Evening star., 1932-07-22
PROBE POISON FOOD
MAKING 400 SICK
DeviIed Egg Salad Believed
Cause of Ptomaine Attack
on River Picnic.
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Continued From First Page.)
mad attracted large crowd, and police
were kept busy keeping a lane open to
the ambulances, patrols and other We
hicles being used to rush the sick to
the hospitals.
Altogether, more than so passengers
were unable to walk and had to be car
RED from the vessel on stretchers.
Most OF the i'll excursionists were
taken to Emergency. According to a
statement issued by officials of the hos
pital. approximately $50 patients were
treated there between $50 and pm.
Despite the fact the entire staff OF
II internes, together with number of
special nurses, was called into service,
the hospital soon was overtaXed
Others were taken to Casualty, Gar
field, Georgetown Navy Providence and
Sibley Hospitals. where the full STATS
| CT doctors and nurses also were called
into service
or the $50 taken to Emergency. only
about SO were required to remain in
the hospital. and none Of these was con-
sldered likely to die, barring Unforeseen
complications. In the confusion. pa
tients jammed the corridors and all
other available space, awaiting treat
ment and attendants were unable 10
obtain the names and addresses Of
many of those treated
100 Taken 10 Casualty.
About 100 were given treatment ut
Casually where a similar situation pre-
vailed and SO were considered too III
to be sent home Physicians there also
said they expected no deaths. though
some Of their patients were seriously Ill.
Some were taken to Naval and, after
receiving emergency treatment there,
transferred to Georgetown. Attendants
of the latter institution were unable to
keep record of the persons treated, but
it was estimated that about 100 were
taken there. Only 19 were admitted,
however.
The numbers treated by the other hos
pitalS were given out as follows. Gar
field six treated. none admitted; Provi-
dence seven treated one admitted, Slb-
ley. four treated none admitted.
Then too large number went d.
rectly to their homes, where they either
summoned their physicians or doc
tored" themselves No estimate of the
number in this category was obtainabie.
Friends :nd Families Separated.
In the rush to get the sick passengers
to the hospitals, families 1hd friends
were separated, and many spent the
greater part of the night trying to To-
cate one another. In several instances
mothers and fathers we're taken TO one
hospital and their children TO others.
Crowds of anxious relatives and friends
gathered outside all the hospitals. many
of them remaining until late in the
night.
AS a result Of the confusion. police
were forced to organize a sort Of clear
ing house" for information. Names and
addresses of the i'll were sent out over
the police teletype system as rapidly as
they could be obtained. and the various
precincts were kept on the jump giving
out information.
A short time before the ship docked
a truck carried two cartons of ham
sandwiches and a tub of deviled-e2g
salad to the camp Of the I'd Regiment
Of the Bonus EXpeditionary Force at
Thirteenth and D streets southwest.
twenty-five Veterans I'll.
Long after the boat pulled into the
wharf and the rush on the hospitals be-
gan, 25 members of the camp applied
for treatment at Emergency. explaining
they had eaten some Of the salad
Because the hospital already was
taxed beyond its capacity, an ambulan e
was sent to the camp to treat the ve.
erans there instead of taking them 10
the oyercrowded hospitals.
However. the regiments commander
in chief. Floyd S Taylor of Salt Lake
City, protested that his men were Just
as human as anybody brought from the
boat" and the doctors consented to take
the ex-service men to the hospital. Eight
of them were transferred to Galllnger
Hospital after receiving emergency treat
ment. The others showed immediate i'm
prcvement after treatment at Emergency
and were able TO return TO the camp
within short time.
According to Taylor the truck re-
turned to the camp shortly after the
boat docked and the driver and his
helper asked for the food, explaining
it had been delivered there by mistake.
Receiving information some CT the
poisonous food had been taken to
B. E. F. camp, F. A. Ross, national COM
missary officer of the veterans, made the
rounds OF all the camps in an efcrt 20
locate it before it had been eaten. The
I'd Regiment camp was the last one
he visited, and when he arrived some
Of the ex-service men already had CON-
menced to Sicken.
While the first shipload Of excursion
lists were being treated, word was re-
ceived that more i'll persons were at
Marshall Hall, unable to return to the
city.
The steamer made another trip to the
resort, and Emergency sent three IN
ternes and eight nurses in automobiles.
The fire rescue squad also made The
trip, but only about half dozen per-
sons were found there. They, too, were
taken to Emergency.
Samples of Food Taken.
Samples of the food eaten by the ex-
cursionists. which had been sent to
Marshall Hall in dairy trucks, were
saved by Riggs Winters, superintendent
of the resort. The specimens were
turned over to the firemen, who placed
them in the hands of Health Depart
ment officials for analysis.
At the 2nd Regiment camp 1t was
said the wife of an official of one OF
the dairies had visited the veterans ana
inquired if they were eating regularly.
Told they were not, she promised to get
them Scme of the food left over from
the outing. n was shortly after this
that the truck containing the sand
wiches and salad arrived at the camp.
The excursionists left Washington at
10 am. Shortly after noon they ate
luncheon at Marshall Hall. the meal
consisting of ham and cheese sand
wiches potato and deviled egg salads,
milk and chocolate milk, tea, water
melon cake and ice cream. Since all
the veterans made Ill by the food had
eaten only the deviled egg salad, it was
assumed this was what caused the OUT
break of ptomaine. All the excursion
lists poisoned by the food also had eaten
the salad. a check-up revealed
Some OF the eXcurSiOniStS became III
almost Immediately after luncheon,
while others were not affected until
some time after they had begun the
return trim to WASHINGTON.