The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1891-07-16
HOW He APPEARS TO HIS
OLD ACQUAINTANCES
AT BAR HARBCR.
He MAJ BE A VERY SICK Ian
Or 1t May BE that the Great statesman's
Condition Is Being Utilized for Po-
litical Effect - What His
Physician Says.

NEW YORK, July 12.-The Herald
prints the following from its special
correspondent at Bar Harbor, Me-. 1t
is still question among those who
think themselves in position to know,
whether James G. Blaine will return
to his duties at Washington in the fall
or whether he has come to Bar Harbor
to die. l think l am safe in making
these two statements: First, that
Blaine is by no means the man he was
a year ago, and that the habitues of
Bar Harbor are shocked at the change;
second, that if Blaine is really dying,
from whatever cause, he is dying very
gamely, and is making such
fight against the grim monster
as only a man of his iron will can
make. To sum up the situation, then,
Blaine may be wreck, but he may be
one of that particular kind of wrecks
which laugh scientific deductions in
the face and refuse to sink. What
can you expect of a dying man, who,
rain or shine, insists on driving his
twenty miles a day? People who
have known Blaine for years are i'm
pressed blythe difference in his man
ner and expression. You cannot indt-
cate precisely in lines and objectives
what the difference is. You cannot
indicate the difference between sun
rise and sunset, but you know
that difference is there. You
feel it. Mrs. Blaine and her
daughter Mrs. Damrosch are-and this
is on best uthority-almost worried
to death about the condition of him
who is so dear TO them, and whose con
dition they appear to understand by
loving intuition far better than doc
tors with their learned formulas. AS
one of the physicians told me, there
are no drugs or medicines which can
do the great statesman any good. Who
knows the great recipe for calming
the nerve centers of an overworked
brain? No one. The patient will
either pull through or he won't, and
that is all there is to it.
WHAT HIS PHYSICIAN SAYS.
"What is the trouble with Blaine,
doctor?' l asked today.
His nerves; nothing but his nerves."
answered DR.. J M. Taylor of Philadel-
phia, the nerve specialist, who is in
constant attendance.
Then he has not bright's disease,
as repcrted?"
"Emphatically not. His kidneys
are as sound as any MANS"
And he is not suffering from paral-
ysis?"
mo, indeed. Do you think man
who had paralysis could drive about
as he does?"
But isn't his stomach all gone to
pieces? They say he can take no
nourishment except milk"
Nonsense. Blaine eats and enjoys
three square meals daily, composed
pretty much of dishes that you and l
eat. He has touch of dyspepsia now
and then, but not more than most
Americans of his age"
"Then you think he will get well?"
Enthusiastically During five weeks
he has been here he has made steady
improvement and will go back to
Washington all ready for the load of
work before him."
Such is his physicians statement
Some persons accept it as gospel truth,
while others shake their heads and re-
fuse to be convinced.
HIS DAILY HABITS.
The statesman's daily life is as fol-
lows: He rises at $50 or 8 o'clock, puts
on comfortable black costume and
after a hearty breakfast proceeds to
read the newspapers; his morning meal
is steak or chop-never fried, for he
cannot eat greasy food-and coffee
He never drinks any alcoholic liquors
and does not care much for tea. An
hour after breakfast is devoted to
the news of the day and he has never
yet been so i'll that he could not go
through more or less thoroughly the
file of newspapers which arrive daily.
Occasionally Mrs. Blaine or Mrs. En-
nous Blaine reads to him certain ar
ticles which he indicates, but usually
he finds that method of getting news
too slow for his swift, absorbing mind
After 1890 the old black horse, Ken.
lucky thoroughbred, is at the door
with an unpretentious phaeton, in
which Blaine prefers to take his morn
ing drive. Mrs. Damrosch usually ac-
companies him and does the driving
for the vehicle will hold only two per-
sons, and Mrs. Blaine is too timid 70
handle the reins. Blaine himself does
not drive because he is not strong
enough to make such an effort. After
the drive comes dinner at 1870, for
which Blaine has an excellent appe-
tite. That done he lies down on a
lounge and watches his two little
grand children play about the room
or picks up his favorite series of great
mems lives and reads chapter or two
before falling into his afternoon nap,
which usually lasts an hour and a
half. A hired conveyance is then
brought TO the door and the second
drive of the day is begun.
AN INTERVIEW.
The Sun contains a special from Bar
Harbor giving an account of an inter
view with Blaine. In it Blaine is
quoted as follows: II am not dying at
all. l am not as strong as John L..
Sullivan, but good for many years yet.
As for being weak and exhausted that's