MLD10KD .MAIL TKltlUNt, MEDI'ORD, OREGON
THURSDAY. DECEMBER S, 1963
ervice Stations Years Id This Mooth
By JOHN CARROLL
United Press International
PITTSBURGH (UP1) - A
highly polished Chalmers tour
ing car rolled up to an inter
section in this city's East Liber
ty Section and its driver eased
it to a stop in front of a strange
looking building which bore a
sign reading "Supreme Auto
Oil."
The date was Dec. 1, 1913
exactly 50 years ago.
It was the day the world's
first drive-in gasoline station
went into operation.
Business wasn't what you
would call booming that first
day. In fact, only 30 gallons
of gasoline were sold. The next
day, 32 gallons were pumped
and by the first Saturday the
r
FIRST SERVICE STATION - In Pittsburgh, Pa., three men in
a highly polished Chalmers touring car wait for services at
Supreme Auto Oil, probably the world's first drive-in gasoline
station. (UPI)
The Medical Roundup
By FT
output had jumped to 350 gal
Ions.
Word spread quickly that
something new had come to the
infant world of the horseless
carriage.
The station's operator (Gulf
Oil) was offering two grades of
gasoline to its customers. One
grade sold for 25 cents a gal
lon; the other for 27. There
were no state or federal taxes.
At the time, there were only
about 10,000 car owners in the
Pittsburgh district. But this in
novationa gas station caught
the fancy of the driver.
Prior to the appearance of this
first station, gasoline for auto
mobiles and trucks had been
sold at livery stables and ga
rages. The practice was to hand
pump fuel into cans of either
one gallon or five gallon capa
city. The cans were provided by
the motorist. He, in turn, would
pour the gasoline into his car's
tank by filtering it through a
chamois or some other heavy
cloth "for purity's sake."
Not long after its inception.
the world's first drive-in station
began to offer other services.
There came free crankcase serv
ice, the filling of radiators and
the pumping of air into tires.
Flats were fixed and accesso
ries were available.
The gasoline station, in effect.
became a service station.
Attendants worked eight-hour
shifts and the station was open
around the clock.
There were other "firsts."
Among them were the opening
of public restrooms in the sta
tion, a no-lipping policy that
carries over to today and the
offering of free road maps.
The latter was the brain child
of a Pittsburgh advertising man,
William B. Akin. He was a mo
toring enthusiast who admitted
he constantly got lost whenever
he drove beyond city limits.
While having his car serv-
MONEY DOWN ON CREDIT AT WARDS - JUST SAY "CHARGE IT!"
Emeritus Consultant In Mfdlcln.
Mayo Clinic
Emeritus Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic
Hegister and Tribune Syndicate.
1963).
Herniated Intervertebral Discs
Recently, Drs. Paul C. Bucy
and H. T. Oberhill of Northwest
ern University, wrote a paper
on herniated (or ruptured) lum
bar (lower back) intervertebral
discs. As they say, often the
patient is disabled not only
with backache but with sciatica
(pain going down a sciatic
nerve on the back o' a thigh).
Herniation of a lumbar disc
is thought to be responsible for
nine in 10 attacks of sciatica.
What happens is that . a disc
breaks open at the back, and
some of the material in it leaks
out into the space in the spinal
column. There it presses on
some of the nerves which come
out of the lower end of the
spinal cord and join to form
the sciatic nerve. The osteo
arthritis (changes in the ver
tebras), of the lumbar spine,
which is so commonly seen in
the X-ray films taken of the
backs of people, is seldom re
sponsible for the sciatic pain.
Curiously, a ruptured lumbar
disc is found more often in the
sedentary housewife than in the
laborer, who spends his days
bending over shoveling or lift
ing heavy wcignts. UDviousiy,
herniation of a disc would seem
not to be due to hard physical
labor, but rather to some in
born defect in the spine.
Repeated Bouts of Pain
Many of the patients tell of
repeated bouts of severe pain
and weakness in their lower
back. Some tell of getting tem
porary relief from cither manip
ulations of the back, or mas
sage, or just rest and heat.
Some persons with diseased
discs are much the worse for a
so-called "manipulation" of their
spine.
Persons with a bad back gen
erally find it hard to get up in
the morning; it is hard to stand
un and walk. They may be un
able to sit squarely on their
buttocks; also, they may feel a
iab of pain whenever they
much nr sneeze, or strain at
stool, lift something, or bendi
over, cougnmg ana sneering
can send a wave of pressure
down the fluid in the spinal
canal.
Because lying down, especial
ly on a hard surface, may re
lieve the pain, some of the
patients will sleep with boards
under their mattress, or they
may even sleep on the floor.
Some will feel better sitting
erect on a straight, firm chair.
Many a one discovers some par
ticular position in wnicn nc ,
feels better. I
Drs. Bucv and Oberhill say
that so far as they can see, the I
giving of antibiotics, vitamins
and "muscle relaxing drugs" j
seldom helps. Ultra-sound treat- j
ment often fails to help, and it ;
can be a dangerous thing to use I
over the spinal cord. I
"Back - supports" and belts
usually do not give relief. Trac
tion (a steady pull on the legs)
may help a bit, but Drs. Bucy
and Oberhill do not think much
of it as a form of treatment. It
may help because with it the
patient gets rest in bed.
Seme patients walk with a
limp, favoring the leg in which
there is pain. A man may walk
listed over to ona side, or
stooped ovar forward. Rarely
he will come into the doctor's
office in a wheel-chair. On sit
ting down, the man may be so
uncomfortable that he keeps
shifting his position. After a
bit he may ask if he may stand
UDviousiy, sucn people are in
witn certain tests, such as
lifting the leg and thigh straight
up while the person lies on his
back, an orthopedist can show
that some of the muscles of the
back are tense. Also, there may
be abnormalities in the tendon-
reflexes of the affected leg (a
jerk when the tendon is hit with
a little hammer). Typical is an
absence of the "Achilles (heel)
tendon reflex. Because of
weakness of the muscle on the
front of the leg, the person may
be unable to lift up his foot from
the ground when his heel is on
the floor. There may be some
shrinkage or loss of tone in the
muscle on the back of the af
fected leg. Usually, there is no
great loss of sensation in the
skin of the leg.
Narrowing of Space
Sometimes the X-ray film
shows a definite narrowing of
the space between two verte
bras. The writers very rarely
use myelography (an X-ray
study of the space within the
spinal column after it is in
jected with air or a drug).
Treatment can be conserva
tive or surgical. Drs. Bucy and
Oberhill feel that conservative
(medical) measures can give re
lief of pain and disability in
about 65 per cent of the cases.
Some persons, however, are in
such bad shape when they come
to the doctor that the only thing
he can do is to operate quickly.
It helps a fat man with a bad
back to lose weight, and it helps
NO
iced one day in the spring of i having maps printed that would
uiH at tne world s lirst gas sta- show the main roads that exist
tion, he conceived the idea of I ed in his area.
The next morning. Akin
stepped into the general office
of the oil company with his map
idea. He got an okay and maps
were mailed to all motorists in
the district.
The same oil firm now gives
away about 10 million road
maps annually.
Kreisman Attends
National Meeting
ASHLAND - Dr. Arthur
Kreisman, chairman of the
humanities division at Southern
Oregon College, took part in a
special meeting of college de
partment chairmen at the Na
tional Convention of the Nation
al Council of Teachers of Eng
lish, recently in San Francisco.
The discussion meeting which
was limited to 20 participants
by invitation, was concerned
with the influx of college stu
dents and the serious shortage
of qualified professional per
sonnel. Others accompanying Dr.
Kriesman to the conference
from the Southern Oregon Col
lege English department were
Dr. Donald Moore, Mrs. Mary
thea Grebner, and Charles Ry-berg.
BE
LRiNGER
him if he will avoid much exer
tion. Some surgeons believe in fus
ing two or three vertebras,
with the help of a bony splint,
while others feel that this is all
wrong, not indicated, and not
likely to help. As they say, why
fuse, when all that is wrong is
that parts of a ruptured inter
vertebral disc are pressing on
nerve roots? This sounds very
reasonable. In 95 per cent of
their operations, all Drs. Bucy
and Oberhill do is to remove
the disc material which has
worked its way back into the
canal. When this is what was
causing the pain and all is re
moved, the patient should be
well. In the few cases in which
the patient does not get well,
a particle of disc may have been
overlooked, or there may have
been a mistake in diagnosis.
Pre-Christmas savings event! ' J
SALE ENDS MONDAY DEC 9th
BOYS' GIFT BUY
BRENT JR. WARM
I Uf ACM 'ftl UEAD
FLANNEL ROBES
266
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Mo, shrink. I
I jh m j
. - J-- mm pi
t i ll tsllasf. fm
Is arthritis incurable? What
about the home remedies you
hear about? Dr. Alvarez an
swers your questions in his
booklet, "Arthritis and Rheu
matism." You may obtain it by
sending 25 cents and a stamped,
self - addressed envelope with
your request to Dr. Walter ('.
Alvarez, Dept. MMT. Box !)57.
Des Moines, Iowa 5o:i04.
SAVE OVER MO
9x12' NYLON PILE FOAM-BACK RUG
Practical, durable rug takes
traffic in its stride. Rich col
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stays springy. Needs no pad.
2 solids, 4 rich tweeds.
Other sizes: 6x9' to 12x18'.
29"
. 31.1S
MO MONIY DOWN
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PORTLAND
Em Medford 701 E. Jjckion Si.
Rogu. ValUr 1109 Court Si.
Fedr.l Doott kurrtce Com.
ino FtfltrK R.k.rv b?ltm
-e-oreoorw
E3i
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I!44
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Opens any size can.
7-PC. PROPANE
TORCH KIT
... 9S
One-hand operation!
Metal case; tank; burn
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lighter; soldering lip.
GIRLS SAVE 1.54
(1
SAVE 25 ON
WOMEN'S BRIEFS
44
10.
Sc
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gives you special val
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tricot elastic leg briefs.
Novelty trims. 34 to 42.
EXTRA WIDE NET
WINDOW PANELS
164-
I reg. 2.29
Delicate rayon net
panels in extra-wide
60x81'. Permanent
drip-dry Everlon" fin
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3 PILLOWS IN RACK!
Turquoise, while and tan
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10.88 ZEBCO OUTFIT
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ml Av
4
44
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SAVE 2.10
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SAVE! WOMEN'S
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224
reg. 2.99
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8.91
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)
six twsistor ; x
SIX-TRANSISTOR
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877
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13'
(MAIM m
1
DOLL CARRIAGE
FOLDS TO STORE
198
Wards economy model
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CROSS COUNTRY
AUTO TRANSPORT
488
Deluxel Rear romp ex
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VISIT
SANTA j
in Wards ,
SATURDAY
Dec. 7, 1 1 to 3 P.M.
HE HAS A
SURPRISE
FOR EVERY
BOY AND GIRL
1117 S. CENTRAL
773-7301
Open 9:30 To 9 P.M.
SATURDAY TIL 5:30