The Washington herald., 1914-08-06

ne mas Boue on Win the AnpOt teehb
work before him. He has. however.
done much of his work at Mrs. WI
sons bedside,
Since she had heavy fall on White
House stairway last February the health
of the Presidents wife has been greatly
impaired, but il is stated that her pres
mt condition is not entirely due to the
accident. She is suffering from COM
,lication of ills that have baffied the
physicians in charge.
Family Il at Bedside.
Every effort Is being made to keep
the sufferer conscious. but yesterday
Mrs Wilson lapsed into q seml-comatose
state. AT cne time her pulse practically
ceased and II was thought the end had
come. Last night with the President and
all the White House family at her bed
side the hours were spent between hope
and despair.
Mr.. and Mrs. Francis Bowes sayre.
son-in-law and daughter, who were tele-
graphed for Tuesday night. arrived yes
terday morning. Secretary and Mrs. Nc
Adoo have taken up their residence at
the White House. Miss Margaret Will
son. who was visiting friends In Penn
sylvania, returned hastily.
For the last four nights DR.. Cary Gray
son and the President have watched by
the bedside. assisted by two naval nurses.
DR.. Grayson IL In charge of the case and
is assisted by DR.. G. NJ Kennedy. Of the
United States navy. The consulting ply
sicians are DIR. E. p. Davis, OF Philadel-
pbia; DR.. Thomas Brown. Of Johns Hop
kins, Baltimore: DR.. F. s. Dercum. OF
Philadelphia, and DR.. Barker, the noted
specialist Of Johns Hopkins University.
Specialists Were Summoned.
Occasionally yesterday Mrs. Wilson
recognized the members OF her family.
She has been confined TO her bed for the
last two weeks, and on Saturday the spe-
cIaIists were summoned In consultation.
The news of Mrs. Wilson's serious
condition quickly spread around WASH
ington and oyershadowed in Importance
the war news Countless members Of So
ciety and the official colony called at the
White House and left cards and the
President was deluged with inquiries.
Although Mrs Wilson has been I'll for
some time society had kept the hope that
she would eventually recover and the
news OF this serious collapse was a
great shock
Had Fall LAST Spring.
Mrs. Wilson's illness dates back to a
fall she sustained in the White House
early in the spring. Although 1t was an
nounced as q slight affair at the time
she has failed steadily since.
Efforts were made early this spring to
remove her TO Cornish. but her condition.
did not permit this and she is under
stood to have expressed a desire TO re-
main in Washington with the President
until he could accompany her TO the
summer White House.
Made Telling Inroads.
Mrs. Wilson, when she became mistress
of the White House, was a woman Of
comparatively large frame. and looked
the picture of health. She seemed well
supplied with vital resources. The COM
plication which developed during the
spring made telling inroads, however.
Yesterday she was said to be almost a
shadow OF her former self.
Three weeks ago, before the Illness en-
tered its present stage, the President
urged Mrs. Wilson to go to Cornish or
some other resort, where her recovery
might be accelerated. She refused. say-
ing that she would rather stay here with
her husband until his duties made II
possible for them to begin their vacation
together.
It was about this time that Mrs. Will
son superintended the placing of a replica
of a statue Of a boy in a section OF one
of the White House gardens. 1t was the
last time she exercised her prerogatives
as mistress Of the Executive Mansion.
Her last journey from the sickroom was
made in a rolling chair to view the COM
pleted statue in its lattice-work niche.
Since that time she had not even used
the wheel chair.
Friends Of the President last night ex-
planned Mrs. Wilson's condition as the
raa ~ 20 In
activities than her strength was equal
to. They pointed TO her leadership in
the campaign OF local social betterment
workers about a year ago for the elimi- |
nation of alleys from the Capital.
She had received hundreds OF appeals
from needy persons and others having
interests which they wished her to serve, |
and she sought to give too close a per-
sonal attention to them In addition she
sought to follow closely the Presidents
labors. being his confidante IN many i'm |
portant situations.
Mrs. Wilson'S welfare work in WASH
ington before she became i'll took her
into the alleys and back streets with
committees engaged in the work of
cleaning up the pest places Of the Ma
tional Capital. She also visited the Gov
ernment Printing once, Bureau of En-
craving and Printing. and mall bag re-
pair shop of the Postofice Department, |
and other places where women are EN-
ployed.
On most of these excursions Mrs. Will
son did not disclose her Identity to the
heads Of the bureaus or those in au-
thority. At the Government Printing |
ONCE. after she had been shown through
the establishment by an employe. OF
whom she asked that he should not dis
close her Identity. while she was in the
building, Public Printer Ford. who
learned OF the visit. discharged the EN-
ploye who had failed to notify him. |
Mrs. Wilson heard of it and promptly In
and the employe was reinstated
from the White House.
Mrs. Wilson. since she entered the
White House, SRlso' has continued her ac-
tive interest in painting, and has devoted
some time to her hobby Of domestic SCI
ence.
Mrs. Wilson Is not the first Presidents
wife to break down under the strain of
the White House duties. Mrs. Taft's
health failed about a year after she en-
tered the White House, and she had not