The Washington times., 1901-09-03
AGED BROTHERS STARVING
Charles and Andrew Butler Res
cued Barely in Time.
Found Destitute in n SGunIid Howell
One of Them Unconscious From
Exhaustion-RemOv to the Emer-
xcncy Hospital for Treatment.


Exhnustion-Remov to the Emer-
Ecncy Hospital for Treatment.
Ill. destitute and hungry, Charles and
| Andrew Butler brothers, one sixty live
and the other sixty-two years old, were
found last night about O'Clock in
tumble-down shanty on the flats at 22ff
b Streets southwest, and saved. just in
time, from death from starvation. The
aged men had been when found without
food for four days. They were weak and
exhausted, and Andrew, the eldest, at
late hour last night was still in an uncon-
scious condition at the Emergency Hos
pital, where the brothers were removed as
soon as their deplorable condition was
made known to the police and kind-heart-
ed neighbors.
When the door of the shanty in which
the two poor old men had made their
home was forced last night a pitiful
/ scene was presented. Charles, the young
| or of the two, an old man with snowy
hair. and a face deeply scanned with
wrinkles and burrows of pain and hunger,
was found lying on u dirty cot in small
| room at the rear of the house Andrew.
the second brother, was discovered lying
on the foor too weak to rise. and nearly
| dead from lack of nourishment The
small house in a filthy condition.
The walls and ceilings We're hung with
cobwebs, and the floors were Uttered with
dirt The place was damp and foul.
The two old men were hurried tosthe
Emergency Hospital soon as possible
after the discovery was made. There
they We're treated for starvation. Food
| was given to them in small quantities at
first, although they cried pitifully for
more. Andrew soon became unconscious.
The younger brother appeared to be the
| stronger of the two. and his condition was
| not regarded as so serious as that of the
| elder man.
| The twJ old men have lived for long
time in the tumble-down shanty on the
flats north OF the river, near Street
| northwest. They We're well known in the
neighborhood, where they have rcsiacd
for several years. They have always been
a mystery TO the residents o. the neigh
borhood and although it.'was commonly
reported that the Two aged men We're
poor. ii was never suspected that for
| months they-have been on the verge of
! starvation. Their depl6fable condition
was not discovered until O'Clock last
night. when the attention Of neighbors
was attracted to the fact that neither of
the old men had been seen for several
days.
Last night the keeper of small gro-
cery store at the corner OF rwenty-third
and b Streets northwest a short distance
men, who had heard The gossip of the
neiGhborhood in regard to their condition,
and who mad specuiated Concerning their
absence rom the streets, determined to
make an investigations. He visited thu
hut and endeavorcd to gain an entrance,
but, although he entered a portion of the
humble home, he failed to discover the
men. Alarmed b. the Silence which
greeted his entrance. the groceryman in
formed Sergeant Sullivan. of No. police
precinct.
Accompanied by the police he made an
investigation of the house. The two men
were found in an almost dying condition.
Ii was seen at once that the case was an
urgent one, and :he brothers were hurried
to the hospital.
The house in which the brothers lived
was in frig.itful condition. tank grass
waist high, and, in some placrs above the
height, of a mans head. snrroI nded it.
The ground was r,arshy ard nialarious
Inside, the house was scarcely better. The
cot upon which the younger brother was
found was covered with dirty bed clothes
The filth and dirt of months was piled in
the corners and son the floors. The place
had apparently not been cleaned for
months. The two men were bachelors
and lived alone. A brother. John Butler
lives on Valley Street northwest