Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-09-08
Declared More Serious Than Sup
posed at First.
STATEMENT MADE BY DOCTOR lee
He Took Part in the Operation
Friday Evening
ITS DETAILS DESCRIBED

aar,ops wound than was at first reported.
He may recover but the chances are evenly
matched with the dangers. Judging from
the bulletins OF this afternoon stating that
his temperature was 1O2 degrees, L should
say that his condition was worse now than
Just after the operation. Nevertheless, no
one can predict what will happen thus
early.
This statement was made yesterday to a
Tribune reporter by DR.. Edward Wallace
Lee, who took part in the operation on the
President on Friday, half an hour after the
shooting. DR.. Lee left Buffalo on Friday
night at 11:20 on the Delaware. Lacka-
wanna and Western railroad, and reached
this city yesterday noon. He registered at
the Fifth Avenue Hotel. where he ex-
planned In detail last night the operation
on the President. and described the char
acter of the wound inflicted by Czolgosz s
bullet.
Dr. Lee was the medical director Of the
Omaha exposition in 1898, and, according
ly, was well known to the staff of physi-
clans under DIR. r. E. Parke, the medical
director of the Pan-American exposition
DR.. Lees home is in st. Louis, and he mad
visited the exposition at Buffalo. as he put
it, merely as a sightseer.
In telling OF how he came to be present
at the operation. DR.. Lee said:
II was wandering aimlessly along the
Midway. and had reached that part of the
concourse which is bounded on one side by
the show Darkness and Dawn and The
Old Kentucky Home when some one ran
up to me and said: President Mckinley
has been shot. They want you at the
Emergency Hospital
Almost Stunned by the News.
1.-The news almost stunned me, but / did
not realize its full purport until I had
reached the hospital. There 1 found the
President stretched out on the operating
table. The clothes had been removed from
the upper part of his body. disclosing the
two wounds.
1.-The first, which could not truly be called
a wound, but was, in fact, more Of a bruise,
had been caused by the bullet grazing the
flesh of the breast and leaving an angry
red mark. The second bullet was seen to
have penetrated into the abdomen. and had
struck five and half inches below the left
nipple and one and half inches to the left
Of the median line.
''Dr. Mann and DR.. Parke, two eminent
surgeons of Buffalo, had been summoned.
and all were anxiously awaiting their ar
rival. DR.. Mann arrived soon. but DR..
Parke. 1t was learned, was at Niagara
Falls, and could not reach the scene for
some time.
"At that time there were present around
the operating table DIR. P. NJ Rixey, the
Presidents personal physician; DR.. M. B.
Mann and DIR. H. Mynter.
"As soon as / saw the President I was
struck with his condition. There was
pallor in his face. and on examination it
was found that his pulse was abnormally
high. There was every indication that the
man was dangerously wounded and that an
immediate operation was imperative.
There was consultation of the physi-
clans as to whether 1t was expedient to
wait longer for DIR. Parke or to begin at
once. 1t was finally decided to go ahead
with the operation. All the while l was
greatly impressed with the Presidents for
titude. He wore a faint smile on his face
and yet all the while his expression indi-
Gated that he knew the seriousness of the
wound, that 1t had been inflicted by man
who had planned TO kill him, and that the
ultimate success Of the treatment was as
yet problematical.
Having decided to perform the operation,
one of us said:
Mr.. President your condition demands
an operation
low. quiet tone, as II spoken to some lit
tie child. I want you to do whatever In
your Judgment you think is necessary
THAT is the last thing he said at the
hospital. We did not encourage him to
talk, for we knew that the more quiet he
was and the more free from excitement,
the more likelihood Of success would at
tend the operation
DR.. Mann Takes CHARGE
DIR. Mann then took charge and the
flesh was cleaned by shaving and by anti
septic solutions. The President was then
put under the influence OF anaesthetics
winch acted promptly and satisfactory An
Ncision was then made in the abdomen
through the aperture made by the bullet,
ABOUT four and one-half inches long
Through this opening the stomach was
drawn, and on examination 1t was found
that the bullet had passed straight through
this organ. AS the President had had a
hearty luncheon between i and 2 o'clock.
the stomach was partly filed with undi-
gested food. This had oozed through the
holes in the stomach to certain extent
and had run down into the abdominal cav
ity. Since the abdomen Is inclosed In
lining known as the peritoneum, this lin
Ing had also been perforated by the bullet
nc puIiet Coulu not De IOunu. Accord
ingly, the abdominal cavity was washed
clean with antiseptic solutions. and all pos
sible care taken to destroy any infectious
germs.
The holes In the stomach were ugly
ones, and the posterior hole was much
more Jagged and torn than the one in
front through which the bullet passed
first This 1 consider a most serious mat
ter, although to be expected. since the bull
let had spent some Of it's force by the
time it had reached the further side of the
stomach, and thus tore rather than pierre
ed its way through.
after repeated bathing Of the wounded
Parts with antiseptic lotions the apertures
In the stomach were sewed up with silk
sutures, and the abdominal cut was sewed
together with silkworm gut sutures.
1.-The external wound was then care
fully dressed with an antiseptic bath, and
q wide abdominal binding was applied
The body was then wrapped In sheets,
around which blankets were folded, and
the President was placed In the ambu-
lance
Unconscious When Moved.
ssThe President was still unconscious