Guitean, a native of Illinois, but of French descent. The scene of the
assassination was the ladies' reception-room at the station. The
President and Mr. Blaine, arm in arm, were walking slowly through the
aisle between two rows of benches on either side of the room; when
Guitean entered by a side door on the left of the gentlemen, passed
quickly around the back of the benches till directly behind the
President, and fired the shot that struck his arm. Mr. Garfield walked
about ten feet to the end of the aisle, and was in the act of turning to
face his assailant when the second shot struck him in the small of the
back, and he fell. The assassin was immediately seized and taken to
jail. The wounded president was conveyed in an ambulance to the White
House. As he was very faint, the first fear was of internal hemorrhage,
which might cause speedy death. But as he rallied in a few hours, this
danger was thought to be averted and inflammation was now feared. But as
symptoms of this failed to appear, the surgeons in attendance concluded
that no important organ had been injured, that the bullet would become
encysted and harmless, or might possibly be located and successfully
removed. By the 10th of July, the reports were so favorable, that the
president's recovery was regarded as certain, and public thanksgivings
were offered in several of the States, by order of the governors, for
his deliverance. The first check in the favorable symptoms occurred on
July 18, and July 23 there was a serious relapse, attended with chills
and fever. The wound had been frequently probed but without securing any
favorable result. The induction balance was used to locate the ball, and
was regarded as a success, though subsequently its indications were
known to have been altogether erroneous. The probings, therefore, in
what was assumed to be the track of the ball, only increased the
unfavorable symptoms. During the entire month of August these reports
were alternately hopeful and discouraging, the dangerous indications
being generally on the increase. By August 25, his situation was