the latter possifility is true, the cannon could have easily been de- stroyed or taken by the rebels, which would offer an explanation as to why no further reference to current activities of the "Old Buck Cannon" have been found in any newspapers after 1863. Bates in his History of the Pennsylvania

food. Could it have been in an effort to harm the President, or did poi- soned rats spoil the source of the drinking water? Many were sickened, some died, and among the latter was Elliot Eskridge Lane, a victim of the "National Hotel Epidemic." His death occurred March 26, 1857, and on the 29th funeral