The San Francisco call. [volume], February 27, 1910, Page 5, Image 5

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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The San Francisco Sunday Call
MY EXPERIENCES WITH A BEAUTY DOCTOR
-piIE dortor was la his shirt
• sleeves. IVom the opeii door of
I 'his inner office lie saw me as I
entered the reception room and
came forward to meet me. He was not
very tall, rather heavily built, with a
smooth face and keen, merry blue eyes.
I was surprised to see so young a man;
\u25a0te didn't seem over 30, and he had "a
way with him." Did you ever yet see
a raan successful wltß women who did
not have it? it was a very charming
way, too, and boyish, but for all that
convincing. There was no pretense of
"'professionalism" about him. and yet
I felt Instantly that he knew his busi
ness and that I could trust him.
"Do you fix faces — this sort of thing?"
•aid I, placing my finger tips just below
my temples In front of my ears and
pulling the skin up and back — techni
cally known as "lifting" the face — and
Just between you and me the operation
that Is supposed to have kept our own
famous Lillian Russell perenially young.
His eyes twinkled and he gave me a
comprehensive little smile as he nod
ded yes.
"Come In," sa!d he. "I have Just fin
ished an operation and can give you a.
little time now." And he ushered me
into his private office and seated me
In a big chair by the window, where he
proceeded to look me over carefully.
Hare you ever stood before your mir
ror and pulled your face up as you
\u25a0would like to have It and longed with
all your heart that !t might stay that
way? A course of too enthusiastic
massaging and the hot water treatment
had done their fatal work and my 'skin
was getting flabby. There was a little
£roop aroi:nd my mouth that would not
away and it bothered me. I was simply
obsessed with the Idea of getting rid
of It. In plain words I wanted him to
take a reef in my face. Would he do it?
Could he do It?
He promptly said that he could and
would.
"Tour face is not bad at all." said
he. "How oIJ are you?" looking at
me keenly.
Of course I told him. * We women
always do tell our ages truthfully to
every man that asks v?. you know.
"You are wise to take it in hand
now." said the doctor.
"Why?" I Inquired.
"Because too many women wait until
they are old and then expect us to per
form miracles. Here,'.' said he, as he
handed me a looking glass, "look at
yourself."
"With his. fingers at my temples he
pulled the skin back and up as I had
myself done many times at home. only.
of course, he did it much more cleverly
than I coulJ. As I looked, my face
took on the contour of 15 again.
""But can you do it?' I asked,
arr.czed. '
"Certainly; I do it every day," and
then he proceeded to explain how. "I
make a short inefsion above 'the ear.
Just inside the hair line, so that the
scar won't show, cut out a prr.all piece
of skin, stretch the skin up and back
and sew it."
"Doesn't it hurt dreadfully?" I
gasped, thinking of the cutting and
etitching. "Do you use an anesthetic?"
"Cocaine — I inject cocaine," said he.
"It is absolutely painless."
Well, that last statement clinched
the matter for me; that was Saturday
«fternoon. . Monday morning- at 11
o'clock I was in his operating chair,
with my courage screwed up- to the
et'.cking poin^.
The first thing I had to do was to
take my stiff collar off, turn in my
neck band and be swathed in towels
down to my waist. The doctor had on
a big white apron, his sleeves were
rolled up and he was looking extreme
ly businesslike.
A young fellow of 21 or 22, whom he
Introduce as his brother, was to as
tist him.
He first scrubbed the side of my
face thoroughly, and shaveJ a little
place on the scalp straight up from
my ear, and then, with his hypodermic
needle, injected the cocaine In front of
and above the ear. The first two or
three Jabs of the needle were any
thing but pleasant, and I found my
self clinging to the arms of the chair,
much as I do when an unkind fate ;
obliges me to go to the dentist. How
ever, after the first few Jabs the pain
began to deaden, and before he had
finished I felt none at aIL
A sense of relaxation and peace stole
over ree — I was not afraid any more —
indeed I didn't care much what hap-,
pened. My hands and feet grew cold
and I became a little faint, but my
mind seemed unusually alert. I could
not see the doctor, as I was leaning
far back in the chair, but I was' con
eclous of every move he made, and I
noticed that he worked fast and
seemed nervous. When I asked him
\u25a0why, he gave a lltle laugh and said:
"Oh, this Is a fierce business! You'll
see before I get through!"
After he had got the skin above
my ear deadened by the cocaine he
made a cut in my ecalp, (straight up
from the ear, with *,clssors, it seemed
to me. Cocaine has a curious effect.
I could feel him cutting, but -there
was not a particle of sensation about
ft, and presently I began to feel some
thing trickling down the side of my
face and into my reck, and. do you
know. It was some little time before
It occurred to me, quite casually, that
of course It was blood — my blood. By
that time the doctor was calling to his
brother for 6ponges and was working .
rurlously.
He had fastened something that
seemed like a clamp on my face, pull
ing the skin-back tightly and hold-
Ing It In position, and he was taking
the stitches. It was queer, my acute
consciousness of those stitches, al
though he did not hurt me In the least. .
The needle went in and out. In and .
out again, and then he- would tie the \u25a0
etitch, meantime calling every few ]
moments for a fresh sponge. He took . ,
shout six stitches. The one before the j
last llurV me a little— the cocaine was. \
heainning. tc lose Its effect — and. the 1
' . •*-.. • .- \u25a0 - -\u25a0».-.:. - : .\u25a0 . :
last one, oh, how it did hurt!
Then there was the whole proceed
ing to go through on the other side of
my face, and I was petting nervous.
The jabbing of the hypodermic needle
worried me considerably, but still I .
wanted it.
"Don't be afraid to use lots of coc
aine, doctor; I'd rather have that
than to feel the stitches." I said, with
the recollection of that last one still
fresh in my memory.
"Do you feel that?" he kept saying
as he injected it. until I assured him
two or three times that I did not, when
he ceased.
With this side of my face, however,
he had trouble. One of the little
arteries was cut, and he couldn't get
hold of the ends for some time, possibly
three or four minutes. Meanwhile the
blood was flowing freely and the doctor
was worried and saying things. Final
ly he got hold of the ends of the
artery with what seemed to me plyers
or pinchers, and, after holding the cnd3
together for two or three minutes more. .
he carefully handed the plyers over to
his brother to hold and went on with
his work. The blood continued to
flow more freely than he liked, though,
and he fussed and fumed quite a. bit.
It did seem to be a pretty serious sort
of business, I was beginning to agree
with him. The curious thing about
it was my own indifference. I seemed al
most like a spectator, • and I di.l not
then know, either, that the danger was
very trifling. I only learned after
wards that those tiny arteries can
bleed a long time without serious re
sults.'
When the final stitch had been taken,
I was sponged carefully all about ray
face, neck and ears with alcohol, and
finally I sat up and looked about me.
The doctor was in a profuse perspir
ation — he had indeed been working.
When I said something to that ef
fect, he replie'J: .
"Well, this is particular business.
Remember, I am working on your face!
You don't want it- spoiled, do you? .It
must be done quickly and perfectly."
Ah, I began to see the point! ; It
must be scientifically exact, and he -
was naturally working under astrain.
When you stop to consider, many faces -
have one side a ' little different '^from
the; othen Nature and , one's own ex
pression \u25a0 may take liberties with one,
but it wouldn't do. for a "beauty doc- ,
tor"' to do it. .. -'V
My troubles were not yet over. They
had, in fact, just begun. I could not
get warm, and my heart was not acting
right. The cocaine, of course. My
hands and arms had to be- rubbed for
some time, and I was finally given a
drink of whisky and put in another
room to recover myself.
"Don't let me go home just yet, doc
tor," I said, dizzily, as I tried to stand
up. "I don't feel able."
'Don't you worry," was his reply.
"You'll not be allowed to leave the
office until you are able." '
He came in at intervals to see how I
was getting along, but it was nearly
two hours later that he put a large
piece of surgeon's plaster on each side
of my face, drawing the.6klnup still
tighter, to save any strain v . on the
stitches, and with the parting injunc
tion to eat nothing but soft foods.'soup,^
soft boiled eggs and custards, and not
to try to talk, he allowed me to depart,
to return the next day.. \u25a0 ./\u25a0....
I got home safely and had something
to. eat — a bowl of soup— but by that
time my head was beginning to. : feel
sore. The deadening effect. of the co
caine was gone. I.was nervous, though
the term poorly describes the Vondi-,
tion I was In, and my head was hurting
worse every minute. It was badly
swollen, too, on each side, and my 'face"
felt drawn.. But that I didn't mind; it
promised well for the success of the
operation. \u25a0< It was my one and only
consolation. \u25a0 \u25a0 V-
At 10 o'clock that night' I went to
bed. but not to sleep. By .that time I
was acutely, conscious of the /fact that
I had had an operation— two of them
I tried to lie down! ', It was not to be
thought of. I couldn't touch my head
to the pillow. \u25a0 • , ; V- ; ~~~
And then all manner of, -doubts and:
fears began to assail ;me— the reaction
from the cocaine had; set; in and I was
paying for the relaxation* and /peace
i: had felt during, the operation!
How did I know that the doctor was
a graduate physician! He said-he was,"
but that didn't make it so. V - .
*How did I know that his instruments
were, clean and ;that blood -•poisoning
might not / set. in!. \u25a0. And-- so on,' /ad
libitum. .Oh, I had a ! merry ;night;of -it!"
Toward morning! managed .to lay /my
head .gingerly /upon ; my .'.pillow;; and i
snatch' a. little sleep.- .\u25a0\u25a0.:\u25a0 ' '\u25a0: i/. *
-r When. I; got.^up :I: I couldn't wash 'niy/J
face.-:. From :• the: "lower "part \u25a0; -of. V my'
cheeks on- up to my 'ears were, those :bjg; v
strips of plaster and they must not be
disturbed.: All I c6u£l^do .was to; dab
ble a Httle water in my eyes, on my
nose'and mouth and chin and make the
best of it:
My hair, too, had to have justa lick
and a promise, as there was plaster on
both sides of my head covering the
stitches, and- 1 had no wish to disturb
it — my head was, too sore. I made
the best toilet that I could, put on
two heavy brown veils and went down
to the doctor's, to be put into the chair
anJ , carefully looked over. He exam
ined the wounds, pronounced them in
fine shape, with no inflammation, put
some healing medicine on them and
turned me loose again. .
That day I saw some of the other,
patients, and they were in all stages
of reconstruction, most of them done
up in adhesive plaster and bandages.
"This thing of trying to be beautiful
is strenuous work," I said to one'
woman whose face Interested me, as I
stood in front of the mirror -in the
reception room, puttjng on my veils.
"And how are : you succeeding?" she
asked me.
"It's 'too soon yet] to- know," I an
swered, as I turned to go. She had
beautiful dark eyes and lovely features.
She .must have been -a beauty, a few
years ago. Her head was bandaged
all trie way around and under her chin.
She had evidently had two operations,
one above the ear, like mine, and one
just in front of It and following the
line down for' about 1 two inches. The .
doctor explained to me afterward that
he only performed that one when the
patient was getting- oM and wrinkled,
as it left a ; slight -^scar, a line that
coii hi not 'be obliterated.
I learned that this lady's \ husband
had sent her to him. He was different
from the husbands who are supposed
to consider "beauty doctors" foolish In
the extreme.
That reception room was an inter
esting place. -There were -patients of
all classes,, many for. operations on the
nose, both; men and women, and others -.
to have, their faces "filled.'V ; Some of
the women would-not so much as take,
their : veils off-, until they got into the
operating room, and "the doctor told me .
he often ha d peopl e come to • him under
assumed names— society • women.
The ] "fllling" " preparation was about .,
the. color: and-consistency of vaseline,
and the doctor -was" very proud of, it.
He told me, ; in confidence,, that he 'had
progressed further in .that line than
most dermatologists. .
There was'cjne pretty woman coming
to have her face, filled; and' she. had"i
the sort of -face , you" wouldn't sup
poses would . ever "need' such a thing—
beautifully modeled and firm; looking
—the sort of face you expect to break
into dimples when tlie owner smiled. /
lloAVrmuch of that 'firm contour was
3ue to ,the "nfinistrations of the doctor ;
[didn't know.' He ;was; quiteiproud
Df her;. said "_she had been coming. } tor*
some' time. V. lie injected the \u25a0 filling
jnder the *skin with his ; hypodermic :
ieedle.: ;•\u25a0 \u25a0 .- :'' '\u25a0\u25a0v'---' \u25a0-:.•• / t ~-. \u25a0".-.- 77. \u25a0*
. There ,was another' woman whonv I :]
jositlvely; worried; over. _\u25a0 The '\u25a0\u25a0 two sides > i
)f her * face "were : not • ai i ke. . . She was hi
)f the .slender, nervous : type, 'about 45, <
; should judge, 'and- had nice- gray^eS'esVi
md-good - features.': but ''nerves," too, i
md*- old* Father .Time" had been doing ! 1
ieadly^work.'i One'side-of her face was "'1
luiteTgood,- : but . the - other was "sunken';' U
mdjthe con to urj cone.' I; wondered 'what .f
could bf>the matter. "Wouldn't both
sides take the 'filling'?" I asked the
doctor. .
; . "Well, of course one side of her
face is different from the other," he
said. "You don'p suppose I'm going
to make both sides' alike.. until I get
all my money, do you?"
- So that was it. Beauty doctoring is
not a profession, it is a business.
"When they let me fix one side,"
continued the' doctor, with a laugh,
"I've landed them, because even if they
are not pleased,; they must have both
sides, alike, don't you see?"' "
Which is too, true,- when you stop to
consider.
To illustrate this point he told, me a
story. .
The wife of a well known judge of
the supreme court,' living in a city
back in the middle west, while out here
on a. visit, heard of the fame of this
particular man and cpncluded to under- \u25a0
go that most dangerous and" painful of
all operations known; as .""peeling."'
with this assurance from, the' doctor:
"We'll /do one side- of your face free/
of charge, 'arid if -It is not satisfae-'
tory: you need not pay us." \u25a0
-So: this— shall I say short sighted?— >
lady ; permitted : him to go ahead. Now,'
the process of "peeling" is at certain .
stages /very / painful, despite -the- best:
efforts of., the doctor, and after the old *.
skin \ has been - removed by ; electricity *
( his' method) . a huge 1 scab . forms." When
the ? scab s comes off -J— it-must be-allowed
to loosen and tf all off. itself,^ which. takes
about :. a ' week Cor- ten : days— the i. new •;
skin J has r formed \u25a0-, underneath— the -new -
r\ Woman
'\u25a0Patient 1 Tells 1
of the Troubles I
ahd Suffering
of Those Who I
I
Would Alter
tke Gifts of I
Nature or I
the Marb \u25a0
ot lime I
soft skin, like a baby's. .Well, the
judge's wife, when the scab on her face
was at its worst, became panic strick
en, and in spite of the entreaties of
the' doctor and her friends she took the
train for home. During the Journey
the scab loosened and came off, and
when she stepped from the train to the
arms of her anxious husband one side
of her face was pink and fresh and
young, while the other was old and
wrinkled.
. The' judge looked at her and said:
"Woman, go right straight back to
that- man and have the other side. fixed,
and pray heaven nothing happens to
him before ; you get there, or you're
done- for!"
Of course, I can't vouch for the truth
of the story, but I will say this: The
doctor showed me a testimonial letter
from a supreme judge of the middle
west regarding the satisfactory treat
ment received by his wife and express-
Ing his thanks.
That, however, was only one side, the
favorable side, of the beauty business,
hlere is an instance of the other kind:
One afternoon when I went in about
J o'clock i; found no one there but
'brother." He told me the doctor had
been called into court to testify re
garding a streetcar accident he; had
witnessed— a young lady had fallen off
a car and been injured — -and the doctor
had been subpenaed to testify. lie had
left .word for me to. come In later.
When I saw. him a couple of hours
afterward he , said he had had some
court' business ;to attend to. an old bill
that he - had brought , suit to recover.
From the trouble both had taken to ex
plain his absence and the extremely
different; reasons for, it. I immediately
drew my own- conclusions^ - Probably
one of those instances, where things
don't turn out right and my lady* sues
her beauty, doctor. -
But > to get back to / my. .own 'story.
That second night I slept the sleep
of the just. The swelling was going,
down and ;i : was*,. rapidly •< getting^ back
to my normal condition. ' ''
The third day the doctor took the
plaster off my face and cautioned, me>
to be careful what I ate and not to
talk much, still on account of those
all Important stftclies. He was very
much pleased with my condition — no
inflammation had set In and I was
doing well."-.,,";- % J
The chief danger, it seemed, and the
thing to be avoided was Inflammation.
It was so easy, he said, for a little clot
of bipod to form on one of the stitches,
anJ then suppuration would set in and
delay the healing. I am thankful to
say that I did avoid it.
The light was very strong In the
operating room, bringing out whatever
good or# bad points one's complexion
had. and I used to sit In the chair while
the doctor would be working* over. me
and admire his skin — it was so fine
grained, clear and clean looking. Fin
ally one day curiosity . got the better
of me and I asked him:
"What do you do to your face, doc
tor, to keep your skin in such fine con
dition?"
He looked at me for a moment and
then said,. rather forcibly: "I shave it."
'"What do you suppose a man would
do to his face?" he asked after we had
our laugh out. Did I suppose he would
go through all the stunts that women
do to gain a complexion?
I hadn't known. At any rate, that
fine skin of his is a valuable asset in
'his business and I told him so.
"But I'll tell you how to take care
of your face," said he. "In the first
place, don't massage-. It's the worst
thing you can do^ — loosens the skin.
If you do." he looked at me warnlns?ly.
-you'll have to have more work done
by me. And never use hot water — It
relaxes the skin. Wash your face with
cream, cold cream."
"What kind?" said I.
"Oh. any old kind. Take your finger
tips and go all over your face with a
• rotary motion, gently, working the
cream in, and then wipe it off and
you'll be surprised at the dirt that
comes with It."
"Ob. I've heard that before," said I,
skeptically.
"Well, try it. Then when you have
done that, bathe it with cold water, the
colder the. better, and lota of It — use Ice
packs if you can stand them. Cold water
tightens the pores and tones up the
muscles. But under no consideration
must you ever use hot water."
One day toward the last of my treat
ment, when the stitches had been taken
out and I was about well, I happened
In later than usual. As I entered the
reception room the doctor pushed open
the dooc. of the operating room and
when he saw me beckoned for me to
come on in. He met ma at the door and>
said In an undertone:
"I am just finishing a nose operation.
Do you want to see?"
Of course I did. So I tiptoed around
to the side of the chair where I could
take a peep at the patient, a young
lady.
The doctor was sponging her face.
Ht*r nose seenftd to have a pretty good
shape. I thought, straight and all right,
though swollen to about three times its
ordinary size just then from the co
caine and the stitches.
I took a good look at her and then
stepped back into the reception room.
I felt, somehow, that I was Intruding.
The doctor was talking to her. assuring
her that she was all right and asking
her how she felt. He seemed quite well
acquainted with her*; he called her Hat
tie. Presently she stepped composedly
out of the clfair. came out and com
menced putting her things on. The doc
tor asked her what time she had to go
on duty. She was a telephone girl, it
seemed, a night operator, and went on
at 2 o'clock.
I asked her. in surprise, if she ex
pected to work that night.
She looked at me and said in a mat
ter of fact way: / v',
"Why, yes; of course.^ - r t:
"Oh. Hattie's all right." said the doc
tor, with that little laugh of his.
"aren't you. Hattie?**
Yes. she was all right, she said.
After telling her not to try to run
clown any streetcars or truck 3 with
that nose of hers and to be sure to
come in the next day. he let her go.
The doctor was a little bit flustered
and excited, and he was tired, too; I
could see that. He went back into the
operating room and sat down in the
chair. He seemed like a person who
had been under a great strain, and
now that the strain was over, he re
laxed.
I said something about the matter
of fact way she had seemed to take
the whole thing, and he began tf>
laugh. Why. I couldn't understand.
His brother, who had been helping
him. was standing close by, and he
commenced smiling, too.
"Why," said the doctor, "that girl
is not happy unless she has an opera
tion about every so often- How many
times do you suppose I have operated
on her nose?"
"How many times?" I echoed, agha-st.
"Five times T" he answered, and com
menced laughing again. It was In
fectious. He got me started, but I
asked as well as I could:
"What's the matter with her nose?"
"Nothing," said he. as he wiped his
eyes. "She had a fairly good, straight
nose when she started in. but she
wants a retrousse — she wants It to
turn up at the end." And with that he
commenced again and I never have
seen any one laugh as he did. And of
course we were both laughing with
him. I think It was partly the effect
of the strain he had been tinder dur
ing the operation, the pendulum was
swinging the other way now— a sort
of letting down. letting go.
f "And has she paid you every timer*
I asked. ;
"Yes," he said.
"Oh, but that isn't right — s;ou ought
not to let that poor girt — you ought
not to operate on her that way."
He looked a bit conscience stricken.
"If I don't do It she'll go to some
body else, some faker, and I'm afraid
she'll spoil her blamed old nose. I told
you this was a crazy business." he con
tinued. ."They get like that. Once they
start In having operations they keej)
It up; they're never satisfied.** .'
From talking about Hattie we drift
ed into a discussion of the suicide of
a New York dermatologist, which had
occurred not long before. The doctor
said he could see no reason __ for it.
"The - man * must have been worth at
least a- hundred thousand.- But it's the
business. It's enough to drive any man
crazy."
And now to tell you how nty own
case turned out:
Alas! for my hopes of a 13 year old
contour: nothing tike that came to me.
When the swelling was all gone, the
stitches removed and I was pronounced J
finished, the result was a disappoint- '
ment to me. I was Improved, but not
as much as he had led me to belle vo
I should be. '
The doctor claims that an opera
tion such as I had only needs to bo
done every 10 years. If he made it
every three or four years I am con
vinced it would be much nearer the
truth, as some of our prominent act
resses could doubtless testify. How
aver. I have concluded to let well
enough alone, having no desire to ac- /
luire the operation "habit." and I con- -
sider myself fortunate Indeed to have.
in a' measure.^improved my looks Jand
sot through my. "beauty" experienced:
tvithino, more serious eSfects.'^