Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1882-07-17
GARFIELD'S PHYSICIANS AGAIN.
Representative Blackburn Has His Say
About Them-$5O,OOO Appropriated
i0f Mrs. Garfleld's Benefit.

Wf Mrs. Garfleld's Benefit.
WAsH1NGroN, July l5.-Repre
sentative Blackburn to-day supple
mented Senator Vests attack upon
the late President Garfield's physi
clans by.a speech in much the same
style on the question of concurring
in the Senate amendment to the De
ficiency bill, appropriating $4,000
for the payment Of the physicians.
Mr.. Blackburn's speech had been
looked for with interest. because it
was expected that when he made il
he would devote some attention to
the expense of the funeral train to
Cleveland, ior which he held vouch-
>'ers. Those who expected to see this
matter thoroughly ventilated were
disappointed, as the member from
Kentucky made no allusion to it,
combining himself to discussing the
action of the Senate in denouncing
the doctors and criticising the ser
vice they rendered. lie approached
the subject Of paying the physicians
with the statement that he enter
tanned no unkindly feeling toward
either living or dead. His feelings
for the dead were those Of respect
and of honor, and as far as paving
for the services rendered him in his
illness was concerned, he declared
that he would at any time during
that illness have voted to employ the
Federal Treasury had he thought ii
was in the power of medical skill to
save him. But he denied that any
extraordinary services had been rem
dered by the physicians in attend
ance upon the President. The
wound of the President, he said, was
never treated, from the day it was
delivered till the day Of his death, by
= single doctor, and it took an au-
topsy to discover the ball, and even
then it was found only by accident in
the washbowl. The wound, he said,
need not have been mortal, to have
produced death with such medical
treatment as the President had re-
ceived, and he added: "The his
tory Of medical science never fur
nished such an instance Of blnnder-
ing as the treatment of this ease
He bitterly assailed the greedy
crowd of cormorants that had swarmed
down upon Congress with bills rang
ing from SO and IS cents to $4,000.
Judge Taylor, Of Ohio, Garfeld's
successor in Congress, who as Chair
man of the Select Committee on the
expenses Of the illness and death Of
the President, reported bill to the
House some months ago providing
for their payment, replied to Mr..
Blackburn. He thought that the pro-
per thing for Congress to do was to
relieve the estate Of the dead Presi-
dent from these claims. He could
state, however, he said, that the mem
bers of the Garfield family would
never allow the payment Of the physi-
clans to become matter of litigation.
Mr.. Springer, of Illinois, followed
in the line of Blackburn's denuncia-
ton Of the doctors, and with some
sarcasm stated as proof Of the ex-
traordinary services they rendered,
that for seventy days they treated
pus cavity for gunshot wound, this
cavity having been made by their
own malpractice in the beginning Of
the case.
A number of amendments were
offered to the amendment, some to
increase and some to reduce the
amount appropriated, and were all
voted down.
Finally the House voted against
concurring in the Senate amendment
smbodying the proposition to appro-
pirate money for the payment of the
expenses by vote of - to So.
This action means that the House
will pass its own bill for the payment
Of these expenses.
After the vote Of on-concurrence,
Judge Taylor introduced, and had
passed, without division, a bill to
give Mrs. Garfield $4,000, one years
salary Of the President, less any sum
paid him up to the time Of his death.