The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1870-02-08

THE TRUE STORY OF THE NATIONAL Ho-
TEL PoIsoNING.-A correspondent of The
Chicago Tribune gives the correct history Of
this memorable affair, from the lips of Uns
wort, at the time employed at the National as
keeper of the wine room:
"Wel, Guy (the landord) took 10 drinking
and was on the eve Of losing his mind, as be
afterWard did lose it entirely; and, seeing that
he soon would be unable to attend TO the
place, he came to me and asked me to exer-
else general superintendent ill he was well
enough to make other arrangements. This 1
uid, out OF regard for him, although | was
gulie disabled by the work had to do. The
hotel gradually lost its system and order,
SNr"nSeu Nnn,S PIoplletors, and a person from the
Nortn came on to be the superint andeut. He
tesoi'eu ~ Ieuuce expenses, and had me mus
ter tne walters ana others, to discharge the
supernusuS, ana cut down the wages of those
Itsa,heu. Inc HrSt thlnS he did was TO cut
OIL the seven walters whom | emnloved for no
other purpose than to clean the filtb and waste
nom the lower part OF the building.
| ou can nave no conception of The amonnt
| OF ona. anu corluptibie matter which accumu-
lates in the larders, kitchen. and sewers Of
large hotel. The National, in particn,sr -
an old, so:gy, rotten house, stuffed with dead
| rats, pierced beneath with a complex svsta,o
1
SO that the refuse in sewers cannot run of
easily. Hence, 1t makes odors and vapors.
which escape, generally speaking through the
| valves and the taps at the street curbstones.
AT and before the time OF the National
| Hotel disease, two things happened 10 make
all the gases and vapoIs ascend by night di-
rectly up into and through the house First,
The people in the neIsbbnrhood comp aimed of
stencil and headache arising from the open
ar1Af ha onfb Il =. n
the valves lcapped. Secondly, the force was
taken off which had been used to clean the
basement every night, and, in little while,
the bottom OF the house was like a graveyard,
filled with decaying bones, carcasses and Of
fal.
1t was very mild winter, and, as long as
the Dights kept cold nobody was affected; but
in the warm weather, the vile air, like mist
of stencil, climed up the corridors, and went
rambling about the house. People would
come to breakfast in the morning and be seiz.
ed with diarrhea, which would prey upon
them. The rumor of the disease filled every
body with fright. The head cook, French
man, came 10 me and said:
80 What is re mattre, Meestar Urswort?
Zey say poison re people. l do not know
nothing about it at all. What is zis? Mon
Dieu, win you tell me?'
I" L took him TO the basement, aod told him
to lean over one of the valves, while lifted
the cap. He drew single breath and fell as
if knocked him down.
Nobody who slept out of the house took
the disease. got my meals there, and slept
out, after discovered the symptoms. And
escaped the disease"
This l supposed to have been the true mat
ter with the ancient old hosiery; untimely
economy and the march of dirt. 1t is the
property of one of the Calverts, descendant of
Loid Baltimore, and it is now alleged that be
means to erect upon the old site The largest
hotel edifice in the country. In this oldrCok-
cry died Henry Clay.