In 1900 young dentist Victor Ratten was establishing himself at West Wyalong, in the Central West of NSW. At the time there was fierce competition about where the new railway station should be located. In August 1900, the Minister of Works was due to visit the rival town of Wyalong, which was the original, government settlement. However, he failed to appear.
The town clerk of Wyalong forwards a quantity of correspondence relating to the neglect of the Minister for Works to meet the council during his recent visit to the district. Arrangements had been made for the Minister to see the council at 2.pm on Saturday last. But instead of that, Mr O’Sullivan turned up at West Wyalong, much to the indignation of the Wyalong municipal representatives.
It seems that Minister O’Sullivan was duped by crafty West Wyalong residents. He gave his own account of what happened, stating;
‘The wars of the Roses were a trifle compared with the wars of the Wyalongs. There is Wyalong, a Government township, and West Wyalong, a private township. The latter has three times the population of the former, and there is a strong feeling of rivalry between them. It is true that the Under-Secretary notified that I would go to Wyalong, where the mayor and aldermen live. I started on the Saturday referred to with the intention of proceeding to Wyalong, but on the way the road was found to be very bad, and as night was approaching I accepted a suggestion to be taken by a bush track, which, unfortunately, led me to West Wyalong. I certainly was not aware of this, as I thought I was on my way to Wyalong, and the municipality. However, my arrival at West Wyalong seemed in some way to have been anticipated, as a band awaited me, and a procession was formed. The Mayor of Wyalong, however, attended the banquet to me and made a speech. The next morning, at an early hour, I proceeded to Wyalong, and to my surprise found that the Mayor and aldermen were highly indignant ay my not visiting this place the previous day.
The Reverend George Ratten would no doubt have attended the banquet, but his son Victor was ill, suffering terrible back pain. At the time of Minister O’Sullivan’s visit he was a patient in the little eight bed hospital on the hill above Wyalong, under the care of Dr Willis. The official party did visit the hospital, but it is unlikely Victor would have been in any state to engage with them or to express his views on the argument surrounding the railway.
There was deep sympathy when the fit, active young dentist first fell ill in July. The exact nature of his condition was not reported, but on August 3 the local paper stated that he would need to be encased in a plaster of Paris jacket for three months, to allow his back complete rest. This treatment was often used in Pott’s Disease, a rare form of tuberculosis affecting the spine. History’s most well known sufferer of the condition was the 18thC English satirist Alexander Pope. Meanwhile, a locum, Mr D.H. Fergus, took over the fledging dental practice.
Whether the drastic action of a plaster cast was carried out is unknown, but Victor’s condition became too serious for the local hospital to manage. In mid August he was taken to Sydney and admitted to the historic Sydney Hospital, in Macquarie Street.
Sydney Hospital circa 1900 (State Archives of Victoria)
George Ratten took time off from parish duties to be with his son. It seems Victor’s condition had been misdiagnosed. He had been suffering from referred pain, radiating from a diseased left shoulder to his back.
This was not the best time to be in the city for someone with seriously compromised health. At the end of February there had been outbreak of bubonic plague, which continued throughout autumn.
Om May 24 The Sydney Morning Herald reported, ’William Richardson, 18. of Newtown, was removed to the quarantine hospital yesterday suffering from bubonic plague. This was the only case reported to the Board Of Health yesterday. Sixty-two persons were inoculated at the Town Hall yesterday. The total number of rats brought in for destruction was 702.’
By July 1900, 130,000 rats had been destroyed in Sydney. It was hoped that slum clearance in places such as The Rocks would prevent new cases, but there was no guarantee that the epidemic was over.
On Friday 21 September it was reported that George Ratten was still with Victor in Sydney. They were waiting anxiously for an operation to be performed on his upper arm, at the shoulder joint.
The delay may have been due to the sheer volume of patients. On September 17 a Sydney newspaper, The Australian Star, reported that 101 in-patients had been admitted to the hospital the previous week. Treatment had been provided to 1,617 old and new out-patients. To avoid patients having to queue in Macquarie Street there was seating on the verandah for 100.
Victor finally underwent surgery at the end of the month to remove diseased bone. It is likely he was suffering from osteomyelitis, a bacterial infection of the bone, which also affects the patient’s general health. In addition to agonizing bone pain, the symptoms include high fevers, sweating and weight loss.. It can lead to blood poisoning and, as in Victor’s case, to the death of bone tissue. The plaster cast mentioned back in Wyalong would have been completely useless. Today, antibiotics would be used to treat the condition, but in 1900 these miracle drugs were still half a century away.
Even if Victor survived the infection he was in a confronting situation. Amputation of the arm would mean the loss of his career in dentistry. It would also destroy his ability to play sport; such an important aspect of his life. How on earth did such an active young man cope with spending some nine months in hospital? Fortunately, one of his strongest character traits was an inquiring mind. He already had basic medical knowledge, and would have taken great interest in his own treatment, as well as that of fellow patients. No doubt the hospital’s doctors and medical students were happy to allow the personable young dentist access to Medical journals.
His illness came at a particularly worrying time for the Ratten family. Their younger son, twenty year old Aubrey, was still on active service in South Africa. News came that had received two bullet wounds during the campaign, to the forehead and groin.
Initially it was thought that Victor’s surgery had been successful, but early in November another, far more extensive operation was performed. The shoulder socket was opened and scraped and a section of the humerus was removed. Three weeks later Victor was well enough to be taken on a ferry trip across the harbour to Manly, albeit in the charge of one of the nurses. Nevertheless,, it was considered that it would be quite a while before he was able resume work at his West Wyalong practice.
By Christmas he had progressed to being allowed outside the hospital two or three times a week, though still in the care of a nurse or other ‘responsible person’ . At this stage a fall or even a bump on his arm would have been disastrous.
Efforts were made to bring a bit of cheer to the institution. A concert was held on Christmas Eve for patients like Victor who were well enough be up and about. All the wards were decorated with flowers and foliage by the nurses and resident doctors, and a festive meal was served on Christmas Day.
There was more excitement than usual in Sydney due to the approach of Federation on New Years Day. Celebrations were being finalized and the hospital was in a prime location. Directors of the institution had decided to build a grandstand in the grounds and auction off seating to raise funds. After expenses they raised 500, selling seats for 15 shillings to a guinea each.
What a relief of boredom and a welcome distraction for Victor. Having met Sir Henry Parkes at opening of his father’s college six years earlier he would have felt a special connection to The Father of Federation. The old statesman’s statue in Centennial Park was encircled with a laurel wreath. There was an attached, white satin streamer with the tribute ‘Honour to whom honour is due’ printed in gold.
As always the summer of 1900 was unpleasant out west, with century plus temperatures. ’A terrific dust storm accompanied by about six drops of rain made a break in the sultry heat on Thursday. There was a regular ‘circus’ of dirty sheets of paper in the main street. There was enough paper flying about to burn the whole town down.’ (Wyalong Advocate) Given the terrible fires of Christmas 1899 this was no idle jest.
It would have been particularly uncomfortable for Eliza Ratten. Now in her mid forties, she was heavily pregnant after a gap of eight years.
Decorations for Federation were transforming inner Sydney, and every up-country resident who could headed to town. Back at Wyalong a wag made the comment that the district would be deserted during the celebrations because the government intended scooping up all the residents and transporting them to Sydney. He added dryly that once the people were in the city their money would be scooped up by rapacious Sydney-siders.
Victor could not risk being jostled in the immense crowds Fortunately, the balconies fronting Sydney Hospital gave patients a prime viewing spot for the procession passing by in Macquarie Street. Below is a report on the event from The Sydney Morning Herald;
It certainly would never pall upon the eye. Imagine at intervals of 100ft on each side of the kerbing tall venetian masts connected with strings of bannerettes in dazzling profusion. Hung across the street at a height of 30ft are a series of perforated boards carrying a number of frosted lamp globes, whilst double festoons of similar lights hanging underneath complete a charming picture by day, and transform the thoroughfare into a fairyland at night. The effect of 5,000 coloured incandescent lights sparkling and glistening as the festoons sway in the breeze was enthralling, and it is certain that Macquarie Street will become a popular resort at night during the celebrations. (Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 2)
And from The Daily Telegraph (Wed 2 Jan 1901) – THE PASSING OF THE SHOW
The crowd had to swallow their annoyance as the mounted police escorted dozens of carriages full of politicians at the head of the procession. But the country’s first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton , was heartily cheered; ‘There’s Toby, see, there,’ and a thousand hands point him out with his hat off, showing his grey curly hair.’ Cheer again and again, and yet once more, for he is the first uncrowned king of a united Australian people.
But the show was essentially a spectacular military pageant, with soldiers and marching bands in attendance from around the British Empire.
The parade passing down Macquarie Street. (Source – Pinterest)
Two weeks later there was a cautiously optimistic update on Victor’s condition;
19 Jan 1901 ‘We are pleased to be able to state that Mr. V.R. Ratten is making good progress towards recovery. The joint of his arm is now healed, but there is still trouble with the silver tubes. We sincerely hope that this latest difficulty will soon be overcome.’
It sounds as though there were drainage tubes at the site of the wound which may have become infected; a serious setback.
‘The Queen is dead.‘ was the headline in all the papers on January 24. Victoria had died peacefully two days earlier, after a reign that began decades before Victor’s parents were born.The new era that began with Federation was accentuated by the end of her life. Close to Sydney Hospital, the statue of Victoria became the focus of mourning. The base was almost obscured by wreathes, including a symbolic broken column monument formed in flowers.
It’s amazing to think how much history Victor was on hand to witness during his long stay in hospital. His own life to change significantly before the end of 1901.
By mid April he had progressed enough to be discharged, although he continued to receive treatment as an outpatient. The news was duly reported back in West Wyalong; ‘This shows that the long sufferer is making an improvement.’ (Wyalong Advocate 13 April 1901) Victor had now been away from the town and his dental practice for almost eight months. He sold his dental practice at West Wyalong at the beginning of July. The purchaser, Mr Ridout, stated that his predecessor had been forced to sell due to his continued ill-health.
However, two months later, on September 6 1901, it was announced that Dr V.R. Ratten had commenced practice as a ‘surgeon dentist’ at 182 Phillip Street, Sydney. On June 28 1901 he had managed to register under the Dentists’ Act of New South Wales. He was duly listed as a surgeon dentist in the 1902 edition of Sydney’s Sands Directory. There is no evidence that he had undertaken further training after his release from Sydney Hospital.
In reality, no resident of Sydney ever consulted the new dentist in Philip Street. Victor had sailed for Queensland aboard the steamer Adelaide on September 28. He established a dental practice in Brisbane. As early as October 4 he was adverting in the Brisbane Courier;
Dr V.R. Ratten, Dental Surgeon – late of Sydney, has commenced the practice of his profession in Brisbane, and may be consulted at 109 Wickham Terrace. Specialties – Gold Fillings and Painless Dentistry.
Next day a longer advertisement stated that the practice was the only place in Brisbane where decayed teeth could be extracted without the slightest pain, inconvenience, or after effects.
No doubt Victor had registered in New South Wales with his move to Queensland in mind. ‘Dental Surgeon – late of Sydney’ sounded quite prestigious. It was a far cry from his true status; a barely trained dentist late of West Wyalong.
His original premises in Wickham Terrace, consisted of three rooms. In September 1902 he introduced extraction of teeth by local anaesthetic, assuring the public that his preparation’s nine mystery ingredients did not include the addictive drug cocaine. His training may have been rudimentary, but clearly he kept abreast of the latest advances in the field. More importantly, he exuded confidence, which reassured and relaxed nervous patients Before long his practice was flourishing, and he moved to much larger premises in fashionable Queen Street. He was now employing several assistants and training apprentices himself. He named his practice, The Ideal Dentists.
Becoming a dental surgeon, albeit in a most unorthodox manner, was quite an achievement for Victor, and he would make a great success of it.
