Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-11-26
MIR. BLAINE MAY DIE
His Condition Acknowledged
TO Be Serious.
HIS PHYSICIANS WON'T TALK,
But IN Il Known That the Secretary L.
Suffering From Senous and Per-
hAPs Fatal Illness.

W s@''A1f-'AAfg -@e'~ -
Blaine lice in bed critically Ill. He
may recover and be able 10 get around
again. and he may never leave us bed
sIiye. In either event bis phyaclan
will not DO surprised. Securing infor-
nation Of = reliable character concern
ing Mr.. Blaine 10 attended by the very
greatest difficulty. and one must be
eonIent with . general rather tnan .
particular knowledgs OF ms condition.
1, IS amply impossible TO obtain any
lnfoTmAuon At the house. Mira. Blaine
has instructed the servants to say MOTH
ing. and she herself viii not be inter
viewed. Mrs. Blaine has also placed q
seal on the doctors lips. and all ne can
DO 10 10 roll his eyes and sigh and snake
hrs head when questioned b. newspaper
men, But all talk to their friends, and
tneae friends talk 10 whom they please.
smpiication ef AiimsntA
According to one Of them, . very
prominent government ofnciai, Mr.
blaIne's cond ltlon IL serious. The ex-
act nature Of mis- complaint Is not
known. It started with q cold, which
was followed by fever. But MS cold
and fever have entirely disappeared,
leaving him, however, entirely pros
trated. The family regard MS condi-
ton a. the result OF . complication of
ailments, and they. fear that 1t means
the beg nning OF the end. There is
not the slightest doubt that the family
- greatly alarmed and apprehensive OF
tbs worst.
In the early part of the week nothing
serious WAS considered the matter.
One of the pnysicians attending him
staked his professional reputation on
the statement that nothing was wrong
with MIR. BlAlne's vital organs, and he
was particularly positive in declaring
that his patient did not have Brighrs
disease This same physician said to-
day that he desired TO take back what
he had said earlier in the week; but he
declined 10 state what discovery he had
made. He declined even To hint wheth-
er IL Was the discovery of something that
had existed before or WAS the ARRIVAL of
some new complication. He simply
took back what he had said . few days
before, and that Was all. The patent
has been delirious ut times since the
change for the worse which set IN
"Wednesday night No one except the
family and physician 10 allowed In the
sick room ana the family are 90 very
retcent about tho secrets OF that place
as W make it impossible TO state posi-
lively Just what form his delrium
takes From . word dropped here and
there, however, ~ - inferred that the
great ex-secretary 10 ~ times unable to
recognize anybody.
Could xes See Halstead.
DIR. Hyatt. who was first called to at
tend MIR. Blssne, 10 . specialist in dis
eases OF the throat and lungs, but
when ne learned ths nature OF Mr..
Blaine's complaint he at once informed
the family that It was . case outside of
his province, and that the service of .
skilled general practitioner was needed.
This of itself shows conclusively that
other than the bronchial organs are
affected. DIR. W. W. Johnson was
summoned and u now in attendance.
An occurrence on Wednesday night,
which weakened Mr.. Blaine, would
lead To the supposition that the trouble
was intestinal, but this Is denied.
Murat Halstead called at the Blaine
house tnis noon and asked to see him.
He was told that Blaine. was taking hrs
that ne was little better and intended
TO get up.
Another friend Of the Blaine family
said this afternoon that the basis of the
ex-secretary's trouble was the absolute
refusal Of MS digestive organs 10 per-
form their functions. "Mr. Blaine "a
unable To take much OF any nourish-
ment." he added. 'He can scarcely
retain any nourishment on his stomach
and because of such inability he is
very weak. The family hope that he
will rally and be himself again, but
that ~ very doubtful. He may re-
cover sufficiently TO be about, but he
will be an invalid for the rest of his
life
was Better Yesterday.
Or. Johnson was seen late this after
noon and consented 10 give a brief
statement of MS patent's condition.
'sMr. Blame is better this afternoon
than ne was yesterday" he ssid. "He
was sitting up Ia bed and talked clearly
and rauonaiiy. lie was not IN the
less, delirious. and believe that un-
less he hss an unexpected relapse he
viii De down stairs in q tsy o. two"
"Nhst - the real trouble with him.
<tft hNr 61tVNr4 w trtt ft1s tC
family requested me TO say nothing,
and naturally conform 70 the request
/ ought rot, I fear. to have told 60
much ss have"
The doctor acted a. If he did not be-
lieve what he ssid and that he would
tell different tale If ne we're permit
ted 10 talk.
Mr.. Blame, since his return TO Wash
inston ia October. continued. until re-
Gently. apparently IN unusually good
health ss compared with the long per-
rod OF physical depression which pre-
vailed during the summer a. Bar Har.
bor. Persons who saw HIM then a. ii
that be wsss very sex man. How
ever, upon his return to Washington
he resumed work IN hls library and
wss busIy engaged. Il Was SAID, upon q
.sv,s,ou or continuance Of his book
F~a.,fv Years IN f-ofszreszH -