The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-12-05
GENERAL GRANT.
The Physical Suffering He Has Undergone
Since His Unfortunate Fall.
New York Special.

New York Special.
MY father has certainly had dreadful ez
perlence physically since his unfortunate fall, y
said Fred Grant to me the other day He
never was really ill before, and therefore the
tedious and painful results of the accident have
been all the more difficult for him to bear for he
had not learned patience under suffering"
did he break his thigh?" / asked.
No." replied Colonel Grant; IF he had it
would have been much easier healed. He broke
muscle in the thigh and since then he has had
all sorts of dreadful sequeln In the first place,
he was confined to his bed so long that his body
was covered with most painful bed sores. AS
soon as these were cured he was tormenteG with
bolis, which came in battalions, and were very
exhausting. These were followed by neu
ralgia. My father faneied his teeth were
the cause of the neuralgia, and accordingly went
through the delights of having a number
tracted. Next he had rheumatism, and is now
being treated for that by method which is he
roic enough if that be all that is requisite to a
cure The physician says his system is saturated
with nicotine which he is endeavoring to draw
ont of his body by system of baths and sweats.
OF course smoking is prohibited"
Does the General obey this rule3'
We'll slngularly enough answered Col.
Grant, although an inveterate smoker for so
many years. my father who was never without
a cigar IN his mouth, now smokes at the out
side three or four week, and as he is satisfied
he Is improving under this treatment he has too
strong desire to recover to make his con
the sacrifice is a difficult one for him to make he
has never acknowledged it, indeed, | think he is
determined never to smoke again except In the
most moderate manners' Colonel Grant then
told me OF the pleasure and entertainment the
General found in writing saying he scarcely
knew how his father would ever have whiled
away the weary hours that, spite of the efforts
of a devoted family and hosts of friends must
come to a man who has led such an exciting and
active life and who IS at General Grants age
for the first time an invalid, had he not happily
turned his thoughts toward writing history Of
the war in which he served his country with
such distinction. 1t seems that General Grant
has ready for the press three papers, in the
writing of which he has taken infinite trouble
You can scarcely credit the pains my father
has gone to, said Colonel Grant, ito make sure
OF points on which he has relied on his memory
but which he would not commit himself to until
satisfied by comparing notes with others that he
was, beyond doubt, correct We have CORE
sponded with soldiers and officers all over the
world. The correspondence relative to the bat
tie of Shiloh alone would be something extraor-
binary for an outsider to see. In several cases
my father has sent men to the old battlefelds to
measure distances In fact. every assertion
contained in these papers can be proved
In reply to my question as to the Gener
ais method of composing, Colonel Grant said:
my father never employs a secretary
or stanographer. He writes every word him
self Then l usually read aloud to him his
manuscript correcting as he suggests. He
ALio0AA 1AAeH CopieS ILLS uldhuScflpb, sometimes
adding great deal, ] again go through it, and
so careful is he and so anxious to make this
contribution to the war history of our country
worthy of the place which without egotism he
aspires to- that no labor on his part is too ardu-
Gus for its accomplishment The paper on
Shiloh, which carried to the publisher myself
yesterday, was written and rewritten six times
before he was willing to give it to the public
Besides these separate articles my father has
commenced history of the war, which he pro
poses to have published in book form. He has
already written about l, 200 or 1900 pages of
manuscript of this"