The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1901-09-26
Promises to Be Acrid Controversy
Over Optimistic Bulletins
Sent Out.
MAJORITY BLAME DR.. MBURNEY
Declare That the Famous New York SUR
eeon Was Responsible for tho Hope
full Rcports-Poisoned Bullet
Theory Held by Some.

late preSldent'S medical n surgical
attendants over the highly optimistic
reports as to his condition which were
made last week.
Meanwhile two pleas are being put
forward which are calculated to shield
all of them. One is hat the physicians
knew the presidents actual condition
and misrepresented it to The public at
large upon orders from the members of
the cabinet.
The other is that the bullet which
pierced the presidents body was pois-
oned, and that the necrosis of the It's
sues which came in contact with 1t
could not reasonably nave been fore.
seen.
The bullets which still remain in the
revolver used by Czolgosz will be ex-
amined to determine whether they
We're coated with n poisonous sub
stance by the murderer before he att
tackled the president.
Case Is Mysterious.
Some Of the doctors assert that the
complications which made the presi-
dents recovery impossible were Of q
character not known to medical prac-
tice and clearly Of mysterious origin.
While the idea that the bullets were
poisoned is fostered by the majority of
the DOCTORS, it should be said that some
Of them declined to place any credit In
this theory and have intimated broadly
that it is merely q subterfuge.
This is a point of difference which
will probably be aired with some acri-
mony when the story Of the case Up
pears in the medical journals, for which
the physicians are reserving their tech,
nical descriptions.
Small attempt is made to conceal the
fact that the majority Of the physicians
are inclined to place the blame for the
optimistic bulletins upon DR.. McBur-
ney. DR.. Mann and DR.. Mynter at no
time during the presidents illness con-
cealed their opinion that the patient
was IN q critical condition. 1t is be-
lieved that they We're chiefly RESPONSE
BILE for the fact that none Of the offs
cial bulletins ever declared the prest-
dent out Of danger or predicted his re-
covery.
\ Was . Grave Mistake.
: They hold that he committed q grave
mistake in assuring the members of h
cabinet that the president would get
we'll. That the assurance was given In
an unequivocal manner there can be no
question, and this bears upon the ex-
cuse that the bulletins We're falsified
under orders from government officials.
Vice President Roosevelt, upon The
day of his departure for the Adiron-
,dacks, was Informed Of the BELIEF held
by q few with apparently good reason.
even in the face OF encouraging bulle-i
tins, that the life OF the president was
in grave danger. Mr.. Roosevelt looked
grave for a moment and replied h a
he had been assured by the physicians
that all danger was passed. His words
gave the impression that there was
some misgiving in his w mind, but
that the statements which had been
made to him. in answer to his inquiries.
were Of such a nature that 1t was i'm
possible for him to question or doubts
them. Under the circumstances there
was nothing for the vice president to
do but leave the city, M he went.
Faith in the Promises.
Secretary Root. who was apprehenslye
from the first, was also induced to go
away by the promises made by the doc
tors Of the presidents recovery. Had he
not been fully convinced there Is nc doubt
he would AVE remained here.
There is much in the result of the au-
topsy that the doctors are finding difficult
to reconcil with the statements In the
official and unofficial bulletins which were
made during the presidents illness. The
attitude Of the doctors makes it evident
that they are seeking to shift the blame
for happened from one to the other.
McBurney Is Suspicious.
Stockbridge, Mass, Sept. 17.-Dr. Chas
McBurney, who has just returned from
Buffalo, was asked to comment upon the
theory that the bullet which killed Pres
ident Mckinley was poisoned.
1T looks suspicious he said. tIn my
experience l have never seen a wound in
such q condition as described in the re-
port of the autopsy made by an ordinary
bullet.
II am not prepared to state positively,
continual DIR MpPJrpey t1that tho h,,ltof
was poisoned, and until a m an
alysis is made we shall not know. A bull
let wound may be received in the thigh,
for instance, and provided it does not cut
AN artery or shatter a bone it will quickly
heal under ordinary conditions.
I'm a wound like the presidents, where
many tissues were perforated, the sus-
picious thing is that, according to the re-
ports, the gangrene followed the entire
path of the bullet.
Cannot Understand It.
'In cutting the tissue Of the stomach
for example, an ordinary wound might de-
velop gangrene to some extent where the
outlet went in. but If I understand the
reports OF the autopsy correctly, the gan
creme was just as great in extent at the
end Of the wound as its beginning. This
is something that no one can understand.
assuming that the bullet was an ordi-
nary one"
"Supposing the presence Of gangrene
had been discovered before the condition
of the president assumed a serious phase.
could his life have been saved?'
zone way to treat conditions like this
replied DR.. McBurney, would be to lay
open the whole wound and cut out the
tissue. A wound like the prest-
dents, involving many different tissues.
could hardly be treated in this way, for.
after cutting away a part Of the stomach,
a part Of the abdomen and a part Of the
other tissues involved, what would there
have been left? You cannot apply chem
tcal agents to wounds like that"
The surgeons who performed the OPP
and who were the first at the
presidents bedside have been telling
their friends that DR.. McBurney, who
did not reach Buffalo until three days
the president was shot, was not
thoroughly informed in regard to the
case.
Until after the funeral they are ex-
trernely reluctant to discuss the disputed
Of the case. When the ceremon-
les are over. however, there is every x