New-York tribune., 1901-09-08
NO FALSE HOPE HELD OUT.
PRESIDENT MKINLEY's PHYSICIANS UN-
ABLE TO PREDICT THE RESULT
PERITONITIS THE DANGER.

PERITONITIS THE DANGER
Buffalo, Sept 7-PresIGent 3IcKinIey's condi.
tion is extremely grave. The crisis will probably
come within twenty-four hours While his ply
. sicians hold out hope. and the developments Of
the day have been somewhat encouragfng. in
that none OF the symptoms of neritonft,z or
: blood poisoning. which they so much dread. have
; appeared medical experience with similar
, wounds strikes terror TO their hearts. and they
. shake their heads gloomiIy when they speak Of
the future. Although their distinguished pa
tents condition has been favorable throughout
, the day they 90 not desire to buoy the country
up with false hopes. Inflammation is what thew
fear and at the first sign in that direction tba
country must steel itself for the awful blow.
BULLET NOT YET EXTRACTED.
For the time being the bullet OF the assassin
which is stiI in the body is a secondary consid-
Grafton While it has not been absoI,,-a1,, Ia
Gated they all agree that after passing through
; the abdominal cavity and perforating both walls
Of the stomach proper it lodged in the Aesbv
muscles Of the back. and If necessity required
1t could be easily located with the Routgen
ray and extracted. They agree that it ia now
! Of more Importance that the President sbor15
, recover from the shock Of the first operation
! than that the bullet should be removed.
/ Peritonitis is what they dread most, and afte.
/ that septic poisoning and suppuratiou Of +hs
wound. The crucial point will come within
/ forty-eisht hours. possibly sooner. Indeed. ops
! OF the attending physicians said TODAY thar -
! no sign of inflammation appeared before IN.
morrow night he would consider the chances 90
ultimate recovery exceedingly good. Several %
. his colleagues. however. are not so sanguins.
DOING MOST OF THE TIME
/ The President has been doing drovsi1s
throughout the major portion of the dav rv,
physicians and two trained nurses are con-
stantly at his bedside He has not vet furv 20
covered from the effects Of the ether which r,.
administered to him. He was under Tho -
nuence Of the powerful anesthetic over an
hour The result is tnat. although perfectly
rational when conscious he dozes much Of tba
time Absolute quiet and freedom from sxcftA-
ment the physicians regard as the great essen
tiai now and visitors are rigidIy excluded Nor
q Cabinet officer. not even Secretary CorteIyou.
was allowed in the sick chamber TODAY
MRS. M'KINLEY's DEVOTION.
With the exception Of the physicians and At.
tendants. Mrs. Mckinley was the only person
who crossed the threshold The President askad
! TO see her. and his physicians did NOT have Nh.
heart to refuse his request. She was there only
few minutes. seated at his bedside. as he in
his devotion to her in her illness has so often
been at hers. Mrs. Mckinley has been warned
not to talk. and the President and his wife ex-
changed only few words but the pressure OF
their hands doubtless spoke volumes. II vas
only when he asked her to be brave for both
their sa'kes that she faItered and almost broke
down With choking throat and brimminE eyes
she promised with bow of her head Almost
Immediately thereafter she was led from the
room by Dr. Rixey
Mrs Mckinley throughout this trying ordeal
has shown remarkable fortitude. She has been
mistress of herself and her sorrow. and has bae-,
almost as calm and seIf-possessed as the Presi-
dent himself. And no more than that could bs
said. for throughout 1t all the President has
been cooler than those about him. He was so
yesterday when the pistol was DISCHARGED
against his breast. and he has been so TODAY.
even in his semi-consciousness. When Dr.
Rixey told Mrs. Mckinley to-day OF the extreme
gravity Of the case she did not break down. On
the contrary. feeble as she is. grief seemed To-
lend her strength and. like noble woman. sha
felt that she must bear up for his sake
NO NOURISHNIENT TAKEN
The President has taken no nourishment since
he was shot. Water is given 10 him at inter-
walls. but food of any kind as yet His ply
sicians say he has plenty Of reserve strength
to draw upon. and for the present neither nour-
ishment nor artificial stimuIants are necessary
Beyond looking after the wound no medicine ex-
cept digitalis has been given. Digitalis is ad-
niinistered 20 quiet his pulse. which mounted
this morning to 146. Both his respiration and
DIsCONTINUANCE OF NEW YORK AND LONG