Sunday proved a rather uneventful day after all. The anticipated crisis did not materialize. The news was good throughout the day. It was not merely negative good news, but news of a distinct improvement. The President’s temperature on Sunday evening was a degree lower than it was during the morning, the pulse was slower and the respiration easier.
Dr. McBurney arrived during the day and held a consultation with the other doctors at 3 o’clock Sunday afternoon.
Immediately following the consultation this bulletin was issued: “The President since the last bulletin (3 p. m.) has slept quietly, four hours altogether, since 9 o’clock. His condition is satisfactory to all the physicians present. Pulse, 128; temperature, 101°; respiration, 28.” This bulletin was signed by Drs. Rixey, Mann, Park, Mynter, Wasdin and McBurney.
“The fact that there is no unfavorable symptom is a most favorable sign. What we are all waiting for is the lapse of time without the occurrence of inflammation or septic conditions.
“I want to say right here that in my opinion everything has been done for him that could and should have been done. The case has been most handsomely handled. If he lives he will owe his life to the promptness and skill of the physicians here.
“The question of time is of the greatest importance in a case of this kind. An operation could not have been performed too soon. It was performed in one of the quickest times on record. It will be famous in the history of surgery.”
This report from so eminent a surgeon served to allay all doubts, and the reports sent out from Buffalo cheered millions of Americans, who had spent a sorrowing Sunday. Prayers had gone up for the President from thousands of hearts and their invocations seemed to be answered by a divine Providence.
Telegrams of sympathy and condolence were changed to congratulations over the good tidings. Hopes rose high, and the somber spirits which had pervaded the land for three days changed to those of a brighter hue. Intimate friends were permitted to see the President for a few moments at a time, and each one on leaving the Milburn home brought cheering news. The bulletins were optimistic, and the members of the Cabinet who had been hastily summoned began to discuss returning.