The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-03-18
REMARKABLE, INDEED
A Woman Lives With an Awful Cash
in Her Throat
MAY EVENTUALLY RECOVER
At First the Physicians Thought
Mrs. Kate Curran's Life Was
Matter of but ew
Short Hours.

Although the age of miracles is pop
ularly supposed TO be a thing OF the
past, the fact that Mrs. Kate Curran.
who cut a deep cash six inches long in
her throat Monday night in an attempt
to commit suicide, has fairly started
on the road to recovery within "a hours
after the injury was inflicted. causes
one to seriously doubt that such is
actually the case. 1t was thought for
two hours yesterday that her death
was only a matter of a few minutes.
and when Tuesdays Standard went to
press, DR. Wells. who had been watch
ing the case closely for three hours be-
lieved that death would ensue in a
very short time. The terrible wound
looked as though 1t was sufficient to
cause almost instant death, and even
the doctors were surprised when there
was still life i'm the woman an hour
after she cut her throat. When she
continued to breathe through her sew
cred windpipe for three hours the case
became a remarkable one and the med
ical men regarded IL with undisguised
wonder and surprise.
At O'Clock the woman commenced
to sink and thinking that death would
follow Immediately the coroner sum-
moned his undertaking wagon. The
wagon was not needed. however A
little after 3 O'Clock Mrs. Curran raj
lied sufficiently to Justify her removal
and she was taken to DR.. Wells hos
pital as quickly as possible and Drs.
Wells and Kress operated on her. She
was in a state of complete collapse.
and when she was laid on the opera
ting table there was absolutely no rad
zeal and scarcely any carotid pulse.
Heart stimulants were injected and
she was surrounded by hot water
bags The wound in her neck was then
washed out, and the severed windpipe
was sewed up with silk worm gut 2S
stitches being taken in It,
In addition to severing the windpipe
the keen bread knife exposed the caro-
It'd artery, so that its pulsations could
be plainly seen and also cut through
the outside coverings of the external
Jugular vein. 1t did not cut deep
enough, however. to weaken the inner
covering sufficiently for II to give way.
The severed muscles of the neck were
sewed up after which the gashes in the
throat were sewed up with 20 more
stitches. The patient became uncon-
scious before the operation was fin
ished and asked for a glass of water.
The operation required about an hour
and a half and was very successful.
Mrs. Curran continued to grow
stronger during the day and last eve
ming her condition was such that the
physicians were confident of her re-
covery, unless some unlocked for COM
plications arise. The doctors believe
that she is deranged, although she
talks quite nationally at times. She
told the nurse that she knew what she
was doing when she attempted to kill
herself and that she was sorry the at
tempt had not been successful She
said that she became awfully angry
because her husband spent Monday
evening up town. She insisted that she
wanted 70 die and yesterday afternoon
she refused to take nourishment. The
doctors compelled her to eat, however,
after some trouble.
If she gets well, as she probably
will, her recovery will be regarded as
a triumph in surgery.