The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1857-04-09

hus here heth m AttemDe 90 R0Ar
son me Prcsidcutl
Under thii caption = HAxfEn8 Wtxxtfr
.lss an dfticIe devoted TO The ,'fst-sPidemic''
al Washington which is vsll worth reading.
Upon exsninstion the rat story V pro-
nounSea humbns. The Board Of Health
OF the eIly charged II TO defective sewerage.
and the fatality attending those who stopped
., the National Hotel. 10 the miSsma arising
r., Ii the 'cesspoOls and ,inks' ssOat and I'M
der the EdaSihg. aeh Of senac, however, up.
on a little reflection. win pronounce this also
an aasOund theory. The attacks upon per-
sons stopping there have been in nearly eV.
cry case, sudden aud violent. Such is not
the effect Of miasma. II may do injury aud
cause great sickness; but lie effects arc
gradual. Slowly but surely It enters into
the composition Of the air, and gradually In.
sinuates it, poison intn whatever we breath
for miles around, producing fever ard ILL
ness in variety OF forms. There are two
other facts which show the theory Of the
Washington Board Of health to be unsound.
II is a well known fact that none but those
who ate or drank at the National were az.
feeted by this epidemic, and general y only
those who dined there. None Of the ser
wants or employees about the establishment
were affected by it. This would not be the
case il it were simply a miusrha. Again, it
first began, on the occasion Of Buchohan's
frat visi, to the Hc,el-eeased when he went
homo. and returned again whqn he re-
turned the day before the Inauguration.
II is clear, then, that the difficulty is in
the food and drink at the National, and can
be nothing more or less than roison, whe,k.
'er intentionally or accidentally administer
ed. 1t is certainly singular circumstance
that it should appear and subside in just the
manner which it has. In the worst view
we can take of il, it seems to have been a
deliberate attempt to poison the President
and all those who should be 50 unfo, tunate
as to eat ut the same table with him; in the
best view, it isl criminal negligence result.
ing in The loss Of many valuable lives, and
endangeting many others. Nearly every
person who'dined there the day before the
inauguration has been prostrated with the
epidemic, and number have died.
Speaking of the death OF Eskridge Lane,
the nephew OF ihe Preside nj, and who din.
ed at the :Naiidhh the day before the inau-
guration, the Philadelphia Times says:
"From all the symptoms of The case, in
connection with other facta, we have no
doubt that the disease which led to Mr..
Lanes death had its origin in the "Naiional
epidemic" and thdti was the effect of poi.
son. An eminent physician OF that city,
who has had several persons under bis care
seeking relief frdtn The effects of the m, 4.
terious sickness c3atracted at the Federal
Capital, maintaifis the theory that it result.
ed from prcIheditated attempt to poison
the inmates Of ihe National Hotel. He
bases his opihi6a aupon the fact that none
but those who dihed at the public table were
attacked; and, to the story of the rat.
poisoned water, it is refu,ed, because the
tank is only used for washing, while the
drinking witer is brought through pipes
from distance. The sickness originally