The morning news., 1889-05-06
NO PAIN IN DEATH.
A PHYSICIAN TALKS ON A VERY
CRU SOME TOPIC.

DIR. Shrady, Gen. Grants Physician,
Says the Great warrior Was the
Bravest Man He Ever Saw Dying
Women Pluckier Than Men When
the Moment of Dissolution Com es-
Death by Hanging Doesn't Hurt, It's
All in Anticipation Cripples and
Invalids Whom Science Has Enabled
to Live.
NEW YORK, May 4.-One day this week
the writer was sitting in the office of DR..
Shrady, editor of the Medical Record, d
the physician who attended General Grant
in his last illness. Ths death agonIes Of
fiction writer's came up in the course of
conversation, and the question is death
painless naturally suggested itself. DR..
Shrady is a man of commanding presence,
of aggressive disposition, and positiveness
in his tones.
Speaking generally" said he, "the death
agony is very rarely attended by pain be-
cause the system is always prepared for
death by weakening of the vital TO ces,
by the circulation Of impure blood through
the brain and by the obtunding of tue
nerves or course some people have more
pain Undu OLueIS anu JLlS 10 uSb T.
mined by temperament. A nervous man
all other things being equal-suffers more
pain than a man who has enjoyed
robust health, because the ner-
vous mans sensibilities are stronger,
but the pain of death is IN re
in the antici alton of it than in the reality.
The instinct for life is strong in man, and
the teachings of the present dav as well as
the writings of our novelsts do not make
ha nf ma a ha raaHu fp
die. Hel-fire is not preached as much as
formerly; it is an unpopular doctrine, but
it is nevertheless taught, and often adds to
the torture OF dying people.
"What people are the most afraid to diep'
my own experience, strange as it may
seem, has taught me tnat ch iStia1 people
are, as rule, the mos afraid to die. My
pr fes iol has brought me into contact
with all sorts OF men, and / avs made
study Of aath from psychol Dgical sta ID
point, aud / have found that toe bes iris
tian are the most willing to st p out of
heaven as 10 ig as possible Tney all want
TO get there, but ley're in no urry. The
scientific philosopher who weighs the
chances, who kno vs. that death is newt
able, who recognizes that tn re Is no way
escape since everyone before him fas
had to meet tae grin visitor, meets dea h
as bravely as aIy. He knows that the
necessity of dying is the penalty or living.
He regards it from purely matter of fact
standpoint, and he is fully aware of the fact
that no argument or theory will take off its
edge"
II am talking like an agnostic, am 1
not g. broke in the doctor parelthetically, y,
"but | am believer in christianity for all
that, aid what have told you is the res lit
of my experience as physician and quite
apart from nv own prefere ces.n
"What religious sect show the most
bravery in the face of deathm
"The Ca holics l thi TX. That religion
prepares perso IS for death as far as out
ward semblancs is concerned, better thaa
any other. Toe reason OF this is, | sup
pose, the into Ise and deeply-roo led b3lief
In tn ir religion. The mind of a
Catholic is much more at ease
after he has received the last sacrament
of the church-the sacrament of extreme
unction. The pulse sometimes has re-
newed strength after the JUNCTION has been
given. To illustrate this | might say
that had to perform an important opera
tion on either Catholic or Presbyterian
all other things being equal-and provided
the Catholic had seen the priesy beforehand,
! wou d rather operate on the Catholic be-
caui he woul be in better nervous condi-
ton than the Presbyterian. had to attend,
a short time ago, noted revlvalis5 VINO was
living, | suppose, in state of religious ex-
dlU lJlOl, a lu ~ no was at GQ0
thought of approac ling death.
"Wno was the br west person in the face
of death you b We ever seenE'
"Gen. G. ant. Gen. Grant in his last ILL
ness was an exa nple of man who could
face death without fear. Grant was a man
who had faced dea many a time, a nj Lad
schooled himself to expect it, He was pre-
pared in every way for it, and think that
everything that has beel said about his
r,,I - laNa e,
be hero to the very last has not been
exaggerated at all. 10 one VINO saw MIN
d lring his trial-and it was one of the
most severe trla anyone could have
he appeared to be the typical hero. He
suffered from disease which did not in
terfere with any of the function of life.
an left the man open to view himself in
respectively with apparently no hindrance.
Death nId gripped him by the throat as it
were, yet during that time he never com
planned, and would often speak calmly of
the approaching end, just as person would
speak about gol & on an ordinary journey
He was the type of thoroughly we'll l-edu-
Gated man who, ike all ed Icated men, did
not expect impossible things to occdr, and
knowing that he hid to die ne faced il
bravely. He said to me % day: Il have
besn linking of taking this Iurney all
my life, and now thai tn, time has come
l am ready to start This was the
only reference | ever heard him make 10
his approaching end. His great idea was
to be free from pain If possible, and he
asked me if it could be guar lnteed, thus
showing that his mind was fully made up
to Ie inc liable ch aracter of the disease,
and the end was to come | assured him
that it was quite possible and we kept our
promise. He died without pain, which was
his reward. He faced ths music like the
grand old soldier that be was. He was no
doubt buoyed up by the sympathy of his
frie ids. He would 81 and look off in the
distance in a sad and dreamy sort of way
which impressed those about him with the
fact that his thoughts were beyond the line
of time. To SUN up, he was type to all
the world of how a man can meet death
with calm ness and b avery.
Speaking generally" 90 1tinued the doc
tor, "men of education face dea with
greater fortirude than men who are not
educated. Philosophy has great deal to
do wit the art of dying, although the
christian religion has been great comfort
to the human race in preparing the way for
death and in giving hope ota life hereafter,
amounting in some cases almost TO reali-
zation of better country beyond the line
of time"
care men or women the braver in facing
deathr'
Women are almost always pluckier than
men. They endure pain mnch better. Have
you ever observed how irritable a man is
who is suffering from toothache or neural
gla, but a woman will often suffer with ut