Chicago Tribune, Sept 9

MATTOON'S GAS FIEND ATTACKS GIRL, 11, IN HOME
Massmeeting Tomorrow; Civilians Join Search

By Charles Ballenger

[Chicago Tribune Press Service]
Mattoon, Ill. Sept. 9 [Saturday] -- The mysterious night prowler who has terrorized this town for the last week by spraying a sickening "poison gas" thru open bedroom windows was reported to have reappeared last night in the northwest section.
Eleven year old Ramona Driskell fled from her home when she and her mother, Mrs. Violet Driskell, were aroused by a prowler, who they said attempted to remove a storm sash from their bedroom window. The girl said the fumes assailed her and made her ill as she stood on the porch, calling for help. Mrs. Driskell said she believed she saw the man run away.

Gas Odor in Neighborhood

The telltale odor of the gas was detected in the neighborhood of the Driskell home and by householders along Moultrie Street near by, but nowhere did searchers find a trace of the prowler. The Driskell child raised to 16 the number of persons who have become ill or partially paralyzed from the gas. Reports of gas attacks Wednesday on Glenda Hendershott, 11, who was found semi-conscious in her bedroom, and on Mrs. Cordie Taylor were received yesterday as Mattoon business leaders planned a public massmeeting in an effort to stem the rising tide of hysteria. Civilians, armed with shotguns and rifles, joined the search for the attacker.
The mass meeting, scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, will have a two-fold purpose, it was said. First, to reassure the townsmen that steps will immediately be taken to stop the strange attacks and, second, to protest the ineffectiveness of police action.

Widow Reports Prowler

The police force, which consists of eight patrolmen and two officers, has brought in only one suspect, who was released after a lie detector test. The prowler made no direct attacks Thursday night, altho three calls were received by the police that a strange man was seen. One of the reports, made by Mrs. Mae Williams, said that a tall, dark man had attempted to force her door at midnight. He was frightened away when she screamed.
Meanwhile, Richard T. Piper of the crime bureau of the state department of public safety, made plans to return to Mattoon to resume his study of the mystery. He said a chemical analysis of a cloth found on the porch of Mrs. Carl Cordes, 45, will be completed this morning.
One chemist said the description of the gas is close to the characteristics of chloropicrin, used to kill rats and vermin. -- Saturday, September 9, page 10

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FBI AT MATTOON AS GAS PROWLER ATTACKS 5 MORE
Mayor Considers Calling State Police Aid

By Charles Ballenger
[Chicago Tribune Press Service]
Mattoon, Ill. Sept. 9 -- Two agents of the federal bureau of investigation arrived here today from Springfield and Mayor E.E. Richardson announced plans for bringing in a large force of state police as the city's gas spraying night prowler remained uncaught after a week of continuing depredations.
Attacks on five persons at two homes last night and a report of a previously unreported attack Thursday night — all in the prowler's favorite manner of spraying a "sickish sweet" gas thru an open bedroom window — brought the number of persons known to have been made ill by the bizarre assaults to 27.
Altho the FBI men refused to comment, it was said they were concerned chiefly with ascertaining the type of gas being used with a view to locating its source.

Police Force Short of Men

Mayor Richardson said he believes public safety requires sufficient night police patrols to cover the entire community of 18,000 persons and that there are not enough men in the Mattoon police force to do the job. If the prowler is not caught by tomorrow, he said, he will ask Police Commissioner Thomas Wright to appeal to state police. Public hopes for a mass meeting to spur the search for the prowler were dimmed by state authorities today. Officials told business men, who planned the meeting tomorrow afternoon, that it only would add to the rising hysteria which has gripped the community of 15,800 persons since the first fiendish attack with the unidentified "sweet sickening" gas Saturday night. In a majority of the cases, the gas was sprayed thru open bedroom windows, causing the victims severe nausea and temporary partial paralysis.

Vigilante Action Opposed

While some aroused citizens, armed with shotguns and rifles, joined police last night in search of the prowler, state officials opposed the idea of such undisciplined squads for fear some "quick trigger" vigilante might shoot night war workers returning home from late shifts. Hopes of identifying the strange gas used by the prowler also were dimmed today with the report of Richard T. Piper, superintendent of the state bureau of criminal investigation at Springfield, that attempts to analyze a piece of cloth with a reddish stain had yielded no clews. The cloth was found Tuesday night on the porch of Mrs. Carl Cordes, who was burned about the face when she smelled it.

Four More Sprayed

Four persons sleeping in one bedroom in the home of Mrs. Russell Bailey reported being made ill about 1:45 a.m. today when "sprayed liberally" with the gas thru a partly opened window. The four were Mrs. Bailey and two sisters, Miss Katherine Tuzzo and Mrs. Genevieve Haskell, and the latter's 7 year old son. Ramona Driskell, 11, fled from her home late last night when she and her mother, Mrs. Violet Driskell, were aroused by the prowler who they said tried to remove the storm sash from their bedroom window. The girl said the fumes made her ill as she called for help from the porch.
The other newly reported victims were Miss Frances Smith, principal of the Columbian grade school, and her sister, Maxine. -- Sunday, September 10, page 15