Cleveland Plain Dealer, Sept 12

'Madman' of Mattoon Mere War Plant Gas, Chief Sniffs

MATTOON, Ill., Sept. 12 (UP). -- Chief of Police C. E. Cole said tonight that Mattoon's "madman" is only the wind, and his mystery gas is nothing but carbon tetrachloride, which is being wafted on the breezes from two local war plants.
A "sickening-sweet" odor has terrorized this town of 15,000 since Aug. 31, causing 35 persons to report that they have suffered nausea and temporary paralysis. The odor was believed to have been administered by a mysterious anesthetist in a skull cap, who sprayed the gas into bedroom windows at night.
But Cole pooh-poohed most of this talk as "mass hysteria."
"We find absolutely no evidence to support the stories told us," Cole said.

Wafted Gas Leaves Stains

"However, we have found that large quantities of carbon tetrachloride are used in war work here by the Atlas Imperial Diesel Engine Co. and that it has an odor which could be carried to all parts of the city as the wind shifted. It also leaves stains on cloth, such as was found at the home of Carl Cordes." Cole referred to the case of Mrs. Cordes, who found an empty salt sack on her front porch, sniffed it, and was overcome, suffering burns about the face and throat. Cole's theory left the "madman," reported to be a tall, thin prowler who whisked through the night with a spray gun, virtually non-existent.

Lay Those Pistols Down!

Meanwhile, authorities were more worried over the mass hysteria than they ever were about the "gas ghost." Police Commissioner Thomas V. Wright had appealed to the city's self-appointed vigilantes to lay down their clubs and guns "before someone gets shot." The confused state of Mattoon's sensibilities were such that Mrs. Caroline Berwell applied liniment to her sore back last night, and shortly after frantically told police that she had smelled the "gardenia gas." -- Wednesday, September 13, page 1, bottom