Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-07-03
RETURN OF SENSATION.
Morris Adler I'm Better Condition than at
Any Time Since He was Shot.

Any Time Since He was Shot.
KRr, But THE DocroRs ARE xor 80 sAxeurxx-'
PARALYSIS YIELDING 10 TREArnESr-A kKxI-
NIscxSck
Optimistic friends Of Morris Adler who are
fully informed as TO his condition. say to-day
that the sick man Il better; is on the high
road TO recovery. This Is undoubtedly an
exaggeratedly hopeful view Of the case, but
there is a reason for il, and to the non-experts
toierably satisfactory one. This morning all
the doctors in the case were in consultation
and were, perhaps, little surprised TO see such
marked Improvement in their patient
STAR reporter sought out DR.. J. W. Bayne,
and the doctor said that many of the promi-
nently bad symptoms in the case were slightly
aIneliorated The wound was healthy and
there was little or no discharge therefrom.
The tumefaction had subsidized and there was
SLIGHT RETURN OF SENSATION.
For timepit will be remembered, there was
total paralysis Of both motion and sensa-
ton. That of motion is still complete, but
Adler s now able TO locate, with a fair
degree Of exactness, any pinching
or other tests applied by the physicians. This
return OF sensation has been gradual for the
past day or two, and seems TO be growing
daily. The indications now are that a reparatiye
process is going on and the patients general
condition proves very conclusively that the
surgeons were right in not operating for the
ball, which is now probably becoming encysted
and harmless.
THE PATIENT MUCH BETTER.
Nearly all last night Adler slept well, having
administered to him only the usual quantity of
morphia. This morning his appetite was
better, his mind clearer, his respira-
ton more easy, and his temperature
lower than at any time since he became the
involuntary depository of Wards bullet. Hope
is just as strong In Adler's breast Us il ever
was, and there is no doubt that his determine
ton is giving him material aid
THE DOCTORS PLEASED But By NO MEANS HOPEFUL
The doctors, while naturally pleased at the
success Of their treatment, are not at all hope
full Of the ultimate result of the struggle, al
though on the fifteenth day after receiving his
| injury Adler is in a better condition in every
way than he has been since the morning after
he was shot.
A large number Of people, friends of the
Adler residence each day to make inquiry
as to the patients condition.
THE SURGICAL ASPECT OF THE CASE
Adler's tenacious clinging to life with a
mortal wound makes the case Of unusual in
terest The friends Of Ward watch with anxiety
the reports from the wounded man and hope
that the event may prove the unfavorable
judgment OF the surgeons in charge Of the case
| to be wrong. The location Of the ball is not
yet definitely known, and, in fact, the conclu-
sion OF the surgeons as to the nature Of the in
jury, as STAR reporter was informed, is based
on the external symptoms largely and not on
any exploration of the track of the bullet.
| Probing or incision to the seat of the injury,
the surgeons concluded, would be attended
vu-rth oh 20 - II 49,
Their judgment as to the character of the in
jury and as to the impracticability Of an opera
| ton was confirmed as stated by The STAR. by
DR.. Agnew when he came from Philadelphia.
DIR. Agnew made an independent examination
| and measurements and concluded. as the sur
geons in attendance had already decided, that
it was the fourth cervical vertebra that was in
| jured. condition that served to increase the
difficulties of an operation at the beginning
was the unusual thickness or feshiness of the
wounded mans neck. One of the surgeons
stated that he passed the probe three inches
through the thick flesh and muscles without
reaching the bone. This condition is changed
| somewhat now by emaciation. The ball may
be imbedded in the bone or between two YER
| Zebra, or in the flesh and muscles beyond
| Whatever the case is as to the location of the
ball, the surgeons do not believe that il is now
doing harm sufficient to justify the dangerous
operation necessary to remove it, Their view
is that the serious injury to the spinal cord was
| done by the ball IN Its passage, and the re-
moval Of the ball will not remedy that.
| A SIMILAR CASE
An analogous case to Adler's, so one Of the
surgeons told STAR reporter was that of Mr.
A. NJ Soteldo, who was shot in the RepubIicdn
Office several years ago during difficulty with
| Clarence NJ. Barton. The fatal shot fractured
| the fourth cervical vertebra in Soteldo's case
| and iacerated the spinal cord so that the body
| was completely paralyZed below the neck. So
| teldo lived only few hours. One of the at
tending surgeons, discussing the Adler case
with STAE reporter, said that the circum-
stances of the shooting, as related to him, led
| to the copclusion that the injury 10 the spinal
cord wasdone at once by the ball in its pas
| sage, and was not the result, as some had
| theorized, of a hemorrhage and consequent
formation of a blood clot. Adler, as he
| was informed, fell. when shot, like a log. If
the spinal cord had not been injured by the
shot the wound was not of a character that
would have brought him to the ground in that