\ a 0 /J2.4 Fkb, cckitjm. TTT/.ir* to doctor stills. A complimentary dinner to 'color ’)aniol A. II* teelo was riven by hie personal friendr "on da; evening, 'ebruary 1, 19ir> f at hotel Lahalle • Dr. Charles S« Baoon acted as Tons tor ter* In his introductory remarks 'r. B con raid: Dr. I. teelo and his friends* .7c have com© hero tills veninr to pay our friends ip to Dr. teele. During • is life Dr. r teele has accomplished many tilings* I ave a list of the things ho has done and the honors he has receive a, hu u I do not think it is no coscar, to read that list tonight. All of , on knot what he has done* In his profession and in t .o school with; which ho is aconneeted he has accnm, lished what he has set out to do, and I believe we will all agree that the chief characteristic of teele is efficiency. ’ at ever he undertakes ha carries through, and he undertakes many thing 8 and big things, especially the work he has done in the school with wide! he lias boon connected nearly all of ' is professional life. On other occasions and in other places t is work has been appreciated and praised. It is ot t e purpose of this meeting to dwell particularly upon that phase of his orroer, :o meet 0 imply . s friends to bring our tribute ol friendship. In that charming little dialogue of lato*o lysis focrates discourses in his charming r ay about rionDehip. He says: "From my childhood I have always desir. d a certain thing as othert have desired something else, while some wish - 2 - % for a horse or a dog or for honors or for gold, I have never cared for those things, hut I prefer very much a personal friend to the best quail or cock in the world, and by Jupiter, then, be it honor or a dog, I prefer the wealth of friendship.” He then discusses with Lysis and his companions the nature of friendship with a great deal of confusion and sums up as foil ox"S j " If neither those that love nor those that are loved, nor like, nor unlike, nor good, norfchose that belong to us, nor any other, then I have nothing to say . I am afraid we have made ourselves ridiculous by meeting together and dis- cussing friendship and not knowing what it is." It is possible we shall have the same experience tonight, but I think it is worth a trial , and to discover what friendship is I think we may begin with a neighbor . Smerson saySj" "Uor knowest thou what argument. Thy life to thy neighbor's creed hath lent; All are needed by each one , nothing is fair or good alone." And then Pliny gives as Cato's maxim, "Always act in such a way as to secure the love of your neighbor." Again, when one speaks of Jonathan he always thinks of David, and when one mentions ythias he thinks of Damon, so that when we speak of Steele we unconsciously think of Quine, and if there is anyone in the world who can speak of Steele 68 a neighbor in the broad sense of the term, I thin! it is , • , , . . - ' m - 6 - Quine. He, like oteele, has that faculty of drawing to him- f elf and of holding them firmly a host of friends. He has known Steel for many, many years, and he has a faculty which is given to so few of us, a gift that is rarely found, that of the silver tongue. I will ask Dr. ,,uine to speak to the toast "Steele As A neighbor." (Applause.) DR. QUOTE : Mr. Toastmaster, Quests of the Evening, and Companions in Crime: I know Steele all right, but I am not going to give him away on this occasion. I have been in his path on occasions of this kind. I have tried just as conscientiously as my friend is trying this evening to officiate as a toastmaster, and I have hrd just exactly the same kind of misery that he is experiencing just now. (laughter.) When I myself undertook to officiate as toast- maE.ter I indulged the notion that the chief function of that official is to dispense the postprandial wine with grace and not in regular jrder, but just now, after listening to the introductory remarks of the presiding officer of the evening, I am reminded of the experience of the tramp who, after investigating the environment of a very promising looking house, boldly knocked at the door and said to the lady answerirg the knock, "Madam, may I saw a cord of wood for rn; supper." The villian had assured himself long before there was ho wood there, and the lady replied sternly, "We do not use wood here, sir." "Then, Madam, may I bring in a ton or two of coal?" . , , . . r r . . - ■ . . i .V ■ ■■■ - 4 - She replied, "We do not use coal here, sir." "Then, 'ladara, in the name of C-od, may I turn on the gas?" (Laughter.) And that I take to he the principal function of the toastmaster. (Renewed laughter.) I will not deny that I am well qualified to speak to this sentiment "The neighbor," for I have lived in the same house nearly thirty years, and have not a visiting acquaintance with three people on all four sides of the block in which I am living. Community of interest, and if not on ail occasions community of interest, at least harmony of interest, has kept the guest of the evening and myself in rather close companionship for many and many a year. ,e got married at about the same time. We belonged to the same base- ball club, and I have this to say for that club; It never sold out a game in the whole history of its existence. It did not have to sell out in order to lose, for it never won a single game. (Laughter.) The rather ostentatious youth who figured at the second base in that aggregation got himself in a position to receive a grounder that was sent from the bat of one gentleman on the other side of the contention, but the grounder slipped between the hands of the pair and struck him in a part of the body that is not exploited very muchC laughter) , and when the unfortunate youth had gotten through vomiting, the person who had knocked the ball had made the circuit of the bases three times. I was the player myself retired on that occasion. (Laughter.) The Toastmaster hasreferred to a list of the achieve- ments of our beloved and honored friend, jf he really did . t . . ■ * . . . . . i . ' , ' . - 5 - accomplish the things mentioned and on the list, then as a neighbor I have got to get some tips. ell, to have stood shoulder to shoulder in many and many an effort, have made sacrifices together, and like other honest people v/ho do their own thinking, occasionally we have found ourselves on different sides of a problem and have threshed it out with s irit and determination, he smiting me hip and thigh, or in that immediate vicinity, and I smiting him to the best of ability, but never in any instance was a difference of this kind allowed to degenerate into a personality, for in every instance each was contending for a principle or a cause and contending for the adoption of his own point of view. Every medical man in the room knows more or less abort the intimacy of the connection of the guest of the evening and myself in relation to the history of the College of Medicine of the University of Illinois. I have perhaps gotten into a little closer personal relation with him than most of you who have had an opportunity to do. Efficiency — yes, none better. Courage — yes, none better. If there is one man in the whole range of y acquaintance upon whos e fidelity i would be willing to count to the very death, it is old Steele (applause), and we have been through the fire many and many a time, and each has had all the opportunity out of doors to show the white feather. Old Steele — nix, not once, and I have come to regard this quality of fidelity not merely personal fidelity— jdont mean that; i mean fidelity . . , f - , 7; ) : . . - • - . ■ ! 1 ■ ■ . - . . . . * . to a cause; I mean standing for a fact, and without any regard at all to the demands of friendship, and without many regard at all for any assaults of enmity, he has stood by the fact and contended for a cause and saw it through to the very end, That's Steele as I know him. As one gets on in years, you know, and begins to indulge in a little retrospection and sees how very little his own life has amounted to, he tries to derive comfort from the reflection that even a member of the medical profession who is able to show the negative merit of having done no harm, is highly deserving of the approbation and the confidence of his professional brethren • ’To have lived merely a blameless life; to have done not one thing in thirty or thirty- five years of bustling activity in the presence of all his pro- fessional brethren, to which any man or any woman can point with the finger of accusation — to have lived in that way and shown that negative merit of having done no harm to his chosen profession in relation to himself, that is about all the comfort I can get out of life for mg self in indulging that notion, but it is well worth considering for the humble members of the medical profession. If they merely uphold the honor and the dignity of their calling by the very primitive progress of upholding their own honor and dignity as members of that profession from the beginning to the end of an active career, that of itself is enough to deserve the highest conuen&ation of one’s professional brethren. Kindly, generous, loyal. devoted, with a full measure of the love and confidence of . . . . ' ■ ; - . . , r - ' . . - - 7 - the people to whom he has boon min let ©ring for man; and many a year, these things our friend is in a position to contemplate right net? , and as the years go on and on and Ms mind is disposed to dwell more and more upon the past, taking a fear- less glanco nor and then into the future, it is pretty certain that he will learn to esteem, as I am learning to osteon, the love and confidence of my professional brethren and of the community at large whose ailments I have been trying to reliove for many end many a year, Those are among the very dearest and the most desirable of all the compensations of a member of the medical profession, and if any of you are aiming and exerting yourselves to achieve the full measure of victory, comfort and satisfaction in the hey-d«gr years of your life, I tell you it will be necessary to go some and a long time before you will stand in the position which I know our friend Steele now occupies, (Applause.) I have been * 1th him, and I do not sop; this with any levity or indifference of spirit , or as a mere mattor of form, but I say it with all the sincerity of my capacity and friendship, that I trust he will still live many and many a year to witness other manifestations of the love and friend- ship of his professional, brethren. (Loud applause,) THA TQASTMAS EBD: I hope X>r. Steele and "Or* nine will rxc use me .for the sake of accuracy, I am goln' to make one correction in Dr, Maine's remarks. It is not thi ty or thirt; -five yea s that pp^teele has b en in the profession. * # rv 4 ; V - 8 - # He "began before he was tventy»one, and in eight years he will have reached a landmark. I think it was in 1873 that he began his work. DR. QUINE: But he is older than that. (Laughter.) THE TOASTMASTER: Some months ago Dr. Steele asked me to see a young married woman who was having a rather stormy time in her pregnancy. He told me she ras the daughter of an old patient of his, and he brought her into the world . I rent to the house and there found the mother with the young patient . The mother received me very politely but rather coldly, and she could not refrain from expressing to me her regret that Dr. Steele himself could no*c come to see her daughter. She rent on and confided to me that Steele had always been the physician that they had called upon and she said, "He was with us when my father and mother died, and he was with me when my husband died, and was with me in treating three of my children, and so far as myself is concerned, I could never have anybody but Dr. Steele. (Laughter.) I found a similar sentiment prevalent among the other patie nts of Dr. Steele throughout the city. That indicates to me that there is something in medicine after all, and that an inspired counsellor and advisor is perhaps the ideal phys- ician after all. We have the opportunity of having someone speak to the torst "Steele As A Physician," who himself is able to take a broad view of the meaning of physician. His horizon is not limited by any bounds of physic. He himself has known . . : ' e» AC v . , . , * . . ■ . . ; s * »• a : ’ o ■ • ' c -9- Gteele for many years y and I take great pleasure in asking Dr. Billings to respond to the toast "Steele As A Physician." (Applause.) 1 ) 2 , BILL IUGG : hr. Toastmaster, Gentlemen and Dr. Steele j I was both glad and sorry when I rae requested to speak tonight. Sorry because I did not feel I could do justice to the subject; glad because my relations with Dr. stecle for many years have been such that I am glad to tell him in a few words something of ra; opinion of hi * as a physician. Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen. I hope you will pardon me if there is something personal in my remarks, as it cannot be otherwise in much of what I shall have to scy . when I began the study of medicine in Chicago Dr. gtoele was then a young practitioner. I) r. nine and Dr. Steele were two of my teachers. They were then in active practice, young as they both were, both young in years and young in professional life. At the same time, both of them had already succeeded; both of them had more than a living practice, he students soon learned to know the teachers In the school and those who were more or loss prosperous, and those who wore not. In that day the practitioners wore a peculiar dress in modicino. Quine and Steele both wore long frock coats; % dont know how long they were, and these coats had forty or fifty buttons, the coat being buttoned up in front, find as I looked at them and some others who wore the sorao dress, I think they must have copied the style from Dr. Jewell of that day, and he was a Jewel in every sense of the v/ord, even 4 * - 10 - though be wore such a dress . In his later years he discarded it for the conventional swallow-tail, and always wore it. We heard of what our teachers did in those days. I remember one of the stories that went around about Steele at the time. Some other young doctor had been colled out to Archer Hoad to see a child, and the mother asked him after he was through how much it was, and he said two dollars. She said, "Git out wid ye, I can get Doctor Steele for that, and he has a horse and buggy, "and he braced himself and ducked .( Laughter .) Dr. Steele as a physician, I am very glad the committee chose that word, but I will speak of Dr. SteeL e as a surgeon, for as I have knonn him now for thirty -eight years, he has been more than a surgeon all of that time. Early, when I first knew him, he taught sometimes surgery, and sometimes medicine. Within ray life as a student and as an intern, he also taught gynecology and obstetrics, and in all of those he was a teacher. In the dispensary on the south side, when I wasa student, he taught as few of the men there taught. He taught us in a natural way. That is one of the first things I learned — how to approach disease; it did not make any difference in that day whether we made an absolute diagnosis or not, if we could learn how to examine a patient, and the first man I ever saw who got at the idea of the natural method of examining patients and teaching students was Dr. Steele. That was more important to us than knowing exactly what was the matter with a patient at that time. It is important to know how. He continued that practice through experience with him as my attending physician in the cook - . / . . '• ■ . c ■ - •- v . (. - o > i i: wfto . r y . . , , , • ' . - 1 ■ . ; \ . - . -li- ft County Hospital. Another thing that impressed me with nteelo, and I think I have profited by the lesson, is that he was a gentleman. It did rot make any difference to htoele if a patient was a dispensary patient; I never heard Steele ray a cross word to a patient if objecting to something that woe being done to them if they did not submit to it. He did it in a kindly considerate way. be do not see that much In America or in .ingland. Shat is the custom in France* Fhere physicians are gentle, kindly and courteous to their out- patients and in their hospital work. : teele nover said a word about this* He never said a word to us that we should treat pool" patients in that way, but it was his own dinner of doing that sort of thing. Ho student would dare expose a patient unnecessarily or say an unkind word to a patient in the presence of c teele* Many a time in the obstetrical department of the Cook County Hog ital I have seen Steele control his patient with kind words, said in those dsys things v ore not as they are now* While wo wore clean in a sense of the word, we wore not clean, and so we had sepsis quite o ten, and to control a patient through and do it in such a kind vqy was one of the characteristics of this men. I have never forgotten the lesson* r. teelo was the first man who taught me physical diagnosis, lie taught me in the dispensary when a student, and at the County Hospital. Before I apeak of his attainments,! wish to mention < * - 12 - another characteristic of this man. Steele was kind to-goung men of the profession who had not yet earned their wqy . .Then I started out in practice , if he met me, he would say, "How are you getting along?” and cheer me on the way, and sometimes send a patient to the young doctor. He did not do that to me alone, hut he has done it with hundreds of men, and whenever he had an opportunity to make a place for a younger man he would do so. He has made places in his clinic for them. He has given them work to do in private practice. e has net only done that, hut he has not been afraid of such practitioners. He has had no fear of the young man getting something that belonged to him. He has not said so to him, hut he has made the young man feel encouraged to go 01. and do the best he could. He has gone so far as to sty to a young practitioner, "If there is anything you can do better than I do, you will get it." Any man who has that broad and unselfish spirit will never lose by doing that sort of thing, because the men he brings up around him in that way are his students, and all of them are glad to call Steele their teacher and master. Then, another characteristic the rest of you have noted is that Steele has been in practice forty-two years, and while his name is mentioned occasionally in the public prints, it is not notorious. His name does not appear in the public prints as frequentlyas do the names of some others, and yet when compared with the men who so frequently appear in the public prints from the standpoint o£L his knowledge of medicine and i nfi . ■ . • * . rj • . . . - t , ‘ . . - , . . ■ J 1 1 / - 13 - surgery and his standing in the profession, he need not look up at any of them. I think some of the characteristics of Steal e and of my good teacher Dr. Quine are partly due to their early associations. They associated with the big men of that day. They were high types of men. We have men now that we call foremost in the profession, but their position to&sy is not any greater, if it is as great, than the position of the great men of that day. When you stop atfd think of the men associated with these two men on the staff of the County Hospital when I was an intern there, with Quine on the radical side, Hollister and Curtiss, and not to he sneered at for he did his best, P. A. McWilliams, and on the surgical side Charles T. Parkes, Moses Gunn, Christian Fenger, and a man that we did not admire much or respect on aocount of some of his characteristics, yet was skillful (I refer to Baxter), you have some conception of the high type of men of those days. In pathology and surgery Fenger was the man of all men who made the turn in medicine. (Applause.) There was another big Dane there by the name of J; cobs. Those were some of the men these men \?ere on the staff with. In college matters they were connected with Davis, Andrews, Johnson, Byford, koler and Isham. Think of those men for a moment and the places they occupied. Think of what they did in medicine thirty-five and forty years ago. We are proud of our three great medical institutions, but if it had not been for the men j have named these institutions . . . . $f. •) ‘ tv ru - 17 - TE 'I TOASTMASTER: For convenience, gpeneer ha a classified institutions into professional, domestic, industrial, political, military, and ecclesiastical. e con icier that the individual is the clement that makes op the institution just as the cell io the element that makes up the hod; ; but the institutional elements differ from the body elements in ono respect, in that they have affiliation, and so wo ocn properl, sp eak of good and had institutional elements, good and had individuals, good and had members of society. In ever;/ res ect, in all of these institutions, domestic, ecclesias- tical, political, industrial and professional, steel e is a good individual, a good element. In order to he a go old oloment he has to follow certain rules or laws that regulate the activity of the body, the institution, just as the cells have to follow their laws. JTow, I suppose, the chief law that regulates the institutional activity is that which ?r .Billings has just given, the Golden ;?nle, "Do unto others as the; would do to you." That is the Golden fule that gteele has followed, and that is what makes him a good individual, hut I also want to say that Steele is by no means unprogressive, he is not an old fogy, and ho is willing to accept any amend- ments or improvements to the rule, and while in general ho has adopted the rulo that was given many centuries ago, ninotoen hundred years ago, he has in certain instances and under cer- tain conditions also adopted an amended Golden ;ti3 ft, pro- claimed, as you know, by the genial Vankeo philosopher David . , , . . ' rr .' 9 . . . . ■ , % ■ i Harun, "Do others as they would do you, only do thorn first (Laughter.) Dr. Steele has heon billing to adopt this amend- ed Golden iule. (Laughter.) It was our hope that re would have with us tonight a man who has known .Dr. Steel# for man; years, a broad man, a man for many years connected with the courts of the state, a man who has been identified with a number of the arbitration disputes between employers and employees. I refer to Judge Hanoey, but an hour ago we received word that the judge was sick with tonsillitis and could not he here. To was to have spoken of "Dr. Steele, The Citizen." In the absence of Judge Hanoey, I went to 7'r. Teter, the banker, who has known Dr. teele’ s activities as a business nan, and asked him whether he would not say a few words regarding Dr. teele, and he kindly consented to do so. It therefore gives me very great pleasure to introduce to you Mr* :,ucius Teter. (Applause*) MB* TITER: Hr. Toastmaster, Dr. teele, and Gentlemen: You heard from the head of the table about the misery up there, but I assure you, all the misery has not been at the head of the table during the last h ur. I have been miserable sine© the serving of the oysters. I t ho light I would get over here to one side and have a good time, but the Toastmaster notified me that he was going to cal] on me to . r . ay a few words with reference to Dr. Steele as a business man. It seems necessary for you to have some layman, some thoroughly unwashed, unsterilized, unpasteurisod individual < I - 19 - to come here and act as a highly wm ruminant of the occasion, (aughter,) I regret very much Judge Eanecy is not able to be here, because while J am almost as tall as he is, I cainot get in his clothes, but might rattle around in his shoes. (Laughter, ) You ranted a layman to come here and speak plainly to you. It is not so easy to talk to a group of professional men as it is to a group of hankers. If you were all bankers, I could speak more fluently than I can hope to do tonight. Come wo Id have the mental reservation of thinking out loud, and I assume any medical man in addressing this group would not have that handicap and would be in the position of the darkey I heard about the other dey • I was down to iiohmonl and heard the Attorney General of the otato tell a story o me thing like this * c said, you know, down hero, when no think of a darkey , re think of a mule, and. when we think of a mule and of a darkey, rc think of them together. an, after driving his mule two miles, stopped, rent into a store, and when he came out and climbed into the wagon and tried to start the mule, the mule would not move. The crowd gathered around to tell ;,em all the different rays of starting a mule, such as throwing sand in his ears, twisting his tail, etc., I have driven a mule, so I know there are several more rays, (Laughter,) The mule did*nt move, and finally somebod, rolled out, "ham, 1*11 tell yon how to star* that mule. You get a rope and rook, tie one end of the rope to tli® mule * 3 tail, and tie the stone to the other end. o.. * e ( < -20 ropc and lot It hang, and the mule will get thinking about the rock and he will go right off," S ai. said, "Insure you, I'd like to start dat male, hut let him whose without Din tie the first stone." (laughter.) I am not handicapped in that way. I presume the reason why I am here tonight is because I have known Dr. Steele in a personal and professional way— for we are beginning to believe re are a profession — for many years. I v as tolling hr. goring that bankers and doctors are unprofessional- -at least, some of them— and wo have been running al onr the road together, and while I have not been practicing banking as long as Dr. ftoelc lias been practicing medicine, I began to practice human life Just about that time, and so we have something in common. I have known Dr. Steele in the hank and have oome to know him quite well personally. 7/e bankers have that in common with doctors. he have a very close relationship with: individuals, with professional men, and our business relations are such as to Justify their confidence in us. In that way I have known hr. Steele. home of our friends started the banking business forty- three years ago, and Dr. Steele was one of our first patients. Ton see, we are not handicap! o d ethically; wo pay three por cent, on savings, (laughter.) e become sort of banker-doctors, or dootors-bankors, and it is a little like a man learning to eat olives, he must be prepared for it. The banker must bo prepared to deaL with all kinds of people. The doctor is often willing to let ' . . • . . , ■ . . , ■ . . • - 21 - people wait, but he never wants' to at ami in line. You must have a r.ort of special treatment in store for doctors, and we boiieve ro have acquired that method. In other words, we are prepare* to take care of doctors. I will give you my address in a moment. (laughter.) Dr. Steele put into our hands funds for collection for hi© ho a ital , building plans, and things of that kind, lie is ono of the tribe that has shown remarkable business qualifications, although that tribe is increasing. Banter© know someth! g besides that which the doctor himself knows. It is entirely natural, and I just imparted this little secret to some of the doctors here. It is natural to look upon everyone else as being your inferior because they think you are dominating over them, whether prinoo or pauper* I think it is psychological that so many doctors are not in- clines to loan on other people’s Judgment as much as they should, but Dr. Steele never assumed that he know , s much about the banking business as some of the rest of us who are in the business. I want to commend him for that. Yhe tribe is increasing, Vo are glad to see it, because if wo are willing to trust our appendix to you, you ought to be willing to trust your dollars to us. (Laughter.) Dr, Steele has been thoroughly businesslike . Ho has either met loans on the day they wore due or sought renewal. (laughter.) He has been a good citizen. I did not expect to say any! ing on this subject, but that is where it co os in, and the ^ntiro < ( - 22 - conduct of his relations along that line has been, I should sa;/, one hundred per cent., and I put a great deal of on; basis upon it because it in unusual, and I say to any of on who Wt f • hesitate about lotting us handle any of ;;our shekels, t would be outirel; safe to let Dr. Gteclo handle then Tor ; ou. He has al wap 3 kept Mo word, and the relationship between the doctor and hanker has grown into real friendship. ' hile I was invited to be here, I was very glad indeed to cone as Dr, r> tee 10*0 friend. One or two things said by the previous speakers interested no greatly. Doctor: as a rule, particular! in times past, have been decidedly individualistic. That is also, I should say, psychological, but some of the expressions used by the previous speakers have interested me in shoving the getting together spirit. Dr. Billings ap oke of develop- ing young men. That is distinctly broad minded. Commercial- ly, it is a thing all of us have to do to build up institutions • There is a greater demand for young men now than even before. De want to bring up men to follow us. We want to give them an opportunity , and in helping the young men it is not going to hurt us in the least bit. I was very glad to wake a note of that . The marvel of all marvels i the splendid team work which made it possible for Dr. nine, who is not as old as Dr.Dteele (laughter), end Dr. Steele to accomplish uo much. Then, if you remember, Dr. gui.no spoke of community of interest . How surprising. Community of interes- is s ^ orn 1 ( < - 23 - hardly crept away from the sacred precincts of '.Tail Street, hut re hoar it here, and what communit of interest is and \ what it may develop into . In this connection I will say that Ians are under way for the "building of a Christian Science Church near my home on the south side # I hope whatever this community of interest may develop into, it will not he subject to attack "by the Sherman anti-trust law. Speaking of the Christian Science Church, and in bringing these rambling remarks to a close because I have not prepared them, I am reminded of another story I heard the other day. A little girl, in a Christian Science home on the South side, came rushing into the living room, and said, "Mother, I just had a terrible thing happen." n What was it, darling?" "I fell down the front stairs." "Hy, were you hurt?" "Oh, no, not at all, not at all. As I went $hump, thump, thump, down the stairs, I said truth, truth, truth, and I got up and I was'nt hurt a bit. But," she says , "Mother, I am dreadfully afraid I am hurt." "Why?" "Because I heard some one "*ay — when I fell over and vent t hump, t hump , thump — error, error, error." (Laughter.) Although I cannot claim to be any nearer to the medical profession than I find myself tonight, I am sure I yield to no one here in ray admiration and pleasure in t airing part in this occasion in honor of Dr, Steele . (Applause.) . * ■ . . • - . : ■ . . • • . . . ■ • . ' 4 mm SIR’S T0ASKIA3TISR: I learned late this afternoon that a cousin of Dr. Steele’s was in tow, and It seemed too rood an opportunity to lose to get a response to the toast of ’’Dr. Steele as A Relative.” I can assure you, that all the accomplishments jf the Itecles are not centered in the guest of the evening. I think his cousin will demonstrate that some of these accomplishments are in other members of the family, and I call upon hr. Charles nteele, of Detroit to speak of Dr. ft eele as a cousin. (Applause.) KR. STEELS: hr. Toastmaster, Dr. Steele, and Gentlemen* There are two prerequisites I have found in being a relative of Dr. Steele, one is occasionally I have the honor of being called Dr. Steele myself, an honor to which I am not entitled, and the ot er is the pleasure of being infrequently a guest at the doctor’s house, and in that capacity 1 have had the opportunity of seeing the doctor at work and of having seen some of the amusing incidents that occur in the doctor’s life. The other day, while I ra. at the doctor’s house, a woman came into the office and said, "Doctor, I have a terrible corn I would like to have you remove." She had boon a patient for mans', many years, and was an old friend. The doctor said, "Why lira. So-and-So, I dont do that any more. It is a long time since I have condescended to remove a corn." And he said ho would not do it. But the woman persisted and urged him, and finally, being an old friend, he said, "All . 1 1 . - * • . V , • ' • . jd ■ . ; ■ -i ■ - . .. ' . • -85- right, I will#" ho c topped into the office and removed her shoos and stockings. In the meantime, something happened so that the doctor was detained in coming back to take care of the patient, and when he vent into the office ho was surprised* ' T o found the roman had not only removed her shoes and 'stocking 'a, but some of her other garments, and Dr.’teele being a modest man said, "I!y good, r oman, what is this? I tolcl ; on to remove pour shoes and stockings so that T could treat the corn.” he replied, •doctor, I know where this corn is ; I have boon driving a Ford for the last five months (Laughton) The dtoolo’s are cotch, and yesterday ? rao tolling the doctor about a ootohman’s p eager which amused him very much and on; entertain you. This Scotchman cane over to Canada and settled in that country and rao very much disappoint- ed. no unday, while attending the i'rogby torian huroh, as the toelos do, he arose and. offered pray- r as follows: " O.Lord, when re cam* oot to this country, re ezpecMt to find a land florin* wi * milk and honey. But instead re hae come to a country peopled ri * ungodly Irish. Scoor thim oot, 0 Lord, scoor thim oot. Drag thim oer the mooth o* the bottomless pit, but dinna let thim drap in. Fak thim to be herers o’ rood and drarers o’ rater for their brithren. Dinna mak* thim magistrates or members o perleraint or rulers o* ony kind. And, 0 Lord, gin Ye hae any lands to bestow, gie thim a* to Thin ain peculiar people, the scotch. And a' the praise and a’ the glory shall be Thine, Amen." ( Laughter .} . . . . , i . • . • • • . • 4 ■ t . . *'• - 26 - Now, gentlemen, there are a lot of things as a 'elative of Dr. Steele* s I could say — things, however, that would he, perhaps , inappropriate to say publicly at this time and place, and really it is unnecessary that I should speak. ' ou are all his friends. You know the quality of his friendship, his sympathy, his kindness, his helpfulness. Take those qualities and raise them to the highest degree and you have Dr. Steele as a relative. (Applause.) DR. CHARLES SPENCER f ILL I AM son read telegrams and letters from several of Dr. Steele’s friends who were unable to attend the dinner, DR. WILLIAMSON presented Dr. teele with a beautiful testimonial album signed Ty eighty* four of Ms friends, after which the audience sang "Far He’s A Jolly Good Fellow.” I i THE TOASTMASTER: You will pardon me if I refer again to one of the dialogues of Plato, the most prominent of all, the banquet, where the various members of the company speak of love, and allow me to read the delightful, the beautiful saying of Agathan on that occasl on. ’’Love fills man with affection, and takes away disaffection, making them to meet together at such oanquets as these. In sacrifices, feasts, dances, he is one lord, supplying kindness and banish- ing unkindness, givinr friendship and forgiving enmity. The Joy, good, wonder, amazement , desired by those who have no part in him and precious to those who have a better part in him . Parent , del icaoy .luxury, desire , fondness .softness, grace, regard ful of the good, regardless of the evil. In every word, work, wish. . , ■ ■ - *■ , . . , . , t fear; pilot, comrade, helper, savior , glory of gods and men. Leader, host and brightest, in whose footsteps let every man follow, sweetly singing in his honor that sweet strain with which love charms the souls of gods and men. (Applause.) Let me say to you, that is the sentiment that has inspired this evening, and let me also remind you of the saying of Francis Bacon; "No man irnparteth his joys to his friend hut he joineth more, and no man that irnparteth his griefs to his friend hut he grieveth less." Dr. Steele, will you speak to us. DR. STEELE, on rising, was enthusiastically received. He said; Mr. Toastmaster and Friends; Such an occasion as this comes into a man's life but seldom, and I am the least worthy of all. It seems that a man who has gone about his work from day to day and attended to that work as best he could, was only doing what each one of you is doing; that every man here is my equal, many here my superiors in all sorts of attainments, and the proudest thing I have to think of is it was simply environment, circumstances that were entirely beyond my control that perhaps make it possible for some of you here to pay me this signal honor. Of good parentage, of clean birth, of optimistic disposition or temper- ament, and just enough Scotch in me to know when I was licked. To fight when the odds were always apparently insurmountable, I was always perhaps aided in making a struggle for an object or for something in which I was greatly interested in carrying . i' , ■ •• i ioiv . • ? - . . . . • ' •> . . , . ' • • • * .;** tin to completion and perfection by the story that is told of Grant, Tie was a very successful soldier. He led his army up the hill and defeated the enemy during the Civil 'far, and he was complimented on Ilia bravery in making ouch a successful fight# "But, " he said, "I res not brave; m; kneos '. ere shaking* I did not see how many of the enemy there wore until I got to the top of the hill, and when I found I had more cannons and more soldiers than the enemy had, then I was bi'avo#” I have often been timid and fearful of the outcome of certain struggles, but when X looked around upon my loyal and true friends who wore behind me In these enterprises, who gave me support da;, by day and night by night, I feel that all the honcr is not due to me# It does not belong to me any more than it does to my friends, not nearly as much. Friendship has always been a part of my make-up , I am not a clubSSSbe nan — I mean a good fellow and all that the toastmaster and others have said. I have my cigarette and cigar here, and yet oil these ashos you nee belong to Dr# Billings and Dr. Bacon and Dr. Quine on the other side. All of you value friendship. "Let me ever be the first, truest, best and dearest friend to you all." That is a quotation from Longfellow, and it is applicable to this occasion. And I may sa; with mors on: "A day for toil, an hour for sport. But for a friend, life is too short." t ' I trust the example of this meeting; tonight shall last through your lifetime, but my lifetime is too short to show the friendship I feel for everyone present. Around this table I see not only my old teacher Quine, but my old classmates Byford and Doering, and my former pupils, who have far outstripped mo in the race for success and honor and position. Billings on m. right compli- mented me by saying I taught him physical diagnosis and other things in the early years. One of the happiest recollections I have of those days was when I was trying it on the young fellows to see whether I could teach or not. A group of twelve men represented by Billings and some of hip associates came over to my office down at Eighteenth Street and State, a disreputable part of the city now, and presented me with a handsomely engrossed volume of"Virchow f s Pathology? Billings started me right, you see. What Dr. Billings has said in regard to the incentive for the development of my character and reputation, whatever they may be, was to a very large extent due to the influence of my mother, and second to that of my mother my wife, and then the influence and example of those old teachers in the Northwest em University Medical School, then the Chicago Medical College. I revere Davis, Andrews, Byford, Holer, and all the men whose names I need not mention, as the great men of that age. They were idealistic. They taught us not only medicine and surgery, but they taught us ethics in their daily lives by precept and by example. They were high-minded gentlenen. ( t < r ■ - - ' , . . - , . X* i . 30 - I believe their influence is felt just eg much to lay as it was then. ith the ' development of Dr. ..nine, who has been an admirer and follower of the cider Davis, bo much bo re have often thought it was Davis rejuvenated. Tie had such an influence upon Dr. nine’s life. if hie group of men havo had a great influence on my life. I do not follow any one of them, but admire all of thorn. I take the good things as they come to me just like the old colored lady said when she was about to die. I’.he said, n I*se gwine ter be a Cherubim, and flit from Seraphim to ; eraphim, suckin' honey from ev’ry flower.” (Laughter.) So I got something good from each of . y old teach- ers. I absorbed some of it and have made it a part of my- self so far as I could. As to the compliments paid to the ; oung old man, I wish to say that I have always mingled with the young men. I have caught inspiration from them from their enthusiasm, from their loyalty, from their fidelity and work, and if there is anything that will keep a man wide awoke and make him a live wire, it is to stand before a body of intelligent medical students. If there are any weak spots they will detect them. If you are wise enough to know your own weak spots, you will get along with them very well. In all theso matters I feel this signal honor has not been earned. It has just happened. It has come to z:e not because 1 really deserve it, but because of force of cir- cumstances I have boon placed in position to do a certain I m y i amount of wo rk, and I n tar ted out to do It an bunt I could, and with the help of .you good friends I have in a measure succeeded, and I hope Dr. Billinas, when he takes up the burdens I am leaving off, will unite lush College with the University of Illinois and make it a great school, (Loud applause . ) 0