The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-11-18
Rugged Constitution of the Aged Russian Is Aiding
 In His Illness
HEART WEAKNESS IN NOW
 CAUSING MOST ANXIETY
band in n Special Car In Which the Count Is Now Being Care fully Nursed

l
 Astapova, Russia, November 11-Al- though hope has not yet been given up. the attendants of Count Tolstoi recog- rize that his life is in the balance and
 tbat although the strong constitution of
 the great Russian has carried him ftbrough other grave struggles against
 disease, his system has become so weak ened and his heart has responded so l feebly to restoratives that it will be next
 to miracle if he recovers from his pres | ent attack.
 During the early stages of the infiam- nation of the lungs, from which he is suffering, 1t was the temperature which | gave cause for anxiety, now it is the
 heart. The patients temperature was not | particularly high today, but the heart action was extremely bad Tolstoi alter
 hated part of the time between uneon- | sciousness and delirium. | Early this evening it was announced | that the inflammation had been con- | fined to & comparatively small section
 of the lung and that expectorat l free The heart. however, caus sa stant anxiety. Strophanthus, | stimulant, was administered. Oxy | not resorted to.
 Bulletins Are Issued
  | bulletins. in which they refer to | sistent temperature. A clyster l ministered as a means of reliey | and as an immediate result the
 temperature fell from 101.5 to however, than was expected. T, | ly there was easier breathing pulse dropped slightly. The pat | a critical night.
 | An exhortatory telegram addressed 10 | Tolstoi by Antonius, metropolitan of St Petersburg, presiding over the synod. and the departure of Bishop Cyril for | Astapova- mark the extreme solicitude of the church to gather Tolstoi into it's folds At the time of the writer's se- rsous illness at the Crimea in 1900 a similar exhortation was sent to him and
 secret orders were dispatched to Crimea | to allow only the representatives of the | church entrance to the bedchamber dur l ing his dying minutes. the synod had | determined at any cost to bury him. on | that occasion, when he regained con- | sciousness, Tolstoi directed an answer to | tte clericals:
 "Even in the face of death twice two makes four"
 | Restless Night | The aged author passed a restless night | at the home of the station master at Aetapova, to which he was removed when | illness seized him during his attempted | pilgrimage from Shamardino to the Cau- | oasus, where he had hoped to end his l
 | days in solitude.
 | At 8 o'clock this morning the count was sleeping. His temperature, Which was 101 last night had fallen to lao.4. The inflammation of the lungs was less menacing. On the other hand the pulse was alarmingly high and intermittent. The weakness of the heart action was the cause of the greatest anxiety and the physicians were prepared to resort 10
 the use of oxygen The case was az gravated by the condition of the kio- lneys, which were greatly swollen and linflamed.
 Countess Tolstoi has not been admitted tn the sick chamber and even the fact l of her arrival has been concealed from Tolstoi lest knowledge of her coming lover-excite the count The latter was not pleased when the presence Of his son, Sergius, was made known to him
 When Sergius entered the room and Twas recognized by his father Tolstoi was plainly angry and showed his an noyance by asking:
 why did you come? How did you
 know that was here?' 1 The younger Toistoi pretended that he thad learned his fathers whereabouts from a railroad conductor. but the count was not satisfied with this explanatisn and left no doubt of his feelings WeImoes Friend At the same time Tolstoi was delighted | at the arrival of his friend, Count Vladi-
 mir Tchertkoff. The latter remains con stantly at the bedside with the physi- clans and Tolstoi,s daughter, Alexandra Ill as he is, the novelist continues con Iscious. His physicians have humored him by allowing him to read the news papers and also to look over his latest and government book 'Hadaj Murat.'' He has been permitted even to dictate to Alexandra a part of new article | The crowd of press correspondents who have been sent to the scene occupy the platform of the railway station at Asta- pova. Their lot is not happy one. They have not been able to secure indoor sleep ing quarters, nor place to eat.
 The Tolstoi family is now living in d special car, which brought the countess and her sons here.
 The only telegraphic facilities are fur
 nfshed by the operator at the flag sta tion, and they are wholly inadequate. Last nights report that Tolstoi had died was credited generally to Prince oboen- ski and was accepted as authentic at St. Petersburg and Moscow, where the story was printed, along with obituary mo- tices.
 During the night an attempt was made to communicate with Astapova from here but the flag station telegraph operator had retired and when a positive denial of the rumor was finally secured many papers nau gone 10 press Wttn tne dii- lnouncement that the noted Russian had passed away.
 The Church and Tolstoi II St. Petersburg. November 17.--n is re- ported that Count Tolsto desires a rec onciliation with the Greek church from (which he was accommodated following the publication of his work, "Resurrec-
 tion," in 1901.
 According to today's papers the holy ald yaStardaV Il at which the relations of the count and the church were discussed. Bishop Par thenous of Tula. who visited the novelist Hast summer participated in the deliber- ations and later said in his opinion there was no doubt that Count Tostoi wished the withdrawal Of the church's inter- diet