Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1891-05-04
THAT CORK KILLED HIM.
Brave DIR. Boutwell, Gave Up
at Last.
THE MINISTER'S STRANGE MIsHAP
The little Cork That Lodged in His
Lung Defied the SKIN Of Brooklyn
Rest Physicians aud Finally Ended hi,
Life-History of the Case.


church on Classon avenue, Brooklyn, dice
at the Brooklyn hospital last night at o;2'
o'clock The accident which resulted In
his death was the inhaling OF a cork int
the bronchial tube. Several surgical opera
tions and all that medical skill and Ia
gcnuity could devise failed to remove th,
obstruction. Ills bravery was remarkable
throughout the trying ordeal
Remarkable Case.
The case has attracted widespread atten
ton in medical circles It's history fol
lows On Saturday, April rs, Dr. Boutwell,
started to give his child dose Of castoria
Placing her ON his knee, he pulled th,
cork from the bottle with his teeth, while
he poured the medicine into teaspoon
He was in the act Of giving it to the chile
when the other daughter, who had beer
playing on the floor, came running up AND
cried, Papa, give me some.n This struck
DR.. Boutwell, as particularly funny as b,
thought of the advertisements which say,
"Children cry for IL. Z
He laughed aloud, and the bottle cork
which was between his lips, slipped down
into his throat beyond the root OF the
reach the cork with his finger, but he
managed only to push it further down
After a time the cork, assisted by his
efforts to get Il out. slid past the spiglottis
into the larynx. When he found that j
was liable to remain there, he called IL
DR. Biggam, who at once decided that il
was a verg serious case.
He Coughcd Almost Constantly.
II
Westerhrook, were sent for, aud after
careful examination they decided that the
cork had passed through the throat ane
was lodged in the traehea. In making the
examination the patients tongue ana
throat were painted swith cocaine, and q
small mirror was introduced into the
mouth. It was found that the throat was
intensely irrtated.
The physicians came to the conclusion
that It would be better to let nature oper
ate ON the cork than to perform surgical
operation. They all agreed that he would
dslodge it in a fit Of coughing The next
day Sunday he preached twice to his con
gregation After the morning discourse
he had a fit Of coughing which nearly end.
ed his life The last part Of the evening
sermon was delivered in a hoarse whisper.
All that night and the next day be
| coughed almost constantly.
The Horizontal Bar Treatment.
On Tuesday he was taken 20 the Union
/ League club, where he was suspended on
a horizontal bar, with his head and feel
close to the floor Several prominent ply
sicians were there, and every effort was
made to extract the cork. They were III
vain. however, and it was finally decided
that a surgical operation was necessary.
DR. Boutwell, consented, and was induced
to 20 to the Brooklyn hospital There Or.
John u. Rushmore, the visiting surgeon,
took complete charge of the case, and on
Thursday performed the operation Of
trackeotomy.
In Quest OF the Cork.
The patient was etherized and a long
longitudinal incision was made in the
throat below the cricoid cartilage A large
section Of the windpipe was exposed, and
a good view Of the trachea was obtained.
DR.. Rushmore inserted pair Of long for.
ceps into the trachea and down into the
left bronchus, and although he could feel
the cork every effort to remove il was I'M.
successful.
Other instruments were used, and after
working on him for two hours, Dr. Rush
more suspended the operation on accou nt
of the weak condition Of Dr. Boutwell,.
Eminent physicians say that the cork was
pushed further down into the bronchial
tube during this operation.
A Corkscrew Was Used.
Last Tuesday Dr. Rushmore made an
other incision In the windpipe and in
serted long wire into the trachea in or
der to definitely locate the cork He de-
1s.I .
Of the left bronchus. Then he called In
the leading surgeons Of Brooklyn in con
sultation and explained 20 them that be
would try another operation with new
instrument which he had had made. This
was long catheter with a corkscrew at
tached, by which he hoped to extract the
impedment.
Some OF the physicians, it is said, ex-
pressed the opinion that the operation
would not be successful but Dr. Rush
more was confident
On Wednesday DR.. Boutwell, was again
etherized and the corkscrew catheter in
serted into the trachea. This second at
tempt to extract the cork was also fail.
ure, and the patient was almost dead when
Dr. Rushmore decided that it would be
useless TO continue the attempt
An Unsuccessful Operation.
It was next decided 70 cut along the up
per edge OF the collar bone on the left side
in the hope that the left bronchus might
be seized and elevated sufficiently TO make
an incision into it and get the cork.
The muscles were divided with great
caution, as there are large blood vessels in
this locality. Everything went smoothly
until there was a sudden rush Of blood
after a downward cut with the knife. The
hemorrhage was so severe that the opera
tion had to be stopped.
DR.. Boutwell, rallied somewhat the next
day, but on Friday he became very much
worse and sank slowly until he died
Dr. Boutwell, was born in Ohio forty-one
years ago and graduated at the Adrian
(Mich.) college. He afterward entered Yale
college and in 1876 became Congrega-
tional minister. His first charge was New
comerstown, 0. In 1878 he went to Fos-
toria, o., and from there he went south,
being appointed president Of the Southern
University of Louisiana. He afterward ac-
cepted call from the Second Congrega-
tional church, Of Oakland, Cal, and last
January came from the latter place to
Brooklyn. His wife and two young chill
dren survive him.
Fell sixty Feet to Death