Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-08-20
BETTER AND BETTER.
ANXIETY GIVING WAY TO CON
FIDENCE.
The President Continuing to Take
and Retain FoOd-Dr. Bliss Talks
Freely of the Patients Chances
Looking After the Sewage-RE-
mOrs COntradIeted.

lug OF the gland had receded materially.
The President experienced really no annoy
snce from it. Said DR.. Bliss:
"This difficulty has been overcome sooner
than we had any reason to anticipate.
! Usually the swellings continue for several
| days, but we seem to have subdued the in
fammation already. The President has not
complained of the swelling to-day. As to
his stomach, It is doing admirably.
| The President has taken to-day
/ twenty-six ounces OF nourishment by the
mouth. This consisted of koumiss and Of
| Cruel prepared by Mrs. Garfield. This Cruel,
/ 1 believe, is made Of corn meal, milk and
something else. The President is very fond
| OF it, and it is very grateful to him. He
calls for IT often, and Mrs. Garfield pre-
! pares it with her own hands. The President
says she has often made It for him when
/ he suffered with indigestion, and that she
knew just how to season it to his taste.
/ Besides the twenty-six ounces OF food taken
\ into the stomach, we have administered
\ twenty ounces Of nourishment by enemats.
! This consisted of beef extract aud the yolks
of four eggs. This makes forty six ounces
! OF food the President has taken to-day, more
than he has taken during any one day for
three weeks. His wound is healing rapidly.
We can see that it is closing up, and it is no
longer drain upon his system.
"The President now has regular, spontane-
Gus actions Of the bowels. The character
shows that his food is well digested he is
] nafr al r1n u
morning bis pulse was 9S. He was sleeping
/ then. His skin has not q break upon It. 1t
is smooth and feels soft. He no longer has
exhaustive sweats. He perspires a little
when sleeping, but not enough to indicate
weakness"
The President expressed himself to-day
| as feeling better. This afternoon be asked:
where's Bhss? I want him to give me
bath" He meant that he wanted Dr.. Bliss to
| sponge him off. DR.. Bliss says the President
has lost over sixty pounds, and that one
who had not seen him could not suppose
he bsd lost that much iesh as his beard
! conceals the thiuness OF his face. Dr..
Bliss says, too, that the President is not so
weak as is generally supposed. The Presi-
dent feeds himself, and when be drinks
water he takes the glass in his hand, raises
It to his lips and drinks without any diff
Guilty.
The President is, undoubtedly, better to-
night than he was this morning. His wound
f. not discharging much, hut all the pus
there is flows out. All his surgeons are now
full OF hope, not to say confidence. They
say they feel that the worst danger is over,
because the weakness OF the stomach has
been overcome. The only thing neces-
dents strength Is that he shall
be able to take aud digest food, and
this he is doing. He now asks for his food
regularly, and often asks IL he cannot
have more Of Mrs. Garield's Cruel. This
feeling of confidence prevails everywhere
now.
REVIEW OF THE DAY.
M-The Presidents condition to-day
has been decidedly better than at any day
| since the unfavorable symptoms Of Monday
| last manifested themselves. He has slept
/ more than usual, and appears much refresh
ed upon awakening from slumber. While
the glsndular Inflammation has not entirely
/ disappeared, It is thought by the surgeons
that the gland is less irritated, from the fact
that the patient does not experience so
much pain from IL. Another unquestiOn-
able feature denOting improvement is the
tone Of the Presidents stomach, which has
not yet shown snY gastric disturbance. The
members Of the Cabinet, and all others
who have called during the day, have
left the Mansion well encouraged. The
air Of sOlemnity and anxiety, which per-
vaded the White House for the past few
days, have given place to a decidedly better
feeling. II is nov quite generally conceded
that he Inflammation of the parotid gland
does not IN this case indicate pyemia, and
that It is due entirely to the patients de-
hilitated condition. Not word of a de-
spOndent character has been uttered to-day
by those having access to the Presidents
/ apartments, and the faith in the Presidents
recovery, as expressed by these persons, has
been Of an almost sanguine nature.
Said one Of the surgeons when approached
with a question on the subject this evening:
"The President has made a sensible i'm
/ pr0vemeut o-day."
DR.. Boynton, in conversation regarding
the Presidents condition, says he is i'm
proving gradually.
Chow is the trouble in the psrodd glandi"
was asked the doctor.
at IS apparently diminishing" was his
response.
dDoes the patient experience annoyance
from it still?"
eyes; It causes some pain yet, but the
swelling has subsided so that 1t is scarcely
percepdble."
"Do you spprehend suppuration from it?"
POSSIBLY; but it is not probable, now that
the Inflammation has been scattered"
"DOes the President manifest q desire to
eai?''
"He has nothing like sharp appetite, but
he takes his nourishment without hesitancy.
He still enjoys the gruel.n
"Mrs. Garfield prepares It for him, sup
poser"
eyes"
"What do you regard as the most impor-
taDt feature Of the case at PRESENT."
"The condition of the stomach is un-
doUbtedlY the most important feature now"
81 suppose it is rather early to expect any
perceptible increase in the patients
strengthf'
eyes. He Is very weak"
This afternoon DIR. Bliss was asked II the
President had any malarious symptoms.
NO" said he, ''none at all"
"Has be had comfortable day, generally
speskingf'
"Yes, he has had a very comfortable day."
"Has he slept much?"
Considerably"
"And still retains his food without any
anuOyancs?"
"Yes, sir"
| DO you expect any suppuratlon from the
Inflammation of the parotid gland"
"Why, The Inflammation is subsiding, and
there is no pus in it. There is nothing to
suppurate."
"Isn't there danger Of its appearing in an
other locslityg ;"
''We don't think So"
The doctor was pressed for his theory OF
the infAmed gland and did not deny that it
was a fair assumption to believe that the
saliva had secreted in the gland to an un-
natural extent during the time the patient
was not taking nourishment through his
mouth. "But." said be, 81 have my own
theory about it, It is unimportant to the
public. However, you will remember that
l told YOU st the commencement that 1t was
an unimportant complication, excepting the
annoyance it caused the patient, and my
predictions have already been verified"
DR.. Bliss told the Presidents barber to-
day that he would soon be able to resume
his duties on the patient. DIR. Bliss left the
White House q few minutes before ten
o'clock to meet DR.. Agnew, who arrived at
1910 D. m. He said before leaving the
Mansion, that the President was very quiet.
That he had taken twenty-five ounces OF
koumiss and milk Cruel during the ds, and
would probably take more later. The enc
msta are still continued with satisfactory
results. ''The discharge from the wound"
said the doctor, s'although considerably re-
dueed lin quantity, still flows as freely ss Is
necessary, and the pus is Of q perfectly
healthy characterg"
/ In replv To a question relative to the ad-