CHAPTER TWENTY TWO: Measuring Bandages
At last, on the afternoon of September 18th, the Board met. Sitting beside Gill and Hope, Andrew watched the members enter the long room.
‘Gentlemen!’ the President addressed the meeting. ‘We are pleased to welcome our new Medical Officer. Dr Manson has made some important discoveries, and we must give him every opportunity to develop his research. We wish him, gentlemen, to visit the mines and examine the miners in many parts of the country. We will give him all the help that we can – including the skilled services of our young friend Dr Hope.’
Andrew drew one quick breath. This was better than he had expected.
‘But, gentlemen,’ the President continued, ‘before Dr Manson starts this work, I think that he should attend to another and more urgent matter. I think that, first, he should make a study of the medical materials used for accidents in mines. For example, there is no fixed standard for the width of bandages. I feel that Dr Manson should inquire into this matter, and make a report, suggesting the best width and length of bandage for each of the most common forms of accident.’
Silence. Andrew looked desperately round the table.
‘Surely, sir, this – this bandage question is of little importance,’ Abbey argued. ‘Dr Manson-‘
‘It is certainly not of little importance! The Government has asked for this report.’
‘Excuse me, sir, ‘Andrew interrupted. ‘I – I understood that I was to do medical work here. For a month I have been wasting my time doing nothing. Now, if you expect me to…’
He stopped, and looked at them. It was Abbey who helped him.
‘Dr Manson’s argument is very reasonable. For four years he has worked patiently at his research; and now, after offering him the opportunity to work on this further, you want to send him out to measure bandages!’
‘If Dr Manson has been patient for four years, he can be patient for a little longer!’ the President laughed.
After the meeting, Andrew discussed the matter with Gill and Hope.
‘It won’t take you long – only about six months,’ Gill comforted him. ‘Then you can begin your work on the coal dust.’
‘He won’t get the chance!’ Hope laughed. ‘He’ll be measuring bandages for the rest of his life!’
‘Oh, very funny!’ Andrew picked up his hat and went home to Christine.
He bought an old car; and on the following Monday, he and Christine began their tour of the coal mines.
‘Anyway, at least we are together, Chris!’ Andrew remarked.
The work was very simple. Andrew examined the medical supplies at several hundred mines, and then returned to London and wrote his report.
The Coal and Mines Board sent this report to an important member of the Government, who at once asked Andrew to call at his office.
‘Your report is excellent, Manson,’ he told him. ‘The Government intends to introduce a new law controlling the use of medical supplies in mines and factories. We shall base this law on your report. But there is one suggestion that I would like you to change. I think that a narrower bandage would be better than the size you suggest. Don’t you agree?’
Andrew was angry. ‘Personally, I prefer the bigger bandage – but I really don’t think that it makes much difference!’
‘What? No difference?’
‘No – no difference at all!’
‘You treat this matter very lightly. Don’t you realize how important this is?’
Andrew lost his temper. ‘Have you ever been down a mine? I have. I’ve done a bloody operation, lying in a pool of water with only one small lamp and no room to move. And I tell you this: the size of the bandage is of no importance.’
Andrew left the building more quickly than he had entered. When he returned to his office at the Coal and Mines Board, he stood for some time, looking out of the window. ‘I don’t belong here,’ he thought. ‘I’m a doctor – not a clerk!’
Towards the end of May, he informed the Board that he was leaving.
Gill tried to persuade him to stay. But Hope said: ‘Don’t listen to him! You’re lucky. I shall leave as soon as I can find another post – if I don’t go mad first!’
Several months later the Government, acting on information supplied by Dr Gadsby, publicly declared that coal dust was the cause of a dangerous disease. Next day, the newspapers praised Gadsby for his useful work and described him as a great doctor!