His Chances Poor

PHYSICIANS ARE ALARMED AT BULLETINS ON PRESIDENT’S CONDITION.
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THEY FEAR BLOOD POISONING.
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General Sentiment Is That His Condition Is Very Precarious—
Danger for Two or Three Days.

     Physicians are divided in opinion as to the chances for the recovery of President McKinley. Their opinions of course are based purely upon the descriptions of the wound, as published in the dispatches from Buffalo. The following expressions are from physicians who were seen last evening:
     Dr. P. S. Byrne—The report of the condition of the president’s pulse shows great and powerful shock. The temperature is not so alarming, but I should say his chances for recovery are desperate.
     Dr. G. T. Doolittle—I think the chances for the president’s recovery are about 50 per cent [sic], but much depends on the temperature and pulse conditions within the next 24 hours. If the temperature should go up his chances will be poor, but if the temperature should go down, I should regard his chances as good.
     Dr. E. D. Olmsted—Speaking offhand I think the chances for the recovery of the president are very slim. Of course his previous good health will be much in his favor, otherwise there would be but one chance in a thousand.

Weakness Is Serious Symptom.

     Dr. E. L. Kimball—I regard his weakness as indicated by his pulse conditions as the most serious symptom. The operation itself is not one in which the death rate is high, but the apparent severe shock to the president makes his chances rather slim.
     Dr. T. L. Catterson—I regard the president’s chances of recovery as being very poor, taking the temperature and pulse conditions as given by the late dispatches.

Danger of Septic Troubles.

     Dr. C. E. Grove—The chest wound is not at all serious, and there is nothing at all to fear from that. The ball penetrating the stomach did not necessarily inflict a fatal wound. Had the ball penetrated the blood vessels which lie just back of the stomach the result would have been sudden death. The first danger from the wound is hemorrhage, the second from the shock. The third danger, and the one which now hangs over the president, is the possibility of inflammatory and septic troubles. If the president survives the next three days the chances are that he will recover. The most surprising thing to me is that there has been nothing said about the X ray as a means of locating the bullet.
     Dr. Semple—The immediate danger of the president now is from peritonitis and inflammatory troubles. The result of the ball’s piercing the stomach would necessarily be that some of the contents of the stomach would escape, and while every precaution was doubtless taken, yet there is a possibility that some of the escaping contents was absorbed before it could be removed. There will be danger from this source for the next two or three days. There is some cause for alarm from the fact that the president’s pulse is so high.