Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1857-03-25

| The WASHINGTON MYsTERY-The dreadful
results of the rat-poisoning, at the National
Hotel. Washington-the death of at least one OF
the persons who was boarding in the house OF
the time and the dangerous illness of host OF
Others, including sundry persons of distinction.
among them President Buchanan-have excited
an interest IN the public mind, and given rise to
rumors which are not confined to the city of
Washington. Horrible suspicious are whispered
which it is difficult to entertain yet, what are
we to infer from letter, said to have been writ
ten by one OF the proprietors of the National. to
friend in this city, on Saturday, IN which he
states that there as not one acord of truth in the
story that poisoned rats aeere fond in tile rater
at that house! The reason he gives for not
denying this before is that he thought it too alb
surd TO notice.
1t is said further-but with how much truth
we cannot say-that the first manifestations of
the sickness at the hotel, were as far back as
the I'd or Sd of February last; that as the pro-
prietors then had chemical analysis of the wa
ter, which discovered mineral substance that
might have produced the distemper, the spring
tanks were closed, and water thereafter was
brought from the Capitol fountain. But the
distemper, nevertheless, kept on incessantly.-
Further analyses were made-analysis now of
milk, soup, vegetables, in short, everything that
was eaten or drunk-yet it is now positively as
serted that, up to this time, no clue has been
discovered to the mysterious poison.
The rat theory then being rejected, and no
deeterious material having been discovered in
the food, there are some who believe that the
poison was secretly administered by human
hands, to accomplish some Internal scheme,
which the Imagination can only guess at. This
belief is based chiefly upon the fact that the post
mortem examination of Mrs Adams shows that
arsenic was taken into the stomach in sufficient
quantities to produce her sickness and death, and
the physicians in this city who have patients
from the National say that all the symptoms are
those of poison.
The Day Book, which seems to have been at
specia. pains to investigate this very strange af
fair, gives prominent to these facts, and adds:
Horace II. Day, Esq. is now lying very low
in this city. He was a boarder there and no
doubt is affected precisely as Mrs. Adams. A
daughter of Senator James is also very sick and
under the charge of Dr. Marcy. DR.. Leon has
several patients, including child of the writer,
who is very low. That We have all been poison
ed by some substance daily administered to us
in the food at the National Hotel is beyond
question. What that substance was, how or by
whom administered, remains q mystery. The
of the house, we are satisfied have
used every effort and means in their power to
find out the cause of this widespread infiction,
but in vain. To them it is as profound my
stery as to any in the land.-N. Y. Paper.
The Councils of Washington city authorized
the Mayor and Board of Health, last week. to
make an examination into the nature and causes
of the disease.
A physician through the National Inteligen-
Ger, expresses the opinion that the disease was
caused by poisonous miasm, generated in and
rising from the sewers, cespools, and sinks about
the lower parts of the house. The Board of
Health have come to about the same conclusion