indian god.

We now walk back to the Clifton House for a real English dinner, and afterwards go on the Canadian tram for a view of the whirlpool. Late in the evening we begin the last part of our journey to New York, and dawn finds us skirting the Hudson above Gotham. We spend the greater part of the day in the shops, making our final purchases for our trip around the world.

To Plymouth.

We embark on the President Grant at the Hoboken pier and steam slowly out of port. I am always glad to enter or leave the New York harbor, for to me it is the most magnificent harbor I have ever seen. It is not alone the commodiousness— the great expanse of water, with so many crafts of all sorts and of all nations—that appeals to one, but the skyline of the city itself, towering jagged, mighty—expressing the genius and enterprise of a people. In our journey around the world we do not expect to see any city whose approach is more magnificent.

The second morning finds us in our steamer chairs listening to the German band. A little later we go to the gymnasium and exercise with the electrical and mechanical apparatus. After luncheon we have a game of shuffleboard on the sun-deck.

AROUND THE WORLD BY AN OCULI 7. ay

The President Grant is a slow steamer, making only about fourteen knots an hour and allowing all other boats to pass her, but she does not pitch or roll and has but little vibration; and it is rest and quiet that we want, rather than speed, when we take leave of the hustle and bustle of Kansas City.

Our ten days of passing are without incident. We spend most of the time on deck, walking to and fro, pitching quoits, lounging in our steamer chairs, reading, and dreaming of the past, present, and future. We are launched upon new seas and we know not whether our voyage will be peaceful or tempestuous, our experience eventful or uneventful. Zoe insists that our relationship will be ideal. She says that her happiness is unbounded; for, like Cinderella, she has married the king’s son. When we walk fifteen rounds (a mile) about the deck she takes many a whirl, while the prince’s step is more deliberate.

We have the usual concert and farewell dinner the evening before we land; and at early dawn on the morning of September 28th we take leave of many of our companions of the voyage as we anchor in the harbor of Plymouth.

Chapter II. England

Most of those who land hurry on to London by the first train, but we want to spend at least a few hours in the quiet old place from which the Pilgrims sailed three hundred years ago. At the wharf we notice a stone marking the spot where the Mayflower and the Speedwell weighed anchor. Plymouth is-no great port, but its harbor shelters all sorts of unpretentiouslooking fishing-boats; and at the market we find fish of many varieties in great quantities. Their odor greets our nostrils many squares before.we come within sight of the stalls. Zoe finds a vast deal of interest in watching the crowd at the market: the stolid men smoking short ill-smelling pipes and the weather-beaten, haggling fishwives in their clumping shoes and short, stuffy, full petticoats. The day is raw and chill, and we smile at the red-cheeked little girls, who are clattering about trying to warm their cold hands by holding them under their funny little square aprons.

We walk for an hour or more about the narrow streets with their rough cobble-stone paving, and then find our way up to the well-kept grounds of the fort. The green turf, the smooth walks, and the trim military quarters have little in common with the fishing village we have left behind. We come out again at last on the Hoe, the long esplanade facing the open sea. The day is raw and the sky too lowering for us to appreciate fully the clean regular beauty of the velvety turf, the closely trimmed hedges, and the well-ordered trees; so we go back to the hotel to get warm and to order a fish dinner and a tankard of ale. The dinner is forthcoming, and a good one it is. But one tries in vain to get warm in the ordinary English hotel, especially if it be in the small wayside town; for the English idea of heat is a grate fire at one end of a long, chilly room, and close about the fire sit several women with knitted shawls pull d closely about their shoulders as they work away at more of the endless knitting they seem to have always in their hands.

The journey from Plymouth to London affords us the keenest pleasure; for Devonshire is the garden-spot of all England. Sometimes we skirt the open sea, but for the greater part of the way are hemmed in on either hand by green meadows watered by clear streams. Fat white sheep are feeding on the rich grass, and waterfowls are skimming over the brooks. No American meadow is green as an English meadow is green. Drought never parches the thick English sod, and the streams are unfailingly cooled and replenished every little while by abundant showers. An air of quiet and well-being pervades all Devonshire. ‘The houses of the country folk suggest homely comfort, and the owners look rugged and content.

In the gloom of a rainy evening we draw into Paddington Station, and drive through the wet streets to the Imperial Hotel in Russell Square. This hotel has been recommended to us by some English companions of the voyage. We find that Americans are not greatly in favor there, and the red-faced women who manage or rather ‘“‘bully’”’ the guests are unpleasant even to insolence. ‘The rain falls almost uninterruptedly, and the place is cold and dreary. The employees seem all-alike, as though cast from one mold. They try to beat you on every hand, and the errors in the reckonings are always in their favor. When receiving your silver coins they would have you believe that a two-shilling piece is of the same value as a half-crown. ‘This is a second-rate hotel, however; for the English, as a rule, are courteous and reliable.

It is not London, nor in fact the British Isles, that we have come to see on this trip—the Orient is our objective point; but, as it is Zoe’s first visit abroad, we must not hurry away without her having seen some of the places of most interest. We enjoy very much the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, particularly the works of many of the English and Dutch landscape artists. _Hobbema’s ‘‘Avenue in Middelharnis’”’ we find here. This famous old picture was painted in Middelharnis about 1690, and hung in the town hall of the village. An itinerant artist going there, and realizing the value of the picture, offered to make a copy of it for the Dutch folk and give a painting of his own in exchange for it. As he was enjoying some vogue at the time, his offer was accepted, and the picture was lost to the public. Many years after—in fact, comparatively recently—it was discovered in an old shop in London and placed in the National Gallery. Amsterdam is said to have offered a great price for it, but the offer was refused. In one room of the gallery hangs the wonderful collection of Turner water-colors, with their glorious tints and wealth of poetry.

We spend considerable time in the British and South Kensington Museums, the Tower, St. Paul’s, and Westminster Abbey. I think Zoe feels little interest in the Tower, for it has to-day the character of a museum, or perhaps an armory, rather than that of a place associated with so much that is tragic in English history. Westminster Abbey we see again and again, including the gray cloisters through which Irving passed on his first visit to the Abbey. ‘To us this fitting resting-place of the great English dead is scarcely more impressive than the magnificent Houses of Parliament a little distance away, with their suggestion of the power and solidity and dominion of the English living. We do not tire of going down in the wet twilights to walk slowly across the Westminster Bridge and watch tke keavy Loats plying up and down the Thames, passing and -repassing through the black shadows cast by the mighty bulks of the Parliament buildings. Opposite Parliament is the great St. Thomas’s Hospital, where at this time we find considerable interest in the investigation of the X-ray and of radium in the treatment of cancer.

Before leaving London, I naturally go to visit Moorfield’s, or the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital, where I received my first instruction in ophthalmology, serving as assistant to Dr. George Lawson. ‘The work there to-day does not seem to me of the same high order as that done in former years. I see no operative work of any special excellence; indeed, it seems to me that the surgeons are adhering to the methods of a quarter of a century or more ago. ‘The great masters in ophthalmology, such: as Wells, Bowman, Lawson, Critchett, Jonathan Hutchinson, and Nettleship, have laid down their work, and they have as yet no worthy successors. There are now comparatively few graduate students who go to Moorfields for advanced study of the eye, notwithstanding it is the largest eye hospital in the world, treating more than six hundred patients aday. Vienna, instead, Graws men wko ccme frem al road.

CHAPTER TE

SCOTLAND.

After the short sojourn in London, we turn northward for a glimpse of Scotland. We book for Edinburgh, but break our journey at Melrose, where we alight in the raw chill of an October evening. We are glad to end our day’s travel; for, although we have enjoyed the trip through the rough country of the north of England, we have suffered considerable discomfort from the cold. ‘The heat is not turned on in the trains before the first of November, regardless of any weather conditions. It is quite dark when we reach the Abbey Hotel. Our room looks out upon the ruins of the famous Abbey, and the moon, now in its full, shines above the crumbling walls; so, according to Walter Scott, we see the Abbey under the most favorable circumstances:

“Tf thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright, Go visit it by the pale moonlight.”

In the morning we walk in the crisp autumn air two and a half miles to Abbotsford. Our road is in full view of the swiftly flowing I'weed. ‘There has been no oe as yet, and the roses and sweet peas are still luxuriant.

Abbotsford: is full of interest, both from its associations and from its natural setting. The garden is closed to visitors, and our only view of it is obtained from the windows of Scott’s library. In this room is a wonderful array of books, which have never been disturbed since Sir Walter’s death. The same room contains his rare collection of curios: the crucifix which

AROUND THE WORLD BY AN OCUEIST. 33

Mary Stuart carried to her execution; swords which belonged to Bonnie Prince Charlie and to Rob Roy; the pistols which Napoleon carried at Waterloo and a blotting-book belonging to him; a gay purse once owned by Flora Campbell, and the ‘pipe of old Tom Purdy, the poacher, whom Scott made his game warden. ‘The collection is perhaps as varied and interesting as any private collection in the world, and it thoroughly exemplifies Scott’s romantic interest in all phases of life. Just outside the stone window is the stone image of the novelist’s faithful dog Maida, which was buried there in the garden.

We return to Melrose in time for a late luncheon, with good appetites and fine spirits from our several miles’ tramp.

In the afternoon we resume our journey to Edinburgh. . The landscape is a gracious autumn landscape, flooded to-day with mellow~sunlight. The land is cut into small irregular fields of grain, or into pastures in which Merino sheep and black Galloway cattle browse quietly. ‘The trees are yet green, but the wayside bushes show the glowing reds and goldens of October. Here and there stand the gray ruins of castles and churches dating back to the feudal period. The country grows always bolder, the hedges near Edinburgh giving place to stone walls. The roads are smooth, hard, and white. ‘There are few automobiles to be seen, but horses with docked tails trot by, drawing smart carts or pretentious carriages with footmen and outriders. Now and then we see the sun glint on the bright colors of some sturdy, tartan-clad old Scot.

On reaching Edinburgh, we put up at the North British Station or Waverley Hotel. The station hotels are among the best in the British Isles. ‘The Waverley faces Prince’s Street, the chief thoroughfare of Edinburgh, and borders on the long park which forms one side of the street. Close by the entrance is the fine lifelike statue of the author of ‘‘Waverley”’ himself;

and one receives immediately the impression, which deepens with each day of his stay in Edinburgh, that it is a city first of Mary Stuart and then of Walter Scott. Every street, it would seem, holds some memory of the latter, whom people high and low always refer to with loving familiarity as ‘‘Sir Walter,” as though he were still a living presence in their midst; yet he has been gone from them more than eighty years.