Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1857-03-21


CKEESs AMONG TIE LATE GUEsEs AT 1HE
NhTIONAL. HOTEL, WASHINGTON.
A gtet many OF re guests AZ tie Estenal
Hotel, Woshineton scout tbe time ef TIE insogu-
rhiicn, were sfec.ei With . strsrgs- sickness, Of
which several have since died, Mr BUoaAsAs,
Whose rooms, prior TO the Inauguration, were az
st that bo;e1, sss biusef almost prOsrsted by en-
attack Of what was 81 frst thogg5t 20 be 20 spl-.
denic, and is still s.f-rirg severe Z from s'cknss7
contracted there. The guests If fhe hotel IN
naDy cases, le for their homes in ell parts Of the
c5pnFy before the poison had taken fall effect IN
their systems and were seized on the road, ia
some csses, and in Others after reaching home.
The cause Of these distressing symptom remained
g mystery until'witbin s few days, when it.wai
learned that, few days before their development
tae proprstors OF the Naionals bad employed
famous rst killer from New York to visit WASH
iugton and destroy the rats which infested the he
tel. BE completely cleared the premises of rGs;
but ia cleiring out the eistern on lhs top of the
house, alter the 6rst cases Of suspected poisoning
occurred, it was found to contain numbers OF dead
rats, which hsd been poisoned by the rat killer
Tley had thus pOisoned.ihe water used BY tie
guests Of the hotel. Only those who used the
oistern water in their rooms we're Effected The
water used for cooking and by The servants Of the
house, ss well ss for many of the rooms, WIS taken
from wells in the yard.
The following article, from the New York I'll
Juas, describing the case Of lady Of New York,
viii give our readers good idsa Of the manner
in which the victims of this carelessness were at
tackled: Es7
DEATH CT ANOTHER Work. 1T was hoped,
| when, week or two sgo, We informed our read-
ers OF the extraordinary rum0rs regarding the rat
poisonir g case st the National Hotsi in Washing
| ton, no further developments would manifest
themselves beyond the mere sickness of the guests
who had partaken 50 freely of the wster provided
for their use; but The ClsaUtl1nd PIaindealer sub.
! seqnsntly Informed US that q Mrs. LenoE, from
| toe State Of Ohio, who had been sojourning at
! Washington, and who was a Ga 81 at the National
/ Hotel al he time of the excitement caused by 50
much sickness, Swss taken sick, started fer home,
and died on the way; and in our columns Of yes,
ten Day was q notice of the death Of the wife OF
/ respectable citizen of New York, Who it is ru-
! morsd, died victim to sickness caused by pBrtc.-
/ patton OF the water drawn from the tanks OF the
! National HOlelAt Washington. The following is
| the notice alluded to:
| Goa Wednesday evening" March IL, in the 9Th
4 year Of her age, Susan Martins, wife of Jsy L.
] Adams, and only daughter Of Peter r Warner"
| This lady according TO the information received
by cur reporter, ha IL g teen on visit to Savsn.
! nah, was returning houe by the Wsy OF Washing
| ton, where she stopped at the N stIOna Hotel
| She was taken win violent ht Of Sickness pre-
/ sentDg tne same symptoms as the other victims,
| and upon returning home 10 New York became
rapidly worse until wednesday evening last, when
| she died. o. course rumor 81 once gaze the ORR
| gin of the cause Of her death location, and put
/ il down as the place mentioned above Although
q effort was made 20 suppress any tendency which
would give such rumor publicity and thereby
leave an Impression OF IFS validity upon the public
/ mind yet 1t traus1ITed sufficiently to resca the
ear OF our reporter who upon inquiry yesterday,
! ascertained tLat pOstmOTtem examination had
! been MADE to determine upon the cause of death.
| At fret the cause of Mrs. Adsmss CeRth had been
/ set down as "iuaamsyion the lungs" TGis,
1 however, it would seem has been superseded
| by the resnlE OF the post morten exsmlna-
! ton, which, II is said was conducted BY four of
the abest physicians IN the city. The statement
/ made to our reporter was tle following: That
the stomach was esCertsined to have beel partially
! eaten away; the bowels manifested symptoms Of
| violent Inflammation; the lungs were congss ed,
/ and the kidneys severely affected" These re
/ suits were reluctantly narrated to two or three
| friends who have Laued it over again; and ss
there i5nO disgrace IN being, accidentally, the VIC
| tim il such case IS that st Washington, or 10 be
ing related to VICTIM We give this 20 our readers
/ not with any desire TO parade before the public
anything OF a revolving Character but rather as an
incentive to care and ustshfulLess in any attempt
/ to destroy Vermln. lhere may be other instances
| IN which death has ensued IN when ike care
| has been exercised to prevent publ city. While
we deeply 81 mpathzs with those who are deprived
| Of valued and beloved friends, yet we can see no
| reason why the public should not know the con-
/ sequences If want Of foresight or calou alton.