Evening star., 1952-08-31

prised an open area of 140 by 80
feet. with a perennial fountain
of spring water and grass plots.
and wide piazzas are attached
inside to the several stories.
There are 240 apartments alto
gether, of which ITO are lodging
rooms and 13 private parlors."
It is also said that, follow
ing John Gadsby, the hotel
business was conducted by
Gadsby & Newton, then by
William Gadsby. son Of the for
mer proprietor. to be followed
by Samuel s. Coleman.
After this came a Mr..
Blackman and for a time after
1849 it was conducted by CAL
vert & Co.. who were soon sue
ceeded by Dexter & Willard.
and then came Guy & Briggs,
whom ran it until 1857.
First Gas Stove -
The Willard referred to was
Edwin S. Willard, a brother to
the Willard who for so many
years successfully conducted the
hotel business at the corner of
Pennsylvania avenue and Four
teenth street NV. It was while
he was interested in the Ma
tional, in 1855, that he intro
duced the first gas cooking
stove known in this city and
referred to by one Of the daily
papers under the title, "Gas
Cooking" as follows: lone Of
the most labor-saving and
money-making expedients ever
introduced, and especially VAL
liable for persons of scanty
means. is the cooking with gas.
What a world of labor and
trouble and time it saves! Mr..
Willard brought one of his
Sheet-iron broilers to our Of
flee some days ago and. having
attached a gutta percha tube
to one of the gas pipes. cooked
a couple Of chops and a steak
in a few minutes, the tenderest
we ever tasted. and what is
peculiar to the process. free
from the smoke and fumes
which generally rise from broil-
ing meat. Anybody can see the
operation any day in the kitch-
en- of the National Hotel"
1t was while Guy & Briggs
were running the hotel that
guests here were made sick by
poisonous sewer gases, resulting
in the closing Of the place for
several months. people even be-
ing afraid to enter the building.
It was during that scare that
Col. Franklin Tenney. together
with DR.. S. w. Jones, heard of
the hotel and the fatality which
hung about it and asked to be
shown through the place. An
item printed years ago says:
"Mr. Tenney examined and
leased it. threw open the win
dows, had the house cleansed,
278 loads of dirt taken from the
cellar and yards, put $1o0, 600
worth Of furniture into the hotel
and was called crazy by his
friends. The hotel was opened
to the public, completely reno
waited and declared thoroughly
free of the poisonous malaria,
December S, 1857. Soon after
it was opened every room was
taken and the parlors and sa-
Ions, where had danced the
bellies Of quarter Of a century
before, were again filled with
life and beauty. They sold out
to H. s. Benson of Philadelphia,
who took charge April /, 1868.
'Messrs. Tenney & Jones,
receiving 100000 for the hotel,
each retired with a handsome
capital and the former, purchas-
ing and fitting up an elegant
manor at Manchester. called
Gale Hall, moved there with his
family. Mr.. Benson died in 1869
and the National again passed
into the hands of Tenney & Jones
and George H. Calvert. Mr..
Tenney bought out the entire
establishment on June /. 1871,
and conducted the hotel for
some time after 1871 alone and
then sold a quarter interest to
Mr.. w. H. Crosby"