Chicago Herald-American, Sept 12

Call Mattoon Gasser Myth

BY GLADYS ERICKSON
MATTOON, Sept. 12 -- The "mad anesthetist" was branded a phantom of the imagination late today by Chief of Police C.E. Cole, who declared there is no evidence in any reported case that poison gas was sprayed by any one.
He blamed the reign of terror that has gripped Mattoon on mass hysteria.
Chief Cole said:
"Mattoon police and state highway police have checked every reported case and in no instance has there been found any evidence to support the stories told by the supposed victims."

ADVANCES THEORY

A possible explanation was given by the police chief in the use by the local Atlas Imperial Diesel Company plant of large quantities of carbon tetrachloride. Chief Cole explained:
"This substance gives off a gas with an odor similar to that described by the purported victims and could leave stains on cloth like that found on a rag in the yard at the Carl Cordes home." Chief Cole's surprise announcement came a few hours after the first daylight "attack" by the supposed anesthetist had been reported by Mrs. Eaton Paradise. She telephoned police at 11:30 a.m.:
"I've just been gassed."
Sgt. Charles Butler dispatched city and state highway policemen to her home.
Police said they discovered that Mrs. Paradise had upset a bottle of nail polish remover. She mistook the odor of the remover for that of gas.
The daytime police call came as authorities kept under surveillance a wealthy and eccentric amateur chemist as the "mad anesthetist." That phase of the investigation in the reign of terror was learned exclusively by The Chicago Herald-American.
Police said they had obtained a warrant for the suspect, but that they have not made an arrest because they lack legal proof and that they hoped to capture the man at the scene of an attack and so end his depredations permanently.
Authorities permitted this revelation, although they admitted they were not ready to make an arrest in an effort to stem a wave of mass hysteria which they regard as more dangerous than the gas prowler's attacks.
Police Commissioner Thomas V. Wright pointed out that seven more calls, mostly from women who believed they had seen the gas man, were received during the night.
The man under suspicion, police said, lives in the section in which most of the attacks occurred. He inherited wealth from his parents, they continued, and set up a basement laboratory after their death.
His scholastic record at the Mattoon High School and the University of Illinois, they said, was brilliant, but his actions in recent years, his open aversion for his neighbors, have led to a belief that he was partially demented.
Authorities said that a mysterious explosion occurred in the young man's home some time ago, but that he refused to give them an explanation and his sister, who they said was the only person to whom he speaks, was unable to assist them. -- Tuesday, September 12, page 1, 4

This Mattoon Terror?

BLAMED by State's Attorney William Kidwell for Mattoon's 'gas madman' scare are fumes from Atlas Imperial Diesel Engine company, which turns out shell casings for army. He contends 'nerve gas' comes from this degreaser--run by Bessie Anderson, who, along with other plant workers has never suffered ill effects. It uses trichlorethylene to clean shells. Other investigators and plant officials deny chemical is harmful, press search for maniac. -- Wednesday, September 13, Second Section page 17