The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1881-07-21
STILL IMPROVING,
Are the Reports from Washington.
DIR. Bliss Feels Assured that the Pres
ident is Out Of All Danger,
..-ough Very Weak and Something's Ees
pondemt.

We take the following decisive statement
| from the columns of the New York Herald
respecting the wounds of the President, the
| treatment and the probable result: every
day of satisfactory progress adds to the conf
dence with which we have regarded the hope
fulness of the Presidents prospects, and nine
days have now gone by without discourage
| ing or alarming sign. As suppuration is now
| in progress we have reached the period of
| possible secondary hemorrhage, for it is the
process of suppuration and sloughing that
| opens the blood vessels, if any lie near to the
| line of tissue bruised and killed by the pas
sage of the bullet. We shall soon know,
| therefore, the extent of this danger but
| we do not believe that it is very great,
| for we have no faith whatever in
the theory that the bullet had gone in direc-
| ton where it could give much trouble in that
way. We are astonished to hear one of the
| constant attendents at the Presidents bedside
| reported as saying "he is most of the time
| under the influence of opiates." What is that
| for? We had supposed that the judicious ad-
| vice of Drs. Hamilton and ..Agnew had stopped.
this foolish dosing with morphine, which has
many time done more harm than a wound.
With infinite satisfaction the people of this
country have seen the President pass through
three stages of danger with far less implication
| of the great functions of life than was appre-
| hended by everybody. The collapse that
| threatens Immediately in all great injuries was
| of little moment with him; there was no grave.
| internal hemorrhage, and no such diffused in
| flammation of the peritoleum as was looked
| for. Readers of the Herald may have observed
| that We have interpreted all this as the evi-
| dence that the man was less seriously hurt
| than had been apprehended, for We were more
disposed to believe that a surgeon was at fault
| in his diagnosis than that the ordinary
| operations of nature set aside for
| this occasion. Yet some surgeons per-
L oiG in, hair oil iaaft hat
though the President has passed through
| grave crises, graver ones are to come, and they
mention suppuration, septic@mia, exhaustion,
secondary hemorrhage, and even argue that
not find it. All this is possibly true; yet if our
| view of the reasons why the symptoms have
| been SO slight hitherto is accurate, these are
mere lugubrious forebodings without q basis in
| reason. If the ball has not gone where it was
| 80 hastily assumed it had gone, then there will
| not be such septicRmia, exhaustion, secondary
| hemorrhage and diffused Inflammation as we
are told to expect, nor any but a natural and
| healthy suppuration, and We may as we'll con-
| template the case from one side as the other" !"
| LATER.
For the first time since the President was
shot the official bulletins issued by the ply
sicians are in approximate unison with the un-
official reports from the sick-room. Hereto
fore all sources of information coming from
| the sick chamber have been of favorable ma
| ture. The doctors we're said to be hopeful,
| sanguine, and made the announcement unof-
\ ficiaiiy thnt their patient WAS mending In good
shape and was on the sunny side of recovery.
Still, when their official bulletins were promul-
| gated these statements were not confirmed by
| them. However, as before said, the official an
nouncements for the public do, in great
| measure, accord with the unofficial reports
1aa1r fnf fl,a
| Presidents room.
1t can truthfully be said that since the fatal
occurrence the President has not passed be-
yond fever day. His appetite is improving,
| and the nourishment which is administered is
of a more substantial nature: In addition to
his diet of milk and rum, he is given milk-toast
and the breast of q woodcock OF the latter
he ate none of the fber,. only swallowing the
| substance.
! DIR. Bliss continues to be hopeful and it is
expected that he will shortly risk his profess
| sional reputation in announcing officially that
the President is out of danger. Another en-
couraging sign that the favorable reports are
in fact gratifying is the concurrent testimony
which Doctor Boynton gives to them. All
along Boynton has been inclined to take an
ugly view of the Presidents case. He gives it
as his opinion that the Presidents chances for
recovery are, even to say the least that all the
signs indicate-a favorable termination. The
most important secrets after=all= =xhieh come
from the Presidents bedside are given out
by Mrs. DIR. Edeson. She is in constant
attendance upon the sufferer, and has
wntched closely every stage of his condition.
She, too, is hopeful, and, although not ex-
uberantly so she says at times the President
after awakening talks with slight incoherency
that he does not always get refreshing maps
but at times during his sleep he talks and
seems little dreamy. From Mrs. Edeson also
is learned that the sufferers condition il
one of almost childish weakness. 1t is with
difficulty he can move his head, and as for his
lower extremties he has no voluntary contro
over them. When his lower limbs pain him sc
much as to require change Of position, he
has not the power of his own to move them
but attendants have to perform this duty. Al
times, too, the President is overtaken witt
dependency, which, in one of less will-power
would soon give way.
The usual hypodermic injections of NOR
phine are given him to produce sleep. The
basement of the White House is filled ul
with many curious patent appliances. Every
inventor having scheme for reducing the
atmosphere has forwarded there a sample oi
his patent. This rule applies also with those
who have invalid beds, and enough have
been received at the White House tc
accommodate a company of soldiers. None Of
these have been used The President has beer
changed but once since the day of the shoot
ing, and this to an ordinary bed, much smaller
than the one upon which he first placed
when borne wounded TO the White House
The temperature of the Presidents room i,
still maintained at about rs degrees Fahren
heit, by what is known aS tine Dorsey refriger
ating process. No other plan sill be tried, az
81