Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1857-05-15
iTHE NATIONAL HOTEL SICKNESS AT
WASHINGTON.

WASHINGTON.
The following article, from an administra-
ton newspaper 'bits the nail on the head
we guess. The poison should have been
looked for in the kitchen Of the hotol. rather
than in the sewers or the air.
[From the Albany Argus.l
It is said that there have been twenty
deaths and 700 cases of extreme sickness
from this cause, and yet it is treated with
levity that is wonderful The victims at
Washington are accustomed to speak Of it
with ridicule: and though the general i'm
preston there was that poison was the cause,
there is no apparent solicitudo as to whether
it was accidental or designed. Never was the
American disregard Of life exhibited with so
much recklessness as in the crowd at Wash
ington when the sickness was most rife
There was an examination into the hotel
prcmises. and an attempt made to ascribe the
disease to foul air and defective sewerage
But the discovery of this cause of general
ill-hoalth did not account for the specific all
mcnt, and did not preclude the idea OF poison
What we wonder at is that there was no in
quiry Of persons, no arrests, investigation and
explanation by the criminal authorities OF the
District. When thirty persons are killed,
and seven hundred more barely escaped with
life. it is worth an inquiry how it happened
for even careessness that produces such re-
suit is a crime. No gunpowder plot and no
internal machine, such as inspire the investi-
cations Of history for centuries, was ever
more murderous.
One Of the newspapers has said that the
President had received a letter warning him
not 20 partake of food at the National. If
so. here is the evidence of a crime, and per-
haps the clue to its discovery. Why is itnot
pursucda Why have not the black servants
of the hotel been separately interrogated If
I the life of the President was aimed at who
knows how soon the blow may be repeated
| Perhaps the poisoners, or some party to the
/ plot, finding that the object of their hatred
! has escaped. and others have fallen victims,
may be moved to give evidence.
We by no means conclude there has been
crime But if what is said is true the pre-
sumptions are strong that the life of the
President was aimed at. and that the criminal
was some gross, ignorant, brutal creature,
who knew no better how to compass the
death of his victim than by wholesale assas-
sination. The apathy of the criminal author
tiles at Washington, the Indifference of the
victims, and the coldness with which the pub
lie receives and comments upon the news of
each successive death, indicates a very bad
condition of the moral sense Of the people.
DISCLOSURES OF LIQUoR DEALER-Mr.
Delavan. President of the New York Temper
ance Society, in his recent address at the Cap
itol in Albany, dwelt mainly on the now prev
alcnt adulteration of liquors:-
"Withn few weeks, he said, sit has
come to my knowledge that person, whose
conscience revolted at his employment, in a
; a Il. 1oCt - Co..
innocent and creditabe business. He said
that it now only took ten, some say four, gal
Ions of pure whskey to make barrel of the
whiskey of commerce. To these are added
rain water, camphene and arsenic; the latter
to restore the bead destroyed by the water.
He stated also that brandy made to initiate
the real French brandy, and of the most pois-
onous character, was sold at S4 gallon, cost
ing 22 cents That all kinds of wine were
initiated so closely that the best judges could
not discriminate, costing but trihe and
sold at prices to suit customers. The higher
the standing of the customer and the more
particular as to his wines, the higher the price
to satisfy him as to quality The most cele-
brated brands were made use of, and the
names Of the most celebrated European deal
ors given as the sources of supply and the
European dealers. be it known, are not much
behind the American traders in their adulter-
alton
We have before us the advertisement of a
New York manufacturer of wines, addressed
to wholesale merchants, and ofsring Cham
pagne. Sparkling Hook Sherry, MADEIRA, &c,
of his own manufacture. He adds that "Par-
ties can have their own labels and private
marks" put on their packages. In recon-
mendation of his skill he says -
4 ffI 4 ~. L.
7 ling Wines being manufactured in Europe
led the subscriber to visit the wine districts
of France, where he acquired thorough
knowledge of managing and putting them III
in the imported styles.