Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1881-07-28
FINDING FAULT.
Severe Criticism on the Treatment of
the President.

New York Herald, July 20.
|. The President has good constitution
indeed, a remarkably good eonstitu-
tion-and this fact has saved his life
several times within eighteen days. Yet
it is possible to exhaust any constitu-
ton, and we should extremely regret to
see many repetitions of the relapse of
Monday, from whatever cause they may
arise. His death at any time since his
hurt would have caused universal
mourning; but everybody interested in
a great case and great character would
especially grieve to see Mr.. Garfield go
down on the home stretch.
Mondays bad symptoms were attribu-
ted by the doctors instantly into excess
ees in diet. If there were excesses of
that sort who is to blame for them? Do
not the Presidents medical attendants
control his case as to what he shall eat =?
Or do they consider that the methods and
processes by which he is to be built up
again are no concern of theirs? Or is it
possible that they do not know what is
an excess of diet until they have tried
it? We put these queries plainly be-
cause with men who treat every criti-
cism of their conduct as due to igno-
rance, it is hardly worth while to OBJ
serve that delicacy which, in profession
al relation, permits men to kill an easy
victim without offending their vanity.
They have. in these few days past, GER
tainly stuffed the President as. if he
were another DR.. Tanner, and to go in
two or three days from a few ounces of
milk and lime water to meal made up
of beefsteak, boiled eggs and oatmeal
might account for much in the way of
irritation. But was this overlooking of
an enfeebled stomach the only cause of
the trouble? The surgeons report the
fever in their bulletins and say that ''it
was not due to any unfavorable change
in the condition of the wound" Yet
within twelve hours of that report it
was learned that coincidently with the
marked Initiative fever, perhaps ante
cedently, there was total arrest of
those discharges from the wound which
D.
How could they, in view of that fact,
certify that there was. no unfavorable
change in the condition of the wound
except from the indications at the ori-
fee? 1t must be remembered that these
surgeons hold, or pretend to hold, that
this is the most marvellous and remark
able wound in the history of surgery.
They say that the ball entered the back
opposite the pleura without touching
the pleura, passed through the liver
without hurting the liver, and is happi-
ly lodged between the intestineS and the |
wall, and that the whole |
track of the wound is suppurating and |
Yet when the discharges |
are stopped and the fever rises there is
no unfavOrable change. They thump
sufficiently on his abdomen, force out
the retained discharges as if he were
set of surgical bagpipes, and in a few
hours report him all right again.
But what stopped the discharges
All this is odd surgery. Yet certainly
the discharges should not have stopped
If irritation could keep them up. They
have had plenty of that, for what is
,his drainage tube but seton, and what
s their antiseptic treatment-the injec-
ion of carbolic acid in the wound-but
l still more virulent prevention of
he reparative operations of nature?
How can wound get well with such
,are taken to prevent the healing pro-
,ess? What is there to stop the injec-
Jon of carbolic acid from infltrating the
cellular tissue at the bottom of this
wound and increasing its depth? They
BOAST now that they can pass in five and
. half inches of their tube Let them
Keep on and they will be able to pass in
great deal mOre-if the tube holds out