(Thanks, vb. :)

Reader vb sends us:

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in 1885, montreal - the anti-vaccinator - his ....

in these years , thirty children were dying each day -

..... ( ...) He directed all the doctors,-
All the doctors, French and English,
To accept it, as their fetish —
As the true and only fetish
That could “ stamp out” the small-pox.

All the doctors bowed their heads,

Bowed their heads in humble worship
All save one, who said he couldn’t — •
Said he wouldn’t — bow his head to any fetish ,
Bow his head to naught, but Truth.

Then the doctors made a rumpus ;
Such a roaring, rousing rumpus,
Iu which the dainty Peacock joined ;
Strutting up and down the platform,
Scolding like a market huckster,
Crying out in fretful anger,
It is Dr. A. M. Ross
Who dares to doubt this mighty fetish —

Dares to question and defy us
In our council hall, this day ?
Cries and shouts of “ Put him out!”
Rose from doctors French and English.

Put him out, they didn’t dare to,
Thought the job too heavy for them ;
But they passed a vote of censure,
Hoping that would crush and ruin him, —
Crush and ruin the only doctor
Who had dared to doubt the fetish. ( the vaccine)

from: https://archive.org/stream/101235983.nlm.nih.gov/101235983_djvu.txt - for more......

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