Evening journal., 1911-10-06
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Two Broken Appoint
ments That Gave the COun-
try a Sensation
By Holland.

In August, 1893, there was printed
a newspaper report that told in detail
of a serious operation performed uron
the upper left jaw Of President Grover
Cleveland while he was at sea on the
yacht of his friend, r c. Benedict. Of
New York. The report was in the best
sense Of the word sensational; the
operation was the sole topic of nation
al discussion.
For some time thereafter the truth
of the report vas disputed by several
newspapers. and it was thought advis-
able by those who were near President
Cleveland at his summer home at Buzz
Yards Bay to give out a qualified de-
nial Of its accuracy. But later, the late
Daniel s. Lamont, then Cleveland's s
private secretary, who was with Cleve-
land at the time the operation was
performed, confessed to me that my
account of the operation on the presi-
dent was so amazingly accurate that
Il was impossible not to believe that
It had not been described 10 me by
some one who was In the presiden- |
tial party at the time of the operation.
The president had been taken to sea
upon Mr. Benedicts yacht chiefly for
the purpose of surrounding the opera
tion with secrecy.
have been asked many times how I
obtained information of the operation. |
This is the story, which I am now at
liberty TO tell.
Upon my return to my home from q !
brief vacation in August, 1898, | found !
my family physician, the late DR. Le-
ander p Jones. of Greenwich. Conn.,,
.tsI. NIsfrI
physician of h. c. Benedict, of Henry
c Havemeyer, president of the sugar
trust OF Andrew Carnegie when he
lived in Greenwich, and of the Rock
efellers when their home was in that
town. He said to me as we met. "ln
the most extraordinary way / have
learned that a very difficult operation
has just been performed upon Presi- |
dent Cleveland. ! can tell you the
story In detail without any violation
of professional confidence.
1T so happened that | had patient
on whom an important, almost heroic,
surgical operation was to be perform
ed engaged the services of one Of the
ablest surgeons in New York and the
day and hour we're fixed for the oper-
alton. was greatly alarmed when this
surgeon did not appear at the time set
nor did he appear until two days later.
when the condition of my patient was
desperate indeed. | asked him for an
explanation of his delay and he gave
il TO me in these words:
Il went by appointment to New
London, Conn. five days ago to per-
from a last resort operation. had en-
gagged DR. Hasbrouck Of New York city
to meet me at New London and admin
lister nitrous oxide gas to the patient
DR.. Hasbrouck assured me that he
would be in New London on a certain
train, but be did not come. | tele-
graphed 20 his Office in New York and
in reply was informed that his assist |
ants did not know where he was. All
/ they knew was that he had gone away
a few days earlier to administer gas in
4 a surgical operation; that he had gone
with the expectation of returning IA
the evening, but he had not come.
% The next day DR. Hasbrouck ap-
peared in New London. He found me
in a very angry frame of mind; but
/ asked me not TO cricticise him until
he had told his story. He then said he
had been engaged to go upon Mr.. Ben
edicts yacht to administer laughing
gas to a patient who was to be oper-
ated upon there for some trouble.
When the yacht was out at sea, he
found that the patient was President
| Cleveland himself He administered
the gas and kept the President under
the Influence of it for several hours.
Then he wished to go ashore, but no
pleading of his that they land him was
listened TO, since il was thought pos
sibie that another operation on the
President might be necessary
"Dr. Hasbrouck then described the
operation in detail, and why it was
made, to the surgeon who had en-
ployed him and whom I had employ
ed. continued Dr. Jones, "and this
surgeon, in turn, described the opera
ton TO me. Now, will tell you exact
ly what / have been told, and you are
at liberty to use il publicly or not as
YOU see ft. l would advise you, how
ever, to see DR.. Hashrouck, at his Of
fee in New York, before you write
your story.
The next day l called upon Or. Has
brouck and told him the story Of the
operation as / had heard it from DR..
Jones He listened to me in amazement
and then he said: "Some of the physi-
clans who were aboard the yacht must
have told you that story. You could
not have obtained II in any other way" p"
(Copyright, 1911. by e. J. Edwards. All
rights resreved0