Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1902-12-12
by A. Dupont.
THOMAS .. REED.

resulting from uraemic poisoning, was
the immediate cause of death, but Mr..
Reeds illness was traceable to chronic
Bright's disease, which was brought
to the surface by an attack of appen-
dicitis Tuesday night, and which later
became acute.
Mr.. Reed came to Washington a
week ago Sunday evening, after at
tending the banquet in New York the
night before in honor of Mark Twain's
birthday. On Monday he appeared
in the supreme court to renew mo-
ton in an admiralty case, in which
the court a few weeks before had de-
clined to grant writ of certiorari.
This was his last appearance in public.
He went to his hotel and remained in
his room Tuesday. He complained of
indigestion and summoned his physi-
clans. DR.. P. A. Gardner and DR.. F.
A. Mcdonald responded and an
nounced that Mr.. Reed was suffering
from gastritis After a consultation
the next morning they discovered evil
dence of catarrhal appendicitis and so
diagnosed Mr.. Reeds complaint. The
serious nature of his illness was then
apparent and Mrs. Reed and Miss
Reed were notified and they hurried
to Washington.
Kidney Complications Set In.
The symptoms of appendicitis had
abated by Thursday morning, but Sc
rious kidney complications were man
ifested and there were some signs of
uraemic poisoning. It was then that
DR.. W. C. Goodnow of Philadelphia,
an expert in uraemia, was summoned.
After consultation with DR.. Gardner
and DR.. Mcdonald he stated that all
was being done for Mr.. Reed that
could be and Recommended continual
ton Of the treatment. BY this time
it was evident that the real danger
was from uraemic poisoning and not
appendicitis, which had merely
brought to the surface an acute at
tack of kidney trouble from which Mr.
Reed has suffered in the past. With
the appearance of uraemic acid in the
blood MIR. Reed began to show signs
of uraemic coma, and as early as Fri
day he became unconscious, but per-
eeptibly improved during the day and
his mind became clear. His tempera-
ture decreased and his general condi-
ton indicated an improvement.
The physicians recognized Saturday
night, however, that Mr.. Reeds cp1di-
doa was. critical and they prezared
to adn1inlster oxygen gas and saaiae
infusions. He became worse. The
uraem1a symptoms became very
marked about 8 o'clock, at which tine
he was given. saline injection for the
purpose Of stimulating the kidneys TO
action. "A second injection was 8iye1
within an hour, xhh during the day o4y.
gen gas ives conisantly %adtnfnistered.
He; continned to xrow worse during
the afternoon. and about 5 o'clock two
more transfustons of salt were giyen,
making In ail about three quarts that
was zadminist4red during the day.
Hin heat Became weaker and weak
er, notwithstanding the treatment, and
it was 1t this hour that the physicians
told Mrs. Reed that they feared that
Mr., Reed, could not recover. They
summoned DR.. GoodnoW by telegraph
and continued the application Of oxy-
gen gas.
Shortly after 9 o'clock DR.. Goodnow
reached the hotel, and though Mr..
Reed was conscious at this time he
was not aware of his condition. 1t
was the opinion of lne physicians that
the end was but few hours off.
At lO:3O the patient became uncon-
scious and this condition was imme.
diately followed by pronounced form
of uraemic coma. The coma lasted
from IL o'clock until midnight, when
Mr.. Reed. died. The usual urae,n,c
commissions were absent Mrs Reed
-ondsa6ie Katharine Reed were 1t biz