The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1881-11-17
THE NEWS s.
An Interview With DR.. Boynt On.-His
Views Regarding the Treatment of the
Late Presidents Ease

membered that in the midst OF the dis
cuSslon of the treatment of the late pres
| 1dent's wound, which discussion wa:
~carried 10 great warmth and yigor, fol
! lowing the autopsy, when il was discov
cred that the surgeons had been entire
| ly at :auft with regard Ia the nature o.
the wound, DIR. BnyntOn, Mrs Garfield.
/ physician, stated at some future time be
would have something to say about the
case, and would give some facts of tho
/ highest importance not generally known
| Naturally enough these promised dis
closures, by an inmate of the White
house, and by one who is himself an
| experienced physician, with regard to g
case of such Importance, and about the
| treatment of which there has been sc
much adverse criticism, were looked
forward to with the deepest
interest, and many attempts have
been made to induce DIR. Boynton to
make the promised statement. He has
| declined, however, until to-day, when in
| conversation with Journal correspond
| ent here he stated what he says are the
| facts which he had intended to give 70
| the public after the excitement attend
ling the death of President Garfield had
| subsidized. While he yet lived the hope
of the nations heart for the martyred
| President was that he might get well,
| and when he died, after such long and
heroic battle with death, the sOrrowful
| question upon every tongue, was, Gould
not this lie have been saved ?" That was
| the first question that pressed itself upon
me as the interview turned upon the
| doctors friend, the dead President. /
| asked it of DIR. Boynton.
"Doctor, do you think the PRESIDENT
| wound was necessarily fatal?'
ii .RNVS aI |, ., IL Il
| ~ do not"
"You think that if he had had
proper surgical treatment from the first
he might have gotten well? ?"
II most certainly do. did not say,
however, that he might not have died,
even under these circumstances.
"You think then that there was rcas-
enable ground for hope of recovery ut
| first ?''
IT do, most assuredly"
"And that the case was not properly
| handled"
81 have always been OF that opinion,
almost from the first-ihat is, that the
treatment was bad on the start After
Agnew and Hamilton came it could not
have been better" e.
GU say then, doctor, th&t the pres
ident had chance, a reasonable chance,
for recovery at frs, but that in your opin,
ion these chances were all thrown away
by the wretched treatment IN the case.''
"You choose to put it stronger than !
did, but you reached the right conclu.
sion."
"How long did that chance for recov-
cry eXist-when did you lose hope?''
ION the 23d of July, when lie had the
| first rigor-I think that was the date.
At any rate it was when he had the first
rigor gave him up then. Up to that
time l hoped that he might get well; at-
| ter that l felt there was no ground for
hope"
'Why did you reach that conclusion
| at that time-was the chill a certain in.
dication of tbs approach of death 2'
mo, l did not expect immediate dis
| solution. The rigor was an evidence of
py@mia. ...... ....
"What was the occasion of py emia-
l mean was it unavoidable ~
"Pyamia, you know, or blood poison
| ing, results from broken down pus-
dead pus."
"Had pyemia set in thens"
II think so. You probably don't
know-the public never did know-that
| the presidents wound was never cleans
| ed thoroughly till three weeks after he
| was shot. That is more than l have
| ever said ABOUT the matter before, but
| that is the fact of the whole case and the
ground for complaint of the presidents
surgical treatment in the early history
| of the case. Subsequent developments
fully corroborated what I feared then
that is, that pus had been allowed to lie
in the wound till it rotted and pyemia
had done its perfect work"
"You think this could have been
avoidede"
"Yes. You know what DIR. Agacw
did as soon as he was called as con
sulting surgeon. The first thing he sug
| gested was TO make the incision to drain
what was then supposed to be the track
| of the ball but which was, as you know,
| only great pus cavity WHICH ought
| never to have been formed"
| doctor, l remember that Crump, the
| white house steward, and one of the
| nurses, said tina: the President suffered
a great deal and would sometimes
scream out that his feet felt like there
| were a thousand needles in them. Did
the President suffer much?"
"He suffered a great deal from his
wound and the heat, and often com
1 planned of pain in his feet, as Crumr
says"
indication of spinal trouble?"
1 ~ NdS- SuSSCSLCu W LII DllSS "a
| The outset that the Presidents spine wal
| injured. He thought not"
| "You do not consider such an injury
| to the spine as the president received al
necessarily fatal ?"
"No, do not. AS / said before,
think the president had chance for re
covery, but that il was thrown away
by the bad management of the case dur
ing the first three weeks, when the pu'
was allowed TO accumulate and rot
causing py9mia."
allow did Bliss come to have charg
of the case ?"
| "He Just took charge of it. He hap
pened to be the first man called after til,
shooting and he stuck to it, shown:
everybody else aside. Neither the pres
ident or Mrs. Garfield ever asked him (,
take charge of the case"
"Who wrote the bulietins?''
"Dr. Bliss wrote them"
"And who made the examinations :?
"Bliss always took the pulse and res
piration and Reyburn took the temper
ature till he was dismissed. The OF
servations were generally made whel
: the president was asleep. and at th
most favorable hours -
"And the other surgeons signed tn
bulletins upon Bliss report ,withou
4 udAtDk 0HA
Eyes; they took Bliss word for it til
after they went to Elberon, when l suG
gested to Hamilton that they were bein
deceived. He took the pulse then, an
it went up little"
, "Did Gen Garfield ever see these bu
letinsT'
"Only one, one of them that was el
tremely favorable was shown to him."
"What was the condition of the presi
dents mind was he delir;ous much O
the timer
Eyes; particularly after the first rigol
For three weeks prior TO that Frida
: in August, Black Friday, Us it was called
when It was thought he was dying,
think it was about the 25th of August
for three weeks prior to that he ha
been delirous most of the time. The
his mind cleared up little. and then
was, if you remember, / claimed III
president was better"
' There was some further conversatio
with regard to the case, but notI
a ing of special interest was d,
veloped That which most wanted I
G hear he said, and l have given it {
! you. He alleges the most startling II
competency and bad Management of
case of surgery in which more peopl
I were interested than ever before in
5 single case. He, in effect, represen
r Bliss as having fastened himself upo
. the President, and taking charge of tn
most important trust without havin
been called to 1t either by the wounde
j President or his wife, and having chars
b of the case, he allowed every chance fl
!. saving this great life to- slip by ba
management of the trust he had a
L sumed. The picture which the plai
a bold Statements of the doctor present
is indeed distressing one to the frienC
. ofthe President and TO the millions WI
hoped and prayed so earnestly for his r
covery It is that sad thought of thos
saddest words: ut might have been
If the President, DIR. Boynton says, ha
had proper surgical care at the first. |