MATTOON PROWLER WHO SPRAYS GAS IDLE THIRD NIGHT
Several False Reports Made, Due to Nerves, Police Say.
MATTOON, Ill., Sept. 12 (AP). -- For the third consecutive night there were no signs of the night prowler who has been spraying gas into homes here, police said today, but there were several reported disturbances said to be a result of nerves. Capt. Harry Curtis of the state police said yesterday that the state police squads would remain in Mattoon until the case is cleared up.
The actual and fancied forays of the prowler have created what police officials described as mass hysteria. A large percentage of Mattoon's 18,000 residents dare not venture from their homes after dark, while children are not allowed on the streets after dusk. Doors and windows in hundreds of homes are barred and men in scores of houses, heavily armed, lay in wait for the "gas maniac."
Police Commissioner Thomas V. Wright said that he thought more than 40 persons had reported they felt the effects of the mysterious gas, many of the calls were false, "a case of nerves." Victims who have been attacked have become nauseated, suffered mouth burns and have been taken to hospitals. -- Tuesday, September 12, page 3A
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