The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-09-15
DOCTORS TALK
OF DEATH WOUND
Discuss Causes Leading Up to
Gangrene.
WERE MUCH SURPRISED
DECLARE THAT PROCEEDINGS
IN CASE WERE PROPER.

|
result of their autopsy on the presi-
| dents body, that death resulted from
| gangrene of the wounds. led to much
/ discussion of the causes leading up to
| this gangrene. 1t developed that DR..
| Wasdin, one of the consulting physi-
! clans and an expert of high standing
| in the marine hospital service, strongly
| supported the view that the murderous
| bullet had been poisoned, and that this
was one of the moving causes of the
| gangrenOus condition. The area of the
/ dead and gangrened flesh was a source
/ of much surprise to the surgeons,
| reaching a circumference about the
] size of silver dollar about the inter
nal wounds.
] Aside from their official signed state
-, ments, the doctors were averse to dis
| cussing the autopsy, but some general
/ expressions were secured on the points
involved Dr. Matthew d. Mann. the
| surgeon upon whom fell the response
! bility of operating upon the president
! Immediately after he was shot, in the
! course of a cursOry talk said
| First of all, there was never any
/ contention of unseemly discussion
| among the physicians as to the method
| of treatment of a case similar to the
/ present one in Importance. In no case
was there ever a better understanding
! as to what should be done. We worked
| together as one man. There were hon
est differences of opinion among us
sometimes as to which was the better
/ mode of procedure under certain con-
| ditions, but the minority was always
| convinced"
About the criticisms that were made
as to the inSufficiency of the original
| examination and the failure to locate
the bullet at the time of operation,
were they justif1ed?'
Cause of Death Was Gangrene.
Il think the report made today" Dr.
| Mann replied, lis a sufficient answer to
| your question. 1t shows very plainly
| that the location of the bullet had
nothing to do with the final outcome
| of the case That resulted from gan
| creme, which appeared in the path OF
! the bullet. Even our efforts to locate
| 1t, stated in the report, were unsuc-
! cessful. believe it went into the mus
| Gle at the small of the back. We fol-
| lowed the hole made by the bullet until
! 1t went into the muscles We searched
/ one and half hours for the missile of
| death The X-ray instrument was not
/ used, as the appliances were not
! handy The serious damage was done
| to the organs through which il passed
not to the locality where it now
| rests"
Your report says the first bullet
| striking in the breast did no HARM
| Yes. that is correct. That bullet
| evidently struck a button and then
! glanced off without doing any damage.
| Had il not met some obstruction t
surely would have killed the president
! Immediately In the locality where it
/ struck the flesh was flabby and con-
I fused. Today's investigation developed
| the fact that the first bullet struck the
president on the right side of the breast
| bone, near the edge and between the
! second and third ribs. In our original
/ examination we said it was to the left
( Of the breast bone.
1.-The mistake in the first announce
! ment was due to the hasty examination
I 70 a n ShnOtinEr
/ when the question was not so much to
( the exact locality of the wounds as to
getting to work to save the presidents
life
THE reports speak of a lack of evil
/ dence of repair work on the paEt Of ma
| ture. Won't you explain just what
bearing this had on the case at issue?'
Low State of Vitauty.
by that statement we mean that
! the general system of the patient failed
/ to respond to the demand upon it for q
! revival from the shock suffered by the
shooting. 1t was due, probably, to a
low state of vitality, not to poor health.
: mind you, but to a system that was run
down and needed rest and recupera-
ton
THE report says the heart walls
| were very thin. Was this condition
peculiar to the president or is it COM
mon complaint? Did the use of smok-
ing tobacco by the president have any
important bearing on the case?
"A man whose heart walls are very
thin is usually one who leads a Seden-
tary life, and whose heart gets no great
I amount of exercise. This organ, like
any other requires active exercise to
keep it In proper condition. No doubt
the presidents heart was sufhc1ent Tor
him in his ordinary business affairs OF
life, when no strain was required
When extraordinary efforts were nee
essary. the heart was unable to meet
them.
ing habit affected the president 5
heart to the extent of making
it figure in the result of his
case. He was not a. great smoker and
| at one time we even CONSIDERED the
propriety of permitting him to have
/ cigar
TT has been suggested, DR.. Mann,
! that the bullet which went into the
! presidents abdomen was poisoned, and
( that this was what caused death Do
you think there is any basis for these
/ reports?" was asked.
1.-The authorities and the physicians
! have received a number of kilograms
and letters alleging that the bullet was
! poisoned" DR.. Mann replied. I don
know whether it was or not. A chem
ical examination of the remaining bull
lets in the pistol will be necessary to
determine. This conclusion would be
very difficult to reach. for many rea-
"All the tissues through which the
bullet passed were dead. This is very
remarkable, indeed. The area of dead
flesh in the stomach was perhaps as
great as a silver dollar in circumfer-
ence. Dr. Wasdin the marine hos
pitaI expert, was strongly inclined to
the opinion that the bullet had beer
poisoned
Wanted to State Facts.
Just a word in conclusion" said DR.
Mann II think, in justice to the other
physicians and myself, something
should be said about the bulletins is
| sued every day. We aimed to make
them as plain as possible and to state
the facts simply. They were given as
hour to hour talks of the president.
condition, containing no opinions nj
making any representation
narration of conditions, made with
desire TO keep the public informed from
day to day of the actual state of af
| FAIRS"
Another one of the physicians. who
asked that his name should not b,
used, said:
so far as the treatment of the cas-,
was concerned, both from a surgica
; and medical standpoint, il was sue
cessfuL The abdominal wound wa
fatal from the start. The physician
should feel relieved over the result o
the autopsy. because it revealed tn,
fact that the abdominal wound wa