Complete Life of William McKinley and Story of His Assassination. Everett Marshall

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СКАЧАТЬ read. The request was denied. The President enjoyed the food given him—beef extract. At 10:30 o’clock on Tuesday night the physicians issued this bulletin: “The condition of the President unchanged in all important particulars. His temperature is 100.6°; pulse, 114; respiration, 28.”

      Whenever the physicians would permit the wounded man to talk, he would show his hopefulness. Jokingly he assured the constant watchers that his wants were all filled except one—his desire to smoke. McKinley loved a good cigar and smoked from ten to twenty each day. The craving for a cigar was constant and only by great self-denial did he keep from demanding one. The weakness of his heart, which later was one of the contributing causes of his death, was in part due to the sudden change from free use of cigars to the absolute prohibition which the doctors imposed.

      The consultation held by the physicians in attendance upon President McKinley lasted from 9:20 until 11:20 o’clock Tuesday night. Half an hour after they left the Milburn residence the following bulletin was issued:

      “The condition of the President is unchanged in all important particulars. His temperature is 100.6°, pulse 114, respiration 28. When the operation was done on Friday last it was noted that the bullet had carried with it a short distance beneath the skin a fragment of the President’s coat. This foreign material was, of course, removed, but a slight irritation of the tissues was produced, the evidence of which has appeared only to-night. It has been necessary on account of this slight disturbance to remove a few stitches and partially open the skin wound. This incident cannot give rise to other complications, but it is communicated to the public, as the surgeons in attendance wish to make their bulletins entirely frank. In consequence of this separation of the edges of the surface wound the healing of the same will be somewhat delayed. The President is now well enough to begin to take nourishment by the mouth in the form of pure beef juice.

      “P. M. Rixey.

      “M. D. Mann.

      “Roswell Park.

      “Herman Mynter.

      “Charles McBurney.

      “George B. Cortelyou,

      “Secretary to the President.”

      Before the doctors appeared, Secretaries Smith, Wilson, and Hitchcock came out of the house, followed by Secretaries Hay and Root. They said the doctors were still engaged in their consultation, and had not come down stairs. They had been informed, though, they said, that the satisfactory conditions still continued.

      Very soon after the doctors had left the morning visitors began coming. First came Comptroller Charles G. Dawes, Senator Fairbanks, and Judge Day. They went into the house about 10:50 o’clock. They were only there a few minutes when Senator Hanna and Secretary Hitchcock, Postmaster-General Smith and Congressman Grosvenor of Ohio appeared. They all expressed themselves as confident of the outcome. The bulletin of the physicians was not taken to indicate anything serious, and the visitors confirmed the hopefulness of the situation. The President showed so much improvement in his condition the people began to send flowers to him. Shortly before noon Tuesday a wagon load of flowers arrived at the Milburn house, the gift of Governor Gregory of Rhode Island to the President. They were accompanied by a message of the tenderest sympathy and encouragement. The flowers, which were in baskets, were placed on the lawn and were photographed before being taken into the house. Two large bouquets came from the First Signal corps, and some of the friends of the Milburns sent other baskets.

      While interest at Buffalo materially centered at the Milburn house, the prison in which Czolgosz was confined received attention from many. The President was interested in the assassin, and asked for information a number of times. The physicians would not enter into details, but stated that the man was undoubtedly insane, and that the general public attached no meaning to the attack further than to attribute it to a diseased mind.

      Roosevelt left Buffalo for the Adirondack woods Tuesday night. He planned to hunt for a few days and then proceed to his home at Oyster Bay. Senator Hanna and most of the members of the Cabinet left Tuesday or Wednesday.

      Wednesday was another day full of hopeful signs. The President continued to show remarkable recuperative powers and passed the day without the slightest unfavorable symptom. He was able to retain food on his stomach, and surprised and amused his doctors by again asking for a cigar. He was not allowed to smoke, but he was placed in a new bed. He was also given a bath. His highest temperature on Wednesday was 100.4°. That was at ten o’clock in the evening. The highest point reached by his pulse was 120—at six o’clock a. m.—and his respiration remained normal at 26.

      Mrs. McKinley saw the President on Wednesday morning. When the doctors arrived at the house for the consultation they passed her sitting in the upper corridor of the residence at work on her knitting. She was in good spirits, and after the visit of the doctors they gave their assent to her entering the sick room again. She remained only a minute, as the physicians were avoiding any sapping of the President’s strength by prolonged visits, even by those nearest to him.

      Governor Yates of Illinois and State Senator Templeton, chairman of the Exposition Commission of Illinois, called to pay their respects and advise with Secretary Cortelyou as to the propriety of proceeding with the arrangements for Illinois Day at the Exposition, which was set for the following Monday.

      Secretary Cortelyou told them that it was the President’s own desire that none of the features of the Exposition should be disturbed by his illness, and assured them that there would not be the slightest impropriety in going ahead with the arrangements. Such was the confidence displayed forty-eight hours before McKinley’s death.

      The physicians announced that there was no intention of hurrying Mr. McKinley away from Buffalo, which city is much cooler than either Canton or Washington, and the home of the President of the Buffalo Exposition is a first-class modern residence, admirably equipped for taking care of the patient. It is in a residence part of town, and by utilizing the police and the infantry had been completely isolated.

      It was Mrs. McKinley’s wish that they remain at Buffalo until the President had recovered and then spend a month at the home at Canton in final recuperation, after which they were to proceed to Washington. The President favored going to Washington and the Cabinet officers favored this plan. There was no pressing public business, but the routine duties are numerous. Plans were under preparation for the journey to Washington when the distinguished patient began to show signs of a relapse.

      It was on Thursday, just six days after the shooting, that the President suffered a relapse. Everybody was still full of hopes until 8:30 o’clock in the evening, when the physicians announced officially that the President’s condition was not so good. The problem of disposing of the food in the stomach was becoming a serious one, and the danger of heart failure increased. At midnight the situation was critical. Calomel and oil were given to flush the bowels and digitalis to quiet the heart. The bowels moved soon afterwards, and the patient improved. The pulse dropped to 120, and the prospect was regarded as brighter.

      Secretary Cortelyou announced that there would be no more bulletins during the night, and the physicians departed.

      Shortly after two o’clock, after a heavy thunderstorm, the physicians and nurses who were left on watch detected a weakening of the heart action. The pulse fluttered and weakened and the President sank toward a collapse. The end appeared at hand. Restoratives were applied speedily, but they did not at once prove effective. It was then decided to send for the other physicians, relatives, members of the Cabinet, and close personal friends of the President.

      Trouble began on Thursday afternoon through the failure of the digestive organs to perform their functions. The necessity for nourishment СКАЧАТЬ