The Mysteries of Montreal

The Mysteries of Montreal

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Title: The Mysteries of Montreal Being Recollections of a Female
Physician
Author: Charlotte Fuhrer
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THE
MYSTERIES OF MONTREAL;
BEING
RECOLLECTIONS
OF A
FEMALE PHYSICIAN.
BY CHARLOTTE FUHRER
Truth is Stranger than Fiction

MONTREAL

INTRODUCTION
During a long practice of over thirty years I have seen many things
enacted here in this city of Montreal which, if told with the skill of a
Dumas or a Collins, might not only astonish but startle the sedate
residents of this Church-going community. I have often, while waiting
for the advent of a little midnight visitor, beguiled the weary hours with
a narrative of some of my experiences, and have been amused at the
expression on the faces of my fair patients when told that my memory,
and not my imagination, had been drawn upon for materials. Enquiry
having frequently been made as to whether my recollections were
published, I have been induced to print this volume, changing only
names of persons and localities, so as to avoid identification. Many
persons will find it hard to believe some of the occurrences which are
herein mentioned, but those who have been concerned (directly or
indirectly) with any of the parties to my narratives, will recognize,
under the disguise of a false name, some person with whose history
they are familiar. Should any discover his own actions here narrated, let

him not think that I have wantonly endeavored to open old sores, but
rather to warn others from taking that first false step which so often
leads to future misery and bitter remorse.
MONTREAL, May, 1881

CHAPTER I.
Early Life and Professional Struggles.
My father, an officer in the Hanoverian Army, having died while I was
almost a child, I found myself, at the age of 17, governess in the family
of the Baron Grovestein in Hamburg, Germany, where I met my
present husband, Gustav Schroeder, at that time one of the most
"eligible" young gentlemen in that city.
Though not particularly handsome, Gustav was all that could be desired
in other respects. He was young, well educated, and the son of wealthy
parents, and of an amiable disposition. Soon after my engagement at
the Baron's, young Schroeder's visits (ostensibly to the family) became
so frequent, that his friends, who had divined the cause, forbade his
having anything to say to me, more than cold civility demanded; and
insisted that his visits to the Grovestein mansion should be
discontinued. This, it may well be supposed, had quite the opposite
effect, and in a short time we were engaged to be married, with the
formal, if not the hearty approval of Gustav's relations, and in course of
time the marriage ceremony took place, with all the paraphernalia of an
_Alt-Deutsch Hochzeitsfest_.
Now, however, came the question: How are we to live! for my husband
had no settled profession, and his parents, though wealthy, could not
deprive their more obedient children of their rights to benefit the
perverse Gustav. They gave him sufficient to start him in business, with
the understanding that he would emigrate to America, their idea being
that a German gentleman with a little capital could not fail to make a
fortune among the comparatively illiterate Columbians. To New York
accordingly we came, and Gustav labored assiduously to establish a
business as importer of German manufactures; he soon found, however,

that men who did not know Horace from Euripides could drive closer
bargains, and make quicker sales than he could, and, as he was