St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-07-29

of carbolized water through it. We
found the eleventh rib badly fractured.
a compound fracture, broken in two
places and bent inward. That was
lifted out after the incision was made.
and restored to its natural position.
DANGEROUS SITUATION.
Some of the physicians made the
very discOuraging statement Sunday
night that owing to the tOrtuous course
of the bullet there is great danger that
additional pus cavities will form, for
the reason that the inner end of the
bullets channel is still lower down in
the body than the new outlet which
was made Sunday and for this reason,
in the present condition of the wound,
there is great danger of an abscess.
Should one he formed further from the
surface of the body than that which
was opened. the difficulties of treating
it would Ice greatly increased. 1t
might be difficult to reach it. 1t might
be a serious matter to make ms deep an
incisiOn as would he necessary to open
II W lNilblll iilE lllt llSh VI
ing some internal organs. 1t is even
thought that it may he yet necessary
to make an opening from the front
wall of the abdomen, in case similar
cavity should form about the bullet
itself Should such cavity form, an
instant incisiOn would be necessary to
prevent the danger of blood poisoning.
An incisiOn from the front, however,
is said to he attended with less hazard
than the one from the back, which was
made Sunday. The scenes i'll the sick
room at the time of the operation were
similar to those which generally occur
under like circumstances, with the eN-
ceptiOn that neither ether nor chlOro-
form were administered To the Prcsl-
dent. and that he bore the intensely
painful operation with remarkable for
titude.
THE OPERATION.
The expert operator made no mis-
takes. The first thrust of the knife
reached the spot, and the President
never moved muscle nor uttered Il
word of complaint, although the pain
must have been intense. The knife
had hardly reached the cavity when
instant relief was given, and the Pres
ident, with sigh of gratitude, said,
''Thank YOU. Doctor There came
from this cavity very considerable
discharge of pus of an extremely often
sive odor, and with it two small trag-
ments of the Splintercd rib. The char
actcr of the pus was such that, while
it showed no present indications OF
blood poisoning, it also showed that,
unless the cavity had been speedily
emptied. blood poisoning must inevlta-
bly, have soon begun. The symptoms
of Saturday were undoubtedly those of
blood poisoning, and were the prellm
nary indications of what would have
followed had not the quick decision
and the skilled knife of DR.. Agnew
averted, for the present at least, that
terrible danger. The operation having
been performed, the President was
made as comfortable, as possible, but
he seemed very much exhausted
During the operation the pulse reached
a high point, but it very speedily fell
directly the relief incident to the
opening of the cavity was given.
HURRYING To THE BEDSIDE.
DR.. Hamilton, of New York, one ot
the consulting physicians, received the
dispatch summOning him to Washing
ton at l:}O p. M, on Saturday. He
FASTENED to the ferry and found that
| the first regular train would not reach
| Washington until 1920 p. III. He then
crossed the ferry, and while he wa,
making further inquiries Superlntend-
/ ent jackson, who was in his office IL
another part of the depot, was sent for
| A very brief time sufficed to make hin
aware of the situation. He hurried
away from DIR. Hamilton and seven
minutes later the latter was rushing
out of the depot on special train
| The special train. would have had M
preference on the road except for tele
| graphic orders. There would have
been ordinarily on the south bounC
track, between the time the dispatcher
received notice that the special was Il
start. and the time of the expected ar
rival i'll Philadelphia, IL freight trains
and two passenger trains. The trelgh
trains were all got out of the way, 0n'
after another, on side tracks, in time
to allow the special to roar past then
without Stacking speed, but the tive
passenger trains delayed the doctor l.
minutes. Nevertheless, he arrived a
Philadelphia at l:45 p. III. The actua
running time to Philadelphia from
jersey City, about ninety, miles wa
one hour and 36 minutes. At Phlla
delphia IA stop of only three minutes
was made to change engines. During
that three minutes Dr.. Agnew, the
other consulting physician. who ha'
been made acquainted by telegraph o
DR.. Hamilton's movements, and wh'
had not been able to get an Garlic
train to Washington, got into thu
coach The two arrived in Washing
ton at $50 p. m. Five minutes after
ward they were at the White House.
THE SIZE OF TIE BULLET FAVORABLE
The fact that the assassin used
large bullet, instead of "A common size
one. is very much in the Presidents ia
vor. 1t is a fact that common people
not verscd in surgical science, do no
realize that the small ball is more dan
gerous than the large. They call
strange that harm can come of the in
significant bits of lead carried by on
small pocket pistols. The fact is a
stated, however. and the reason is sim
pie. In the first place, muskct baI
wounds are less dreaded by surgeon
than pistol ball wounds, because tn
muskct balls are more apt to 90 clca
through. The worst thing to happc
is for ball to lodge, for the prcscnc
of the foreign substance causes inilan
nation, foul gatherings and discharge
and hlnnH 1nIsnninfr l,