The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-08-25

he has lived as long as he has. Hi;
physicians have not had any conf,
dence in his recovery for over 9
week, but they have thought it best
to appear cheerful in the hope OF
sustaining the patient, thinking
there may come some change for the
better.
Do you approve the trea menL he
has had? Yes, | have known OF
everything that has been done from
one of the physicians. All that
medical skill could do or suggest
has been done. No man had better
treatment, but the shock from the
wound was too great for him to re-
cover from. He has never rallied
from the first relapse. This has
always been Doctor Hamilton's
view when speaking to medical men.
Secretary Blaine's description,
then, was not overdrawn? Not in
the least. He stated the exact truth.
1t was from him indirectly that
learned the President could not rec
ognize those around him. Hefelt it
his duty to state the facts, and he
did so, though to write the telegram
affected him to tears.
What will be the cause Of death
In your opinion? The bullet, and
that alone. The other things were
but incidental. The most grievious
of these is the parotid swelling. 1t
is that which affects his mind, and
makes his case hopeless. There is
no escaping the anticipated result.
1t may be delayed day longer or it
may run q week, but the Presidents
life is slowly ebbing away, and no
one mournS it more than l do.
HOPELESS.
One of the attending surgeons,
when approached by a person who
had the right to know, said, in effect,
that the case was almost hopeless
yet Major Swain looks bright, cheer
full, faithful and hopeful always.
He said: 81 think the President will
pull through, and / have never lost
my hope" The atmosphere which
such men bring with them to the
Chicago, PA Philadelphia spe-
eial: To reporter, DR.. Agnew to-
day, seemed in better spirits than
any time since the unfavorable
change in the Presidents condition
more than week ago. The public,
he said, had been led within day
OF two to magnify the new danger
the President was in, and the fear
of a sudden change for the worse,
which physicians had not looked
for. Many people had hardly real
lied until now that the President
was very badly wounded, and that
the injury might at any time have
caused his death. 1t has passed its
most aggravated stage, a stage which
was inevitable, followed by period
Of almost complete prostration. at
is necessary" said Agnew, "fOr a
patient so wounded to reach the bot
tom of the ladder before he begins
to ascend it again to the high
ground of restored health. That
period of complete prOstratiOn,
through which he is passing, was
complicated by the failure of the
stomach. That has been partially re-
stored to strength and it is now a
question of the staying pow
ers of the President and
his recuperative forces whether he
shall advance toward conYalescepce.
There are no indications of malarial
fever. With particular care | have
looked out for that. There are no
traces of malaria at the White
House, nor could I find that any one
who had ever lived near the EXecu-
tive Mansion had been affected with
it in the past. The sick room is
perfectly comfortable and healthy,
the temperature may be reduced to
almost any point by the refrigerating
apparatus, and the chamber where
the President lies, is by far the most
comfortable place [ have been in"
"Are there fears Of new complied
tions from the swollen parotid
gland, dispatches from Washington
having anticipated another opera
tion?" ut may be necessary to
open an abSceSs, if the Inflammation
develops to that point; but it can
hardly be called an operation. The
soreness comes from the i'm
poverished condition of the blood,
but the danger of the present in
Examination from that cause has
been magnifed by unofficial dis
patches" 1T has been stated that
the Presidents mental faculties
have at last succumbed to
the assaults of the wound and fail
ing strength of his system and that
his mind has become partially if not
wholly obscured." DR.. AgneW re-
piled in effect that the President
was very weak and emaciated, but
that his mind was quite as clear as
it has ever been. He was the first
to know the result of the physicians
examination. which precedeS every
bulletin. He talks very little to at
tendants, but no one in the sick
knows better, than he what is going
on about him. All he says is spoken
nationally. 1t is not true that the
physicians know much more than
IS communicated through the bull
letins. Il may say" concluded DR..
Agnew, that the case is by no
means hopeless. We do not antici-
pate any sudden change either for
11-r,.go ~. for hottor OuT- hODOC are