Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-03-01
GRANT SLOWLY DYING.
MEDICAL SCIENCE BARELsD.

NEW YORK, February est was
said by General Grants physicians this
evening that his condition is more criti-
cal tonight than at any time during his
illness. Among his numerous friends
anxious inquiries were made as to his
condition, coupled with expressions Of
hope that reports had been exaggerated
and that the General would soon be
restored to health.
The recent publication Of an editorial
which had been prepared for a medical
journal upon the subject of his health,
in which the opinion was expressed that
all danger was over for the present at
least, had the effect Of allaying all ap-
prehensions which had arisen in the
minds of his friends. Consequently,
the startling intelligence as to his APP
parent hopeless condition was wholly
unexpected and a most painful surprise.
tits now believed that the malady with
which General Grant is suffering can
not but have a fatal termination, and
also that his dissolution may take place
within very short time-a few months
being the maximum period of his
life, with the chances that a much
shorter time-possibly few hours
will end his earthly career. All
the physicians in attendance upon
him concur in this view of the case,
and the Generals immediate family
have abandoned all hope Of his recovery.
His wife and all his children, with the
exception Of Mrs. Sartoris. who has been
cabled for :from' England, are grouped
around the bedside Of the General, and
their deep sorrow, which has been ex-
cited by the knowledge that his condi-
ton battles medical science, is intensified
by a realization Of the painful fact that
his sufferings are oil the most intense
character.
He can only have temporary relief
while sleeping, and even this has, du-
ring the past few days, become almost
an impossibility, as insomnia has been
added to his other complications, so
that he is practically an almost con-
tinual sufferer. The crash of the firm
of Grant & Ward had a very depress-
ing effect upon the General, and he has
since appeared only at intervals.
His slip on the sidewalk while get
ting in his carriage on Christmas-eve,
1888, fractured one of his limbs so seri-
ously that he has not since been able to
move about without crutches. Later on,
what he believed to be a small canker-
sore appeared at the base Of his tongue,
and pulyerized alum was resorted to
to kill it. but inflammation set in,
and the General suffered SO greatly
that he called in his physicians.
A careful examination soon convinced
them that cancer had formed aud was
spreading its poison through his sys-
TEN. They were baffied at every point,
and finally they admit that the cancer is
deep-seated, and that medical skill is
powerless to avert its inevitable re-
suits.
General Grant presents pitiable ap-
persnce at present. His face and head
are bandaged. his eyes are sunken, and
his face bears sallow hue. while his
hair and beard have whitened greatly.
He talks less than usual, is peevish and
fretful. and his family humor him
as if he were a child. He labors
all day over his Century Magazine
articles, working himself up to such \
pitch of excitement that he is troubled
with insomnia, and is losing all his en-
ergy. This is the worst form Of his
disease. and has brought about loss Of
appetite. His doctors assert that he is
subsisting largely upon his vital tissues,
and is growing perceptibly weaker hour
by hour. His only nourishmcnt is
chopped meat and liquids, which he has
no appetite for and eats only by force
of will-power, knowing that he must
keep up his strength.
~ did not 90 up on Friday night, :"
said DR.. Douglas to-day. 1.-The Gene
raj insisted that should not come be-
cause it would tire me-"
Does the General Know that he
must die:'
Yes. he knows il. and yet he doesn't
want to know it. He may live three
months, but cancer of the throat is sell
dom cured. If he dies before that time
it will be from lack of nourishment.
His system will waste away, and he
will die of weakness and exhaustion
=" DO you think that the state Of his
mind has had much to do with his III
health"
Yes. great deal to do with It,.
His trouble was aggravated first by his
fall last year, which affected his general
health but | have no doubt that the
failure of the firm Of Grant 4 Ward,
and especially the recent discussions in
Congress about his retirement, worried
him greatly.
The fund of $3.50. 900 raised for Gene
raj Grants support few years ago, IS
invested in Wabash railroad preferred
bonds. the trustees having so placed it
at the suggestion of Jay Gould and the
late Edwin ID. Morgan. The road
is in the hands of receiver
and no securities are paying any
dividends. To provide against precisely
this contingency Ex-Governor Morgan
made a personal guarantee OF the in
terest OH the trust fund for five years.
and it is from his estate that the SIS. 900
a year received 10y General Grant is
drawn.
General Grants estate is heavily
mortgaged, and consists Of the house
he now occupies, residences in Wash
ington, Galena. Long Branch, and st.
Louis, and the Dent farm. on the Ora
yers road near st. Louis.
His war mementoes, gifts from per-
sonal friends and foreign nations, his
paintings, statuary, and bric-a-brac were
mortgaged to William III. Vanderbilt to
secure his loan of $50, 900, and have
since been decided to the United States
in trust until General Grants death,
when they are to be placed in the Smith
sonian Institution.