Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1881-09-29

The surprise of the people at the re
: zsult of the autopsy of President Garliel'
amounted almost to CONSERVATION. l
lis not only astonishing that the assas
2sin's bullet should have been found
foot foot and a half distant from tn,
J spot where it had been located by emf
snent surgeons, touched by their finger
I in gentle pressure upon the abdomen
and recognized by an instrument mad'
sensitive to the presence of lead, but i
lis shocking that the pus cavity shoult
/ have been mistaken for the track of the
! sball, probed fourteen inches and treated
/ with carbolic water
Several grave questions arise. The
first in all minds is. whether the wound
sOf the President was necessarily fatai
/ from the first; and it is the opinion OF
medical men having great experience
and who are of high authority, that ii
was not. The fact that the ball was
found in perfect sack, encysted, shows
3how strong and kindly nature was. The
'ball struck the spinal column, but nol
the spinal cord, and the small frag.
ments of bone dislodged in that quarter
do not seem to have caused dangerous
Irritation.
The fact that the ball was found re
] mote from the official track and loca-
;tion, is proof that the surgical treat
msnt of the President was founded upon
a fatally false theory. The autopsy
shows that no vital organ was material
i ly injured by the aSsassin's shot.
Now the question arises whether the
treatment of the supposed wound die
mot cause the remarkable secondary
shemorrhoge which carried off the Illus
strious patient OIL the eightieth day OF
1 his illness. 1t is something more than q
aventuresome suggestion that the devices
flor keeping open the wound, the tubes
i. the use of the knife,t the flexible catheter
THE washings. and dressings and rims
@ings, of which we have heard SO much
lin the bulletins, may have done the
deadly mischief.
j Aside from this it has been impossible
=toshaye the President treated as if he
were an ordinary man. He has. beer
In the eyes of his physicians not only a
sick man, but the President. and we feai
THAT has been great element Of diff.
3culty.
OF course, the Presidents case was
,admirable for advertising purposes, and
there was vulgar struggle among the
doctors at the beginning The physi.
ician first on the ground was dragged
3out by the superior address and asser-
,tion of DR.. Bliss, who had the advan-
.tage of being from the northeastern por-
7tion of this State. Still later, the old
Surgeon of Garfield's regiment was led
3out of the White House.
But homeopathic and female ply
.sician remained to criticise the case in a
;voluminous and feeble way. There was
IL sense of comfort when distinguished
surgeons were called in consultation,
,and when some supertluous doctors
were not required at the dressing of the
wound but the consulting surgeons do
Inot seem to have had any real grasp on
the case. and they were involved In the
.mesheS of etiquette. They willno doubt
'he surprised to find that, in the general
estimation, Il heavy responsibility rests
upon them.
1t is Il ghastly thing To think of the
Solemn committee of physicians filling
1.-THE Presidents room while his wound
WAS dressed, and the flexible tube" was
|pOked into the yielding flesh of the sick
|man, three inches at first and finally
fourteen inches. in direction opposite
From thattaken by the ball! Is this. un-
|dor tha ouao nf tho bnpaan rano Tho Iac4
that can be done by the Representatives
|uf American medical science?
The question forces itself upon public
attention whether the medical treat
|ment of the case was not rs wretched as
tile surgery. AS to the latter, the inser-
|tion of "a catheter after sixty days eff
fort fourteen inches i'll the wrong direc-
|tiOn, is enough.
But was not the. whole treatment
wrong? An eminent physician says the
President should have had solid food
and plenty of it, from the moment it was
ascel tanned that his stomach, liver, kid
neys, and bowels were all in good condi-
tion. Also, that his children should
have had the freednm Of his room, and
that it would have been better for him
to have talked politics than to think of
himself.
If anything could add to the grief and
Indignation of the American people inI
the loss of the President they had learn
ed to love for his manlipess more thanl
his statesmanship. and for his greatI
heart more tnan his great head. it wopldI
be the reflection that even after he wasI
shot down by II conceited and malciousi
fool, he might have been saved for the;
splendid career that was broad andl
before him.. The Nation
must, it seems, taste even that bitter
1883. .-[Cin. Com.