The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-02-24
WILLIAM c. WHITNEY DEAD
Former Secretary oftheU Unified States
Navy Passes Away.
.'END GAME AFTER RELAPSE.

Peritonit;s and Blood Poisoning Set In
After . Severe Attack Of Appendix
citis-Consolidator of Traction Lines
"A Man OF Repeated Successes in
Large Enterprises. : ss,%sS
New York City.-William Collins
Whitney, former Secretary Of the Navy, !
in President Clevelands first Admins !
tration, street railway financier and
sportsman, died at his residence, ST.
Fifth avenue His death was due to
peritonitis and blood poisoning follow
Ing an operation performed for appen1S
dicitis., ,,,,....., 70 : ~ -,
Mr.. Whitney's condition from the
time that the operation was performed,
| it was admitted by those Intimate with
the family, was much more serious
than indicated by the bulletins issued
These bulletins were not signed by the
physicians in attendance but were is
sued, it was explained, by Mr. Whit
ney'S private secretary, Thomas Regap,
as coming from the household.
The comparative sudd denness OF Mr. J
Whitney's death was q great shock
to his friends many Of whom fastened
to make inquiries as to his condition
| when the news Of his illness was
FIRST made public. It is now undery
stood that his condition was so grave
| that among those familiar with the
case no hope was entertained for his
recovery. 80 S II u s.
The operation, to perform which Drs.
Bull and Walker were. hastily SUM
moned, DR., Bull being called in from
out of town, disclosed the fact that, the Z
disease had attacked Mr. Whitney in q
particularly virulent form. When the
appendix was laid bare, it Is under
stood. it was found to be ia highly
| infamed condition, and pus was ,how-
ing freely from the sat. S e;
The sick man was nearly sixty three
years old, and although an excellent
constitution helped him to rally slightly
| after the operation his age initiated
| against him. and great physical de-.
| preston rendered him still less able to
| withstand the progress OF the disease. 3
The case was complicated by peri.
| tonitis, which set in after the opera
tion and was fully developed two days,
later, although according to reports
| sent out he had passed q favorable,
night with less fever and Inflammation,
! those who knew had faint hopes Of hiS
| recovery; and these quickly disap-
peared before the ravages Of the blood
l>poisoning.
Mr.. Whitney had been unconscious
for an hour when the end came. With
him at the last, his dying hands clasped
in theirs, were his son and daughter,
Harry Payne and Dorothy Whitney.
Two hours before death the condition
of Mr.. Whitney seemed to show im-
provement over that Of the preceding
day. DR.. Walter B. James. the family
physician, who had remained beside,
the patient throughout the, night. and
morning. felt hopeful for the first time
since the oReration was performed.
1t seemed then as if science had
stayed the. hand OF. death and that
Payne Whitney. the younger son, and
! Adelaide Randolph, tie steT-daughter.
who were: hurrying h0meward on spe-
cial trains from the South, would find
convalescent father to greet them.
Mr.. Whitney underwent a sudden REL
lapse and passed from acute pain into
merciful unconsciousness. I. *.
| William Collins Whitney was born I'm
Conway. Franklin County. Mass. on
July IA, 1S41. He came from the best
Puritan stock Of New England, being a.
descendant in the eighth generation o.,
John Whitney, an English Puritan
who settled in Massachusetts, in 1886.
On his mothers side he was descended
from William Bradford, Governor OF
Plymouth Colony.
After preparing for college at thea
Williston. Seminary. at Easthampton;
Mass. young Whitney entered Yale in1
1850 and was graduated with honors-
He came here and entered the law
| office Of Abraham r. Lawrence.
But while he practiced law he didH
not abate at all his interest in politics.
and in the Blaine-Cleveland cahpaigR
of 1884 worked hard with his charac-
toristic skill in organization for the
election of Mr. Cleveland. The day
after Cleveland's Inauguration Mr..
Whitney was appointed Secretary of
the Navy. He afterwards devoted HIM
self to securing control OF the, surfacee
railroads Of Manhattan. and succeeded
in building up the great corporation
known as the Metropolitan Street Rail
way Company.
\