About Atlanta Georgian and news. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1912 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 24, 1909)
DR. BAIRD. W ILLIAM Miller Baird, M. D., was born in Warren county, Now Jersey, October 23,1849, was educated •in the public schools and later was given the facil ities of an excellent academical education and prep aration for college. About this time, hnving a de sire to see something of the world, he started West and im mediately joined an expedition which tAok him far beyond the frontier of civilization and for over four years he lived the lifo of a frontiersman with all the excitement and vicissitudes .of that rugged life, ns it was in the interesting period of development from 1868 to 1873. During this tinje the doctor laid the foundation for a strong physical constitution which has been of practical valuo to him, as his life has .been spent in a steady round of hard work. In all the time he was following that life, he says ho doubts if he slept under a roof twenty times, nnd in consequence, when he went East, in 1873, to study medicine he was equipped with a physique that made hard study, aud, later op, the hard work of his profession, a pleasure. How well he has stood the work is shown by his state ment that he has perfect confidence in his ability at 60 years of age to sit in a saddle and rido 100 miles any day in ten hours, nnd mnkes no exceptions for the road or weather. After graduation from the Bellevue Hospital Medical Col lege, in March, 1877, he located at Washington, New Jersey, where he at once took a loading position in his profession and also took considerable interest in the public affairs, both in his town and the state. I The stato board of health soon after asked him to make an investigation 4f the sauitary condition of many of the public institutions of the state and his report on the subject led up to the creation of a state board of charities nnd corrections. At this time also his efforts to prevent the sale of low proof kero sene led the board to ask him to. co-operate with others and draw a bill which was eventually enacted into a law and prevented the further sale of low grade oils. During this time he contributed various papers to medical publications, and one in particular, pointing out the true pa thology of varicocele, was highly complimented, one critio saying it showed “scientific ability of the highest order,” and it also caused the great Vulpian, of Paris, to write the doctor a very complimentary letter admitting the correctness of his views and thanking him for his explanation. About this time the doctor wits twice offered professor ships in one of the leading medical colleges of the country, but declined., On account of taking an active part in public health matters and public affairs generally, the doctor, in 1885, was elected to the legislature apd at once took a lead ing part. Being re-elected the following year and hnving in curred the enmity of some of his party leaders for refusing to be a party to, or being used by his left-handed friends to de stroy the usefulness of the state board of health, he found they had determined to crush out of sight his usefulness and that of his friends. At the time there was a couple of contested election cases and in one of whiph it was an open secret that the ballot box had been opened and the vote changed for political purposes. The evidence was so posi- DR. WM. M. BAIRD. 16y 2 South Broad St., Corner Broad and Alabama Sts., Atlanta, Ga. tive of this that when the doctor declared his' intention of be ing guided in the matter by the evidence and the equity of the case, the bosses, who were themselves so closely in touch with the ballot box robbery that they were in danger, at once raised a dreadful howl and attempted to crush the doctor completely, but he stood up for what he believed was right and in the stormy session, in fact the stormiest ever known before or since, at * Trenton, the doctor was elected the speaker of the 111th New Jersey house of representatives. The doctor had sprung from old Jeffersonian stock, and when his censors shouted against him for failing to obey the orders of the bosses and be a party to ballot box robbery, he replied that he believed there was not a fibre in him but thrilled -with the essence of democracy, but he did not believe that every thing forced on the people as being democratic was the out come of democratic principles; that he believed in party loyalty, but when party loyalty meant disloyalty to his con stituents or worse yet, to his own conscience, it meant the lowering of manhood to dishonor nnd degradation. The doc tor’s opponents admitted he was right, but said “we must do this to win.” The doctor was willing to vote for the candi date for United States senator, but this mnn did not want his vote unless he would help to -sent the contested election cases, nnd when the doctor said to him he lind only one reply to make nnd that was that he would be guided by the evi dence and the equity of the case, the reply was'“Evidence and equity be d—^d; evidence nnd equity have nothing to do with it. I must seat those men or I can’t win.” However, the doctor stood firm and in the end saw a sturdy democrat of the old school type elected to the United States senate and at once said he would take no further part in politics but stick to his profession, for which he felt him self so well qualified. Sticking firmly to thjs decision, the doctor, positively refused to allow his friends to either return him to the legislature or to give him further advancement. During these years the doctor had given much attention to genito-tirinary diseases and the various nervous diseases that are so often a reflex or directly caused by them, and indeed be fore he gave up general practice, which he did in 1887, he had found most of his work in this department. In that year ho moved to New York city and in the succeeding years devoted his entire time to this, aritl with the facilities of New York lab oratories at his command, he worked faithfully to command a thorough knowledge of the work which had become his lifcwork. In 1903 he .took a trip South, and finding Atlanta, with its met ropolitan air as well as its people, so much.to his liking, ho con cluded to spend the winter, and this was enough to make him want to make it his future home. During tho past six years he has built up a clientage and a practice in his specialty very probably the largest in the South. .< During the past few years the most of the doctor’s contri butions to medical literature have been to the public press, for ho believes it is part—indeed, one of the most important parts—of a_ physiciaA’8 duty to instruct the layman, and so he takes espe cial pride in his work in this direction. Some 30 years ago the doctor gave a course of lectures to young men on physiolgical subjects, nnd a number of these men thanked him in later years for pointing out to them the true physiological life, and a couple years ngo a prominent business man met him on the cars while traveling and said those lec tures had done more^to form and steady his character than any one thing. The doctor feels that the true physician should be teacher as well as healer. In his work the doctor devotes himself entirely to office O-*' > —— “ Vtuoo vs*. vunvo liU <.U>” them having tried all sorts of remedies before calling on him. The doctor tries hard to give ,the patient an intelligent under standing of his case, and after that, such careful attention as will insure the best results. The doctor insists that, while ability and learning are essen tial in the mental equipment of a physician, conscience—i. e., a conscientious regard for his patients’ welfare—is paramount to all else. Phenomenal Increase Shown in. Business Transacted in Local Office—Magnificent New Building Now Being Completed. There le no greater evidence of the growth of a community than the post- olJlee return* and the volume of mall matter handled. ' In this Atlanta ranke twenty-fifth among the cities of the United Statei, and I* encroaching rap idly on the margin of the larger cities. In point of year* Atlanta 1* one of the youngest postofflees of the first cla»* In the country. In the early day*, scarcely more than half a century ago. when the vljlage wa* • Incorporated, government mall wa* handled Ju»t opposite from the present poetofilce site In Marletta-et. In what had previously been the *tate eap- Itol and wa* later the Kimball opera house, and which was finally purchased by the Venable estate and turned Into an office building, later being rased .to make way for more modem structure*. Present Home In 1880. In' 1110 the present building woe moved Into, the United States govern ment having appropriated money for Its construction and the city of Atlanta given the properly. In the following ten years business hsd Increased, the returns being approximately $200,000 annually, to such an extent that the addition of another story was necessary and In 1*90 the floor now occupied by the United States circuit nnd district court* and offices was added. With the advent of new enterprises, more people settling here and invest ments amounting to millions of dollars, the volume of business grew with tre mendous bounds until In 1902, shortly after. the present postmaster, E. P. Blodgett, was appointed by President Roosevelt, that official lmnledlately P08TMA8TER E. F. BLODGETT. started to work to secure an appropria tion for the erection of a building In keeping with other Improvements of the city and one In which official business could be properly handled., Went After New Building. With the proverbial Atlanta spirit, Mr. Blodgett sought the co-operation of Influential cltlxens and almost Im mediately the support of Congressman Livingston and Senator Clay was as sured. These statesmen, with the In terest of their state foremost In their minds nnd the conscientious execution of their oath of office, knowing that what. benefited Atlanta benefited the entire state of Georgia and In turn the Union, Immediately started the fight for money with which to build a Federal building In keeping with the city. Bills were proposed, committees and subcommittees were *ent from Wash ington to look over the ground, and so convincingly were the needs laid before Photo by Abananxa. - _ _ ATLANTA’S PRE8ENT P08TOFFICE. the senate and assembly, that tho ap propriation was secured—$200,000 for tho site and $1,000,000 for the building. Will Reach Million Mark. It will be seen from the table of business Increase that In the average proportion the receipts for the valendar year ending June 30, 1910, will exceed $1,000,000, when Atlanta will step up a notch or two In Its rank among other great cities. Of second-class mall matter, more than 1,000,000 pounds have been han dled by this office, and official reports show that Atlanta In this class of mat ter ranks twelfth. With every Improvement In the offloe, the efficiency of the’ employees has In creased to meet the demand. There Is no volume of business too tremendous or rush too great but that everything will bo handled In a thorough manner. The "Half-Mill Ion City" postofflee will In all probability be thrown open to tho public about-July, 1910, tho the contract does not call, for Its comple tion before September 1, 1910. Condi tions. however, have been so favorable' that George O. VonN’etra, superintend ent of construction of government buildings, who has been In charge of the construction, expects the completion of the work earlier. Work on the foundation was com menced In January, 1907, and com pleted In'September of the same year. There was an Interval of several months before' the contract for the structure proper was let. owing to a change In the specifications, calling for granite Instead of marble, the work commencing March, 1908. Facts About the Building. The building Is 200 feet square, has a basemenf, five stories and on attic, and- the height from the street level Is 80 feet, exclusive of the roof. The exte rior facing Is of Stone Mountain gran ite, tHe Interior of steel with fireproof tile arches and steel frame with con crete filling. The-basement, first floor and a por tion of the second floor will be devoted to the postoffice. The court room and court offices will oceupy the third and fourth floors. The remainder of the building will be occupied as offices for the customs. Internal revenue, railway mall, post- •office Inspectors, civil service, pension examiners and several other branches of government service. . The lobby of the main floor Is finish ed elaborately In white marble and vaulted, ceilings. The two court room* have elaborate ly decorated ceilings, with oak wain scoting nearly 20 feet high. The offices, will be quite plain, simi lar to the roome In any largo office building. THIRTY YEARS’ INCREASE IN POSTOFFICE RECEIPTS The following Is a comparative table of the Atlanta postofflee re ceipts $0 years ago, 20 years ago. 10 years ago and each year‘thereafter to the last report, ending in June, 1909: June 30, 1879 June 30, 1889 June 30, 1899 June 30, 1900 June 30, 1901 June 30, 1902 .$ 47,959.23 . 139.824.51 . 290.089.88 •319,316.69 367.233.84 416.392.04 June 30, 1903 : 477,047.46 June 30. 1904 548.663.38 June 30, 1906 505.874.72 June 30, 1906 706,078.05 June 30, 1907 814.720.80 June 30, 1908 '847,334.12 June 30. 1909 905,917.77 ‘ATLANTA—THE HALF-MILLION CITY” EDITION OF THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. • a :■ •-
