retrospect, the community of St. Peters and surrounding areas were very lucky to attract Dr. Roddie, for according to Douglas Baldwin, “Pioneer conditions on Prince Edward Island attracted few qualified doctors.” [7)

Doctors struggled to gain control of their profession in the final decades of the 19th century. A bill introduced in 187 1 by Montague doctor James Robertson was designed to “protect both the public and the profession from unqualified unprincipled quacks.” (8) According to Douglas Baldwin, however, the aid given by Bishop Angus MacEachern to such people as Roddie Pratt’s Nicholson ancestor, was one frequently defended “home remedy:"

The most frequently defended unorthodox practitioners were those who employed a “secret plaster” handed down from Bishop Angus MacEachem, a pioneer Roman Catholic Missionary, to cure the growing number of cancer patients on the Island. (9)

With the PEI Medical Association re—established in 1888 and a new licensing act established in 1890, rural doctors gained more control over their profession. Advances in transportation and communication during this time also aided rural doctors. The train from St. Peters to Charlottetown took three hours. The introduction of the automobile also influenced the medial profession to a certain extent, but Sash Mullally indicates that initially, it was not of much benefit to rural doctors such

as Dr. Roddie:

Since the PEI speed limit, and in many cases the speed capability of the cars, never exceeded 15 km per hour before 1921, it is unlikely that an automobile was much improvement over a fast horse, and no improvement whatsoever over a sleigh in the wintertime. It comes as no surprise then, that Dr. Roddie was known to use his horse, Belle, for house calls long after his family had purchased a Model T.

Ford. (1 O)

The introduction of the telephone was another modern convenience that also aided the both patients and doctors, and for in many instances helped to fetch the doctor faster.*

The alarming speed at which Dr. Roddie drove his later model cars, was well known within the community. Stories of the family placing

* The Telephone Company of PEI was incorporated in 1885. The first public telephone in St. Peters Bay was installed in 1895. By 1905, there were only four telephones in St. Peter’s owned by residents and usually they were store proprietors, with a fifth at the railway station. The first exchange office was established in the residence of Mrs. John Larkin in 191 1. That same year, the Island Telephone Company sold their rights to two privately owned companies: The North Shore Rural Telephone Company in 191 1 and the Greenwich and Cable Head Rural Telephone Company in 1925. The former began to construct telephone lines in rural areas south of St. Peters upon incorporation, whereas the latter company did not begin until 1925 to cover the areas north of the village. (1 l)

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