Told of Czolgosz
President for the First Time Hears His Assailant
Is an Anarchist.
Buffalo, N. Y. (Special).—When he
awoke, after his morning nap Monday, President McKinley called Dr.
Rixey to his bedside and asked that he be permitted to read the
morning papers.
Of course, he was denied this, but
the physician was pleased that the President should take so active
an interest in public affairs. The President was assured that if
he continued to progress favorably he might in a week read the papers
as usual.
For the first time since his would-be
assassin was taken from his sight President McKinley mentioned Czolgosz.
He asked what had been done with the assailant and was told he was
being held as a prisoner here.
“He must have been crazy,” said President
McKinley. “I never saw the man until he approached me at the reception.”
“He is an anarchist,” the President
was told.
“Too bad, too bad,” was the reply.
“I trust, though, that he will be treated with all fairness.”
The President was told that from all
parts of the world messages of sympathy had arrived. He was informed
that the American public had shown great grief over his misfortune
and this had demonstrated that he has a strong grip upon the affections
of his fellow-countrymen. The President was deeply touched and said
that he felt himself too highly honored. To Dr. Rixey he said that
he hoped to recover to show that he appreciated all which had been
done for him.
Perhaps the strangest feature of the
progress that has been made toward recovery by the President is
that he has at no time shown any symptoms of relapse. After the
operation there was no sinking spell which usually results from
such a shock, and from the moment his wounds were dressed his progress
has been steady and satisfactory. Dr. McBurney said that in all
his experience as a physician he has never known another patient
who exhibited so great a tendency to respond to medical treatment
as does President McKinley.
“It is marvelous,” said he, “and is
worthy of the study of men who are capable of understanding such
things.”
The President asked how long it would
be before he would be permitted to partake of food. Dr. Rixey told
him that the wounds in his stomach would not heal in less than a
week or ten days, and during that time it would be impossible for
him to take any solid nourishment. This information was far from
pleasant, but the President made no complaint other than a semi-jocular
remark to the effect that it was bad enough to be shot, without
being starved to death.
An indication of confidence in the
President’s recovery was the announcement made by President Buchanan,
of the Pan-American Exposition, that there would be another “President’s
Day ” before the show closed. It is proposed to make the occasion
a festival of rejoicing over the President’s recovery. Mr. Buchanan
did not make the announcement until he had received positive assurances
that the President would in all probability recover.
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