The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1897-06-05
A POISON FACTORY.
)NE OF THE STRANGEST EsTAB-
LISHMENTS IN THE WORLD.
1t is Dangerous Even to Use the
Power of Smelling-Workmen's
Horrible Longing-Intoxicat
Effects of Ether Swallowing.


it but what a factoryl From mornin,
till night its great chimneys are con
}. tinuously belching forth clouds 8
y fetid-smelling smoke. Occasionally
;, great column of steam will shoot higl
2 into the air; not honest, white steam
. but purple and green and yellow, re
Winding one of some bloated ant
" gigantic serpent. During the hours
{, OF darkness its location is BETRAYED tt
the most casual observer by the REQ
> glare in the sky from its innumerable
: furnaces.
The massive gates leading to this
strange establishment are locked and
, jealousy guarded, for inside them Turk
danger and death to the unwary tres.
passer. Poisons OF such terrific
strength as would suffice to send an
army of men to eternity in the frac.
, tional part of second lie around
loose. and are handled with as little
apparent care as if they were the most
harmless substances in the world.
AS has already been intimated, this
factory is dangerous place to visit.
1t is not enough for the casual conner
to be careful where he steps and to re-
frain from touching. He must, in adj
dition, refrain from using his olfactorv
powers without special permission, for
there are poisons there which it is
death even to smell. One of these is
the pure or anhYdrons prussia acid
a terrible preparation, which is seldom
or never seen outside chemical
laboratory. The original discoverer
of this, the deadliest of all known
poisons, was stricken dead through
accidentally inhaling its fumes, and
scores of other deaths have happened
from the same cause. 1t is this anhy-
drous acid from which the ordinary,
and infinitely weaker, prussic acid of
commerce is made, by diluting it with
from Einety-fve to ninety seven per
cent. of water. Even in this form,
however, it is sufficiently strong to
cause almost instant death, even when
taken in exceedingly minute doses.
"Next toanhydrous acid, remarked
the proprietor of the works in ques.
ton, while plotting the writer around
tho factory one day. recently, "the |
most deadly stuff we make is cyanide of |
potassium. Last year we turned out |
over one thousand tons of it, and. five |
grains being fatal dose, it follows |
that our output of this chemical alone |
would have been sufficient to kill g.
500, 900 people. Altogether, we man
ufacture, in the course of each twelve.
month, enough poison to depopulate
the United Kingdom"
While We were conversing we had I
entered one of the workrooms, where
number OF men were engaged round
a sort OF gigantic witch's cauldron.
containing over hundredweight of
molten cyanide. And ever and anon
aphantom face, enyeloped in an un-
canny- looking glass mask, peering
through the thick unctuous fumes.
right into the heart of the horrible
mixture.
In another room were tons upon
tons of the finished product, looking
for all the world like white crystal.
LIKED sugar.
"lt looks good enough to eat, 1 re.
marked iocularly.
"Ah." replied my guide, gravely, /
THAT Is Just one of the dangers we
have to guard against. For some in
explicabie reason, cyanide of potassium 6
exercises q remarkable fascination ]
over the men engaged in its msnufac. I
ture. They are haunted by a constant s
and overcoming desire to eat il. s
They are perfectly alive to the fact,
however, that to give way to the cray s
ing would mean instant death, and are c
consequently usually able to resist it. q
But not always. During the time I t
nave been here three OF our best and |
steadiest workmen have committed t
suicide Inthls strange manner, impelled t
thereto apparently by no cause save ].
this mysterious, horrible longing. t
myself have felt the came strange Inst
when have been long exposed to the
cyanide fumes, and have had to leave
he works for time in consequence. Il
so well IS this curious fact recognized ii
nat there are always two men at work o
ogether IN this branch of our busi. d
less, and jar of ammonia, which, as h
'ou may know, is the antidote to the f.
'oison, is kept constantly near at al
land. II
Apart from this remarkable infatua. ft
ion, which may be likened to the de.
ire experienced by many people when nj
on the brink of precipics "
throw themselves down, the manu-. OF
acture of potassium cyanide is not I'll
articularly dangerous. Neither is it til
nhealtly. In fact, it is asserted that th
len have gone into the cyanide house in
| and debilitated. and in short time ne
ave been restored to robust health. Sc
The same cannot, however, be said Pa
corrosive sublimate. This frightfuI til
olson, in common with almost all the W
ercurial preparations, is exceedingly ar
eacherous. and prolonged exposure tn
the fumes is often attended by very st
angerous consequences. To persons wi
accustomed to its proximity, even a til
,mparatively short sojourn in that ex
art of the works devoted to it's manu-. tn
cture sometimes gives rise to vafious re-
1pieasant symptoms, as the writer ap
n testify. In my case, ten minutes
,posure to the fumes sut;ced to in.
Ice profuse running at the eyes, nose !.
I'd mouth. accompanied by constant We
sire to expectorate. and followed hy no
ivering, nausea and headache, The att
n ~, 49,