Chicago Daily News, Sept 12

MATTOON CHIEF BLAMES FUMES FROM FACTORY
All Result of Hysteria, He Says; Warrant Out for Ex-Chemist

BY LOIS THRASHER
Special Dispatch from a Staff Correspondent
Mattoon, Ill. Sept. 12 -- The mystery of the phantom gas sprayer who has kept this city in a state of mass hysteria following attacks on women and children, today produced these developments:

1. A search warrant was reported issued against a former chemist, a well-known resident who had been under police surveillance.
2. Chief of Police C. Eugene Cole asserted that hysteria has led supposed victims to give false accounts of attacks and said the gas reportedly detected might be carbon tetrachloride, used in a Mattoon war plant.
3. The manager of the war plant laughed at the police chief's theory about carbon tetrachloride.

Chief Blames Hysteria.

Asserting that the gas-attack reports have been "a mistake from beginning to end," Chief Cole declared his men "in co-operation with state officers have checked and rechecked all reported cases and we find absolutely no evidence to support stories that have been told. "Hysteria must be blamed for such seemingly accurate statements of supposed victims. However, we have found that large quantities of carbon tetrachloride are used in the war work done at the Atlas Imperial Diesel Engine Co., and that it has an odor that could be carried to all parts of the city as the wind shifts. It also leaves stains on cloth such as those found on a rag at the Carl Cordes home [where an attack was reported]."
W.J. Webster, manager of the plant, said: "Carbon tetrachloride has been used in the plant since it was built four years ago for manufacture of government shells. The fluid is used in the cleaning of shells." Then, laughing, he added, "after all, we have to live with any conditions in our plant. We would be the first to notice, or be affected by, the fumes."

Gassed by Liniment.

The confused state of the Mattoon sensibilities was such by this stage of the affair that one woman erroneously got the idea that fumes of liniment she had used were of the sickening "gardenia" gas that has claimed 35 victims. Mrs. Caroline Berwell called the police station last night and reported that she could smell the gas and that the madman "must have selected me for his latest gas attack." Officers rushed to the Berwell home and discovered that the housewife had got a whiff of the fumes from liniment she previously had applied to her back. -- Tuesday, September 12, page 1 Red Streak Edition

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POLICE SHADOW EX-CHEMIST IN MATTOON SCARE
His Identity Withheld; No Warrant Issued for Suspect

BY LOIS THRASHER
Special Dispatch from a Staff Correspondent
Mattoon, Ill. Sept. 12 -- A former chemist and well-known resident of this panic-stricken town was understood to be under constant surveillance today, as police worked swiftly to turn the tide of hysteria resulting from the attacks of a phantom anesthetist.
Police refused to reveal the identity of the suspect because of "family reasons," and pointed out that all recent reports of gas-spraying attacks have turned out to be completely without foundation. They emphatically denied that any warrant had been issued for the suspect's arrest.

'Sniff Kit' Tests.

With the aid of Mattoon Police Chief C. Eugene Cole, Capt. Harry Curtis of the State Highway Police staff in Champaign today took a state laboratory "sniff kit" on a tour of victim's homes. They hoped, Curtis said, in this way to be able to identify the gas with which 35 persons claim that they have been partly paralyzed. Most of the victims who took the test, Curtis added, chose chloropicrin as the chemical used by the phantom sprayer. Chloropicrin, it was pointed out, has a sweetish odor and causes severe coughing, crying and nausea, symptoms identical to those complained of by the victims.

Gassed by Liniment.

The confused state of the Mattoon sensibilities was such by this stage of the affair that one woman erroneously got the idea that fumes of liniment she had used were of the sickening "gardenia" gas that has claimed 35 victims. Mrs. Caroline Berwell called the police station last night and reported that she could smell the gas and that the madman "must have selected me for his latest gas attack." Officers rushed to the Berwell home and discovered that the housewife had got a whiff of the fumes from liniment she previously had applied to her back.
Another woman, Mrs. Ivy Ketsel, telephoned police and said she felt weak, that her hands were numb and that she felt like she would become nauseated. "I sealed all my windows and I've been sleeping in a second-floor bedroom," she added, "but I think the gas maniac has been here."

Case of Hysteria.

Police took her to memorial Methodist Hospital and called Dr. Everett X. Link, who examined the woman and said she was suffering from a case of "pronounced hysteria." Mrs. Ketsel then was taken home. Dr. Link later told reporters, "I feel that Mattoon is in the wave of mass hysteria. Since doctors have begun to examine the 'victims,' few have shown actual evidence of becoming nauseated by gas of any kind."
Meanwhile, as 12 state patrolmen in eight squad cars and a mobile radio unit were aiding local police in their efforts to track down the spray gun prowler, Police Commissioner Thomas V. Wright called on the entire citizenry to 'lay down their guns and clubs and be calm."
"I wouldn't walk through anybody's backyard for $10,000," he said, in explaining that the "war on nerves" had reached into virtually every home in the town. -- Tuesday, September 12, page 1 Five Star Final Edition