Evening star., 1932-07-23
|PROBE Of PICNIC
| POISONING Of 400
YIELDS NO CLUES
Only Half Dozen Left in Hos
pitaI as Employers Express
Shock and Regret.
HEALTH EXPERT FAILS
TO LOCATE BAD FOOL
Outbreak at Marshall Hall and in
Veterans Camp Still Believed
Due to Ptomaine.

The cause Of the ptomaine poisoning
outbreak that sent approximately 400
picknickers to hospitals Thursday night
remained mystery today, with Health
! Department bacteriologists continuing
| their analyses of specimens of the food
! eaten by the victims.
I Though the analyses were progressing
| rapidly. DR.. Edward j. Schwartz, assist
ant health officer, under whose direc-
ton the investigation was being made
was unable to say when they would be
completed.
Meanwhile, he said, Dr. John E Noble
the Health Department bacteriologist
directing the analyses, had not de-
termined what item on the excursionists
menu was responsible for the outbreak
The hospitals. which were taxed be-
yond their capacities Thursday night,
when the i'll picknickers were brought
here from Marshall Hall aboard the
Mount Vernon and Marshall Hall
Steamboat Co.'S Charles Manchester, had
returned to their normal routines. Only
half a dozen of the victims remained
under treatment.
The outbreak occurred following a
luncheon served on an outing held by
employees of the Chestnut Farms and
CleNV CIldSe OdlIleS. -Ilfc
veterans also were sickened after eating
some of the food, which was sent to
the bonus camp at Thirteenth and D
streets southwest when it was found
the picknickers would be unable to
consume it.
Hospitals to Be Clear.
The six victims still in hospitals were
divided between Georgetown and Emer-
gency-five at the former and one at
the latter All were expected to be
discharged before the end of the day.
Health Department officials have had
the cooperation of the two dairies in
their investigation, it was said at the
District Building.
The Police Department and the vari-
Gus hospitals were praised for their
handling of the emergency, not only by
officials of the dairies, but by the press
and the general public as we'll
The rush on the hospitals began about
$50 pm. Thursday, when the Charles
Manchester pulled into the Seventh
Street Wharf with the 400 victims
aboard-some Of them unconscious, all
more or less in pain. All available am
balances and police automobiles, as we'll
as private cars and taXicabs, were
pressed into service to rush them to
hospitals.
In a statement issued last night,
Henry N. Brawner. jr., president of the
Chestnut Farms Dairy, declared the
food was prepared with the greatest
care and that he and other officials of
the two companies cannot understand"
what caused the outbreak.
Shocked by Outcome.
The statement follows:
We are shocked over the unfor-
tunate results of our picnic Thursday.
We do not know what caused the ILL
ness Of so many persons, but we are
making every effort to find out. We
have turned over to the Health Depart
ment samples of the food and all the
information we could gather. Our men
are giving DR.. Fowler their fullest CO.
operation.
We have been giving these annual
outings for 10 years and this is the
first time there has ever been anything
like this happen. We cannot under
stand it. There was some suggestion of
not having the outing this year, but
our employees have had so much en-
Joyment from them in the past that we
decided to go ahead. The food was
prepared with the utmost care, Just as
it was for our other picnics.
"On behalf of our companies, I
should like to thank the hospitals,
physicians and nurses who so efficiently
aided our employees and their guests