Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 March 1885 — NEARING THE END. [ARTICLE]

NEARING THE END.

Malignant Cancer Rapidly Destroying the Life of Ufysses 8. Grant. [New York telegram. In regard to Gen. Grant’s health, Col. Frederick Grant said to a Post reporter this afternoon: “My father is a very sick man. There is no use in longer denying the tact. We have made every effort to keep the true facts irom the public, because we knew that, as soon as it should become known that he was dangerously ill, there would' be hundreds ot letters coming in with every mail, and this would only excite him and make his cure less hopeful. For any facts concerning the nature of his disease I refer you to his physicians. The doctors who are attending him are Dr. Fordvce Barker, Dr. J. H. Douglas, and Dr. H. B. Sands, of this city, and Dr. I. M. Merker, of Philadelphia.” Dr. Douglas said: “1 am in nowise responsible tor the rose-colored report that appeared in the HfedicaZ .JowhcZ last week. Two days before the report was published I had a conversation with Dr. Sands at Gen. Grant’s house. As a result of the consultation we botti decided that the cancerons growth at the root of the tongue was hardening and steadily growing worse. Microscopical examina tion by an expert proved beyond doubt that the case was one of the malignant epithelial growth. Gen. Grant is a very sick man. I think there is little or no hope that he will recover. He is breaking down, but has displayed much courage. For a month he has done as much as six or eight hours’ work a day, but he has had but little sleep for the past eight days. We have tried to keep the knowledge ot his true condition from the General, because he has so many other troubles to bear. I have all along maintained that his trouble is from cancerons growth at the root of the tongue, caused, undoubtedly, by excess in smoking. Every time he speaks, or breathes, or eats, this is disturbed. It is difficult to treat it for that reason. There are times when the growth has been temporarily checked, but it has never been arrested, and is steadily increasing. There has been considerable loss of tissue of the soft palate. He takes nourishment every day in a liquid form. He can not eat solid food because he h»s lost all his teeth. They were extracted in the hope of easing the pain in his face. This pain, although it resembles neuralgia, is not that pure and simple, but is a reflection of the pain caused by the cancer in the throat. He has been suffering from a severe pain in the right ear and on the top of the head. To ease this his head is kept wrapped in hotnanijels. I can not say how near the end is He may live for a month yet, as men guttering from this disease have done, but I do not think there is any hope that he will ever recover.” Dr. Douglas was asked to describe the condition of his patient. He said: “Gen. Grant is a very sick man. His body and hands are greatly emaciated, and he is losing flesh daily. He can not recover from the disease, and his death is only a question of time. He is losing his grip on life, and has not the force and energy to stand up against the many blows to his strength. He may live for weeks or months. The progress of the disease may be put in abeyance by natural forces, although at present it is advancing rapidly. It is not likely that the cancer will choke him. It will kill him. by exhaustion. It is impossible to give him stimulants, as they iifiure his throat. Iwas seriously alarmed from the first, but I thought his condition fair, and that his life might be prolonged for months, until this ulcerawon set in. I can not tell how long he will live. It is a fatal disease, which will sooner or later terminate life, but when I can not say. It may be in three months or in six months. I don’t see how it can be beyond six months. “Gen. Grant came to me first on Oct. 22 last, and asked me to examine his throat. I did so, and saw at once that ne was suffering from a cancer. I did not wish to irighten him by telling him this, so 1 said he had an epithelial trouble. He asked me if it was not a cancer, and I told him the disease was of a cancerous character in a mild form. It probably arose from excessive smoking, combined with other cause*. He had been Buttering from it since June. lat once told his family of the nature of the disease, and they know how serious the case is. I think the General also knows it now. He was in the habit of coming down 1 o see me pretty much every morning. The cancer continued to grow worse, although its growth has not been steady. The hardened part of the cancer is at the rout of the tongue on the right side. The ulceration is in the soft palate just above where the tonsils lie. He stopped smoking on Nov. 20, and he did not seem to mind the deprivation of tobacco. At one time he had a severe pain in the left ear, and that was checked by removing a bad tooth, 'ihe dentist found that several other teeth were in a bad condition, and advised their removal, which was done. The loss of these teeth has prevented Gen. Grant irom chewing solid food He eats minced meat, terrapin and other soft food, and has no difficulty in swallowing it. Indeed, he swallows more readily than he did two months ago. This is probably due to the fact that the ulceration has relaxed some of the membranes. He takes a good deal of nourishment, although he does not want to eat. as the effect ot the disease is to destroy all appetite. The bad weather of late has affected him unfavorably. He caught a slight cold. The cancer is what is called a ’benign cancer.’ and if it were anywhere else on the body we could at least hold it in abeyance. As it is, an operation would accomplish no good. It would be quite impossible to cut it out from the root of the tongue.”