that he was attending a patient in North Lake or Fortune, etc. The man would have to wait and hope that the doctor would return and be capable of making another journey. Often the good doctor found his patients to be suffering from appendicitis, so he had no choice but to operate. This he performed on the kitchen table, where the only source of light was a lamp or lantern. Sometimes the doctor took his own horse. The doctor often declared that the horse was human. Once he became stuck in a snow bank. After some pulling and tugging he managed to remove the horse from the sleigh. He unhitched the horse and told her to go home. He knew that someone would find him the next day, so he tipped the sleigh to form a shelter. Using the two buffalos, which he always took with him in winter, he curled up and went to sleep. During the night he was awakened by something rubbing his nose. Sure enough, his faithful friend, the horse had returned to see if the doctor was all right. On another occasion, he was going to visit a patient six miles out of Souris , when he reached a hole in the ice that contained about fifteen feet of water. The horse refused to budge where he came close to the opening. The doctor got out of the sleigh to see what was wrong and saw the water, so, he sent the horse home, and he and two companions continued the journey on foot. It was such a blustery, stormy night that the trio had to hold hands to avoid losing one another. He arrived at his destination the next morning, just in time to save a life. It was very common in that era to receive no mail for four or five days. The road would be impassable for the mailman to make the journey. Often people ran out of tea or other necessities, and would borrow from a neighbor. It was a very common practice in those days. They usually had a supply of meat and vegetables stored for the winter, so the country people were usually better off than those living in the town. It was impossible to get to a store, so neighbors shared with each other until the storm abated. During the winter the women got together to knit, sew and hook rugs. It gave them an opportunity to socialize and enjoy each others company. In war time they knit mitts and socks for the men who were overseas. Nowadays the winters are not as severe as they were in the past, so people can move about and live a normal life. Television and radios make it easier to enjoy a stormy evening at home. 121