Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-03-24
EVENING STAR.
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.
Board o. ALDsRxxS.-Th. Bo.ra n.,d

making an appropriation therefor, was re-
ported by Mr.. Busey from the police commit.
tee and adopted by the Board
"A communication was received from the
Mayor enclosing the report Of the ommittee
appointed to investigate the nature and can.ss
Of the sickness at the National Hotel. tooeths,
with the evidence taken before the same Ths
Mayor says In his commune alton :
NY own professional experiences fullv cor
ours with the testimony Of the medical gentle.
men given before the committee and suhm;t.sd
HNn us report The conclusions arrived at
oy the committee arc, in my opinion. inst and
true The hotel was not built mon anv ~.
conserved and well arranged plan. bn. Ia,
been several times extended and otharvis.
sl'ereo, 80 that II has been impossible 60 adopt
or carry ont any regular system of yentila.
ZION. indeed, that object, important as it Is,
70 nave oeen almost entirely lost sight
OF, and many Of the old fues, with their regis
ters, placed in the building to conduct heated
ar tnrougn It, have been suffered to remain
though the method Of heating the house had
oeen changed and they served az the cor.
duits through which mephitic gases were con-
Teyed oil over the house. The sewers of the
hotel are now undergoing remodelinQ and re-
construction with traps, 2c /, and there ia NO
doubt but that, with the changes and inprove
m nts now making and CONTEMPLATED. the
house will be rendered entirely healthful and
sslubrious : -. N
BOARD OF HEALTH
The committee appointed by the Board Of
Health to cooperate with the Mayor in aseer.
tanning, as Tar as practicable the nature and
causes Oh the endemic disease which has rs
Gently prevailed among the guests and am.
piyees Of the National Hotel, beg leave to
submit brief report, condensed from the
.esumOny CT persons examined by the COM
From the testimony of Drs J C. Hall and
Cornellus Boyle We learn that the disease
made It's appearance about the latter nat of
the month Of January, aud continued during
the severe weather; that it ceased for about
two weeks during the mild weather in Fpb-u.
airy, owing, as they suppose, to the house
oeing tnen better ventilated and that it in
creased again and became very rife during
the cold weather that returned on or aboui
the first of March
This disease, according to DR. Boyle, was
different from any usual form of diarrtop,
Both Of these physicians assure us that the
attack came on suddenly, generally early in
the morning that the operations were fire.
qusnt and thin, light colOred, and frotby, or
yesty. -
According to DR. Hail. vomiting occurred
when diarrtea was checked, and rice psrs,-
The thirst was usually great, and the patients
often desired acid drinks Both of these phy
slclans further testify that the disease was
mover cured at once, but continued to return
at snort intervals for considers BILE length of
time A removal from the hotel did not seem
TO contribute to the recovery Of the patients,
as the disease with tie latter continued as vi
olent, and for as long time time as among
tnose VINO continued in the building There
was no evidence, IN the opinion of these gen
tlemen, Of anything like mineral poison hay-
ing been taken into the stomach; there was
no evidence Of Inflammation of the intestines
Both concur In regarding the disease as one
OF blood poison" produced by the inhalation
OF poisonous missm, generated by animal
and vegetable decomposition, which entered
the hotel through the sewer connecting with
the Sixth street. sewer. .'t -
As further confederation Of this fact We
are assured that peculiar and offensive odor
pervaded the premises, and which was more
decided In the halls than in the water-closess
This Odor caused enc of the physicians to be-
come nauseated. The construction of the
steneh-trap at the corner of Sixth sreet and
Pennsylvania avenue, by preventing the gases
from escaping into the street, is considered the
principal cause OF the noxious gases passing
into the cellar Of the hotel. The boiler in the
cellar, according to DR.. Hall, aided in dis,ri-
buting the fe:id gases through the building.
In room (sscond story No 80, in which the
committee examined the witnesses, q register
was fonnd, which was said to communicate
with the cellar, and from this a. offensive odor
could be distinguished entering the room. Two
OF your committee have frequently recognised
the offensive odor spoken of by Ora Hall and
Boyle in different parts Of the building The
same fact is certified to by Mr. D. Fair
banks, Thos. Mcdowell, Alfred Gross, Chas.
Watson, &c.
Mr.. j. T. Ferry, sewer builder, testifes
that " be examined the cellar of the hotel and
found an opening in the southwest corner con-
Meeting with the sewer leading into the street,
through which there was continually passing
current Of fOetid gas, which nearly ex;in.
guished a candle held over the opening " Pre-
vious to the trap being placed at the corner of
the street the current Of air, he states, passed
from the cellar into the sewer The cellars
are very damp, (see A z. Gosss testimony
Chss. Watson, who is engaged in the BARRIERS
shop, testifes that there is a door opening into
the hotel from the shop, which is frequently
open that he has noticed a disagreeable odOr
In the shop. similar to that which srisss from
the sewer at the corner Of Sixth and G streets
especially in tie morning
The committee sought in vain for evidence
Of the water or food having been poisoned by
arsenic or any other mineral substance. Drs.
Hall and Boyle both state that they drank the
vater-Dr Hall says freely, without being
affected by It" Capt A. Potts states that
be has taken his meals at the hotel regularly
during the whole winter and drank freely of
the water, and, although his stomach is easily
deranged by improper diet, he has had no
symptoms Of diarrhea. Mr. Potts had a room
and sleeps out Of the building. Mr Thomas
Mcdowell states that he ate and drank at the
hotel without being made sick; he occu pied
room in the house, but slept with a window
open. JOS Gautier, chief cook, and ALI. F.
Co.'s, steward, both testify that the water used
when the disease appeared for the second time
was not the same as that used when the dis
ease was prevalent in January and early in
February. The latter assures us that the
water tank is built of brick and lined with
slate, completely closed, so that q rat could
not possibly have entered the tank The |
steward further states that, when the disease |
hrst appeared, at the suggestion Of some Of the |
OF tea, sugar, coffee, flour, and milk was OBJ |
tanned He asserts that the copper vessels |
were well lined aud perfectly clean, and in |
better order than ho had ever seen before; he |
had been steward Of the Revere House, Bos
ton, FOR i've and q half years.
One of the greatest sufferers seems to have
been the chief cook, u. G.. Gautier y he was
ono OF the first attacked hx diarxhona. ha snu.