The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-04-17
CASE OF ACTOR HESS
PLUNGED A DAGGER INTO HIS OWN
HEART AND DID NOT DIE.
Wound Was First Pronounced Fatal
but the Surgeons Experimental
and Saved the Mans Life.
San Francisco Chronicle.


When men receive knife wounds in the
heart the public demands that they keel
gracefully ever and die. This is a time
honored custom, and the exceptions to 1t
are few and far between. There is one in
this city, however, and his case has already
become celebrated in local medical circles.
He is Clyde Hess, actor. Less than a year
ago, in an alcoholic freak, he jabbed the
point of q dagger into his heart, and yet
he lives to act in as good, If not better.
health than ever. The Pacific Medical
Journal, in its current issue. devotes
two pages to a review of the case and the
course of treatment followed by DR.. Teni-
son Deane, the attending surgeon.
Hess was in the Auditorium saloon on
Powell street about o'clock on the after
noon of June last. He had been drinking
quite heavily during the day and was
much the worse for wear. Accompanying
him were several well-known theatrical peo-
pie They, all lined up to the bar, ordered
drinks and were talking on the first sub
ject at hand when suddenly, without
word of warning, Hess drew a dagger from
his pocket and plunged 1t into his breast.
So quickly was 1t done that his compan-
Ions thought he was going through mock
the oor and agnss the
A moment later the bloody dagger fell
a9m his aaa as the peod od
to the floor stabbed to the heart
When laid on the operating table at the
the weapon had penetrated to a depth Of
four and a half inches into the chest The
of the sternum and over the fourth rib.
The point of the knife had slipped over the
bone and passed through the fourth inter
costal space and through the wall of the
left ventricle of the heart. The wound was
INN ediately pronounced fatal.
An antiseptic dressing was applied and
the patient put to bed. An icebag was
placed over the dressing and ergot and
heart beat was $50 per minute and very
irregular, there being a distinct murmur
at the second heart sound. Hess recov-
very weak from loss of blood and the con-
dition of his heart. Respiration was seri,,
eighteen ounces of blood. little more than
a pint, by using an aspirator: After this
the heart beat improved. although there
was marked mitral reorganization. The pa
tient was then given small doses OF con-
vaIlaria majalis every three hours. =,
provement in the condition of Hess. Anoth-
er pint of blood was drawn off and the
later he was removed to his home, and the
very next day had two fainting spells DR..
nature of the original wound fluid and air
could be expelled, but none could enter.
was at least half an inch higher than where
1T had penetrated the intercostal space, the
passage forming valve which allowed the
outward passage of fluids, but remained
closed to the outside air. From this fact
alone the case was a remarkable one, not
to speak of the manner in which the heart
stood the rough manipulation necessary to
the treatment followed.
With a contrivance composed of a double
catheter, an inspirator and a douche bag,
the surgeon was able to Siphon off the
cumuiation and wash out the cavity with
yer catheter was put through the wound
and passed around the heart From June
IL to July 6 the doucheS were kept up reg
ularly, and on July 10 the patient felt quite
WELL The wound troubled him no longer
and nothing remained but the valvular trou-
Hess was then removed to Fruitvale to
rest until the original wound healed up.
Aug. 1 He called at the house where
his patient was stopping and found. him
that heart trouble still existed and all the
idiopathic symptoms of mitraI regurgita-
that Hess should rest and continue s''' the
doses of convallaria majalis DIR. Deane
passed, when, after a careful examination.
he could discern not the least heart MUIR
mi, mnr During nsa the thirty days preceding
dition. Hess stated that he had been i'll
for three days during the middle of the
pain in his heart and a rapid irregular
Since that time Clyde Hess has been a
well man, despite the fact that the knife
of Bandit Sontag had punched a hole in
the silver catheter of the surgeon and the
fingers of that gentleman had pushed the
peculiar feeling. Heas toid his d agan
came over him as these foreign bodies
touched he'd the he heart rather numbing than
ing juvenile roles and is now preparing
to go on on the ne road GA with a company. He
plunge any more daggers into himself and
has no pleasant recollection of the
last attempt, save his remarkable recov-
cry.
That it was remarkable recovery is
attested by the most eminent authorities
". a
standard, In sslpSsakng of wounds of the
ally Immediately fatal from the loss of
blood and the nervous shock the patient
on record, however, of persons who have
walked or run some considerable distance
after receiving a wound of the heart.
'Drs. Oliver and Samson" continued
Erickson, have collated twenty-nne cases
of penetrated wound of the heart that did
the receipt of the injury. On analysis it is
found that the rapidfty of the death depends
the part of the organ injured When the
wound is parallel to the axis of the heart
rection. The wounds of the auricle are
more Immediately followed by death than
those of the ventricle."
Without referring to numerous cases re-
ported by earlier surgeons there are a suf-
modern writer's to prove that an individual
may live for many days and even recover
tour, French army surgeon. records the
case of soldier who lived for six years
! after having been wounded with a musket
| ball in the right ventricle. The ball was
found in the heart at the post norton.
DIR. G. Fisher. an eminent German pro-
| lessor. who has written an extensive
treatise on wounds of the heart, mentions
| one case. that of a bell-hanger. who was
/ shot, the bullet lodging in the left VEN
| tricle. He lived for twenty years after the
| shooting, and at the post mortem the bullet
| was found encapsuled.
These cases are not numerous enough to
| take from the luster of Hess's achievement
| in perssting to live and grow well and
| act strongly after the dig he gave himself
| in that organ. with which actors, we'll
| as other people. are supposed to love- He
| remains a wonder to the world and some
| what of conundrum to the doctors.
! Suunttera Elected.