Chicago Daily News, Sept 13

GAS MYSTERY GIVES MATTOON FIRST LAUGHS

BY LOIS THRASHER
Special Dispatch from a Staff Correspondent
Mattoon, Ill. Sept. 13 -- A hearty laugh rippled through Mattoon today, replacing the wave of hysteria which had gripped this city for nearly two weeks, as police officials sought to extricate themselves from their explanation of the "phantom gas sprayer."
The amusement centered on the story, issued at the police station late yesterday, that the phantom's 35 victims had only been subjected to a whiff of carbon tetrachloride fumes from a local war plant.
First to spike this explanation was W.J. Webster, the plant manager, who guffawed, "Why, the plant has been in operation four years and we've used carbon tetrachloride the whole time to clean the shells we make here. Certainly we would be the first to notice, and be affected by, any fumes from our plant."

What, No Phantom!

Adding to the general merriment was the statement of a high police official: "I don't think there ever was a phantom here, but we still have a suspect under surveillance." State's Attorney William V. Kidwell contradicted several police officials by flatly denying that a search warrant had been issued for the premises of a local ex-chemist, who had been suspect No. 1.
Residents, for the first time since Sept. 1, unlocked their windows last night and slept without the fear that a spray-gun artist would suddenly appear and give them a dose of a paralyzing gas. -- Wednesday, September 13, page 6