The New York herald., 1922-05-07
REALIZED DEATH NEAR
Cheerful to End and Last
Requests Were for Flu
neral Tuesday.
DOCTORS WERE HELPLESS
Unforeseen Conditions Met and
Death Ended UncOm-
pleted Task.

Henry p. Dawson, member of the
banking firm of J. P. Morgan & Co.
died yesterday afternoon in his home
at Peacock Point in Locust Valley
Long Island. Death was due to a
tumor In the brain. He was under the
influence of the anmsthetic and on the
operating table when the end came
Seven doctors and surgeons and sew
eral nurses stood around the table on
which the financier died witnessing the
end of what, at best, had been long
chance of saving Mr.. Davison's life.
The operation, performed by DR.
Charles A. Elsberg, was not completed
Such were conditions it was not pos
sible to complete it. About thirty min
utes after Mr.. Dawson died a mes
senger came down from the great
house to the group of reporters on the
lawn and read this formal announce
ment:
"Mr. Henry p. Dawson died shortly
after the conclusion Of an operation
upon an infiltrating tumor of the brain
which could only be partially removed
The doctors worked upon the bank
er's brain until they snme to a point
where they realized that one more
touch of an instrument upon the dis
eased tissue would mean instant death
f. - Ion - 81 olx
Nearby, waiting for the first message
from the operating room. sat Mrs
Dawson and her children. r. Trubee
Dawson, Mrs. Alice Dawson Gates
| Harry Dawson and Frances Dawson
With these members of the family were
Mrs. f. Trubee Dawson and Artemus
Gates, son-in-law of Mrs. Dawson. In
another part of the house waited ]. T.
Morgan, Col. L. s. Thompson. Daniel
E. Pomeroy. George F. Baker. Jr.. and
Thomas Cochran.
Funeral on Tuesday.
The funeral will take place Tuesday
morning at II. Services will be held In
the Protestant Episcopal Chapel of st.
Johns of darlington in Locust Valley.
The Rev. Dr. Charles w. Hinton, rector
of the chapel, and the Rev. DR.. Endi-
colt Peabody of Groton School will Of
ficiate. Mr.. Davison's body will be
buried in the Locust Valley Cemetery.
He died a brave man. Although the
doctors did not tell him until Thursday
they would operate two days later and
that in the success of this most deli
cate of surgical efforts lay his only
hope for life, Mr.. Dawson knew his
Rh 40 arc oil Izw.. L.
was is illustrated in what he did Friday
afternoon and night and yesterday
morning
He went automobile riding with Mrs.
Dawson Friday afternoon. and as he
was returning he stopped at the gate Of
his estate and shook hands with one of
the oldest of his servants.
Maybe they told YOU" he said after
he had asked concerning this womans $
health, that l am going to have
little party tomorrow morning"
Yes. they have told me, Mr.. Davi-
son." replied the woman. It is said her
eyes filled when she spoke and that
tears came into the bankers eyes when
he saw her weep.
He sat among the doctors at the
Peacock Point house on Friday night
swapping jokes and, according TO Martin
Egan, publicity man for the Morgan
firm. telling humorous stories. Despite
the fact he knew, almost as well as the
doctors. that the chances were he was
not going to be alive twenty-four hours
later, he slept peacefully. And yester-
day morning when he awoke he sug-
gested to DIR. Elsberg that they post
pone the operation that they might go
fishing in the Sound almost under his
windows.
HIS Last Two Requests.
Until the moment he was given the
anesthetic he maintained an almost de-
bonnaire spirit. OF Mrs. Dawson, whose
fortitude was quite as fine as that of
her husband. he made but two requests
i'm case of his death. One was that his
funeral be very simple and the services
open TO any who wished to attend. The
other was that he be buried In Locust
Valley, near his beautiful home on
Peacock Point.
on Friday afternoon arrangements
were made with detective agency in
New York city TO have double guards
on all entrances to the estate. Yesterday
there were not only these double guards
but there were detectives stationed along
all roads within the grounds. They stood
about 100 yards apart and their orders
were brief and to the point. They had
been told that no one not passed upon
by Mr.. Egan. who would be at the big
house. might enter the place. And they
were Impressed with the necessity for
auiet. All work around the estate. from
the most remote corners OF the farm
to the basement of the garage, ceased
at o'clock yesterday morning. orders
were that there must be absolute quiet
for seventy-two hours after the opera
ton
ing we're halted n couple of hundred
Yards from the house and escorted
across the lawns TO a small tea house
on the beach. Mr.. Egan said bulletins
would be issued every four hours. There
seemed to be some mystery concerning
the precise time the operation began.
one story had II that Il was begun at
10 o'clock in the morning and that the