The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-13
orlOLlEST OF PoISoNS.
s,,r1L OF SOME OF THEM
RI r,rSE INSTANT DEATH.

" lLb
rdipary Precautions Taken in
manufacture of Hydrocyanic
ID Nitric Acids.
vors cor st. Louis Globe-Demoorat'
n - - by four of the narrowest'
.,rtest streets of all the Greater
sts' NOT far from the East river, IN
"A" ..oo4 seldom invaded by casual
=. great mandatory for the
ord compounding of poisons, where
Sa 49,, ouantity of deadly substances
sum - every day 90 cause the death
4 - amman being in New York. 1t is
..5iisbment in which the Borgias
r,,o reveled for pure joy.
,.ri,tv Of poisons manipulated in
/. L..s is enormous, and were the Bor-
any other of the ancient poisoners
~, hack 10 life bewilderment at the
,5ro5s deatb-dealiug materials of which
b,d never dreamed would palsy their
They would be interested espe-
4 NJ. Il, che compounds of chlOroform and
4 ,,- those subtle fluids the diluted va
,lone of which in small doses, pro
\ 5sa, sleep. and which in quantities
4 de1tb as certainly and as absolutely
.,t Main as any of the old-time secret
1 .,.tous of dcmOniac ingredients. Ihey
4 "A anon their eyes wide because of the
Carnations of ammonia and the various
1 q. s,inburous and nitrous. They would
- win amaZcment upon tons OF beauti-
4 orrf white powders, so destructive 10
that death would follow almost in
lpny from placing upon the tip of the
Una eo much as would adhere 90 the
stsuej end Of the finger. They would
3slonI~Aed on being told that all these
orf poisuns are made in that shop, not
,ako life. but 10 preserve it; and that
4 20 tbeir times the knowledge of man re-
riding natures most dreadful secrets had
Creased 50 that the most harmful sub
,,rcoe known had been made helpful to
iinkud
The Deadly Prussic Acid.
rquesliouably, the most wonderful
|rrs about manufactures where poisons
4 handled is the mastery which has been
ned over them. There are poisons the
sf-s smell of which produces death The
sost subtle of these poisons-by far the
.ost deadly substance known TO man, in
LIS hvdrocyanic acid, the prussic acid
commerce. one Whit of this in its full
lrength causes death, not in half an hour,
IN few minutes but literally al the in
hat The victim inhales the subtle gas
II pure prussic acid is a gas-and his life
Iases before the breath can be expelled
Tom the lungs-quicker than he could
fop his hand from his side. So devilishiy
tsuuctve TO life is this thing that one
he'll from bottle containing seventy-two
t-s OF water and eighteen parts of the
Iii is just as deadly. for all practical
rposos. as from a bottle of the pure
Ed. and the ordinary preparation of COM
beree-ninety- eight parts water and only
per cent acids SO dangerous that no
i is allowed TO buy it unless the best OF
tas0n for its use can be advanced
Not many persons are aware of the fact,
i this awful substance comes primarily
\ m the most repulsiVe sources, since it is
bmd in r0ttiug animal tissues. the out
bme of dreadful corruption. In practice
Il makers OF prussic acid produce it from
low prussiate of potash; but the latter
made from The horns of cattle and the
uls hiA liliAt0 dtln iletlis9 Va AAOA &C.
esc properly treated, yield a variety of
lnosen compounds, so called. prussic
H.. pigment OF value. being among the
fm5er Personal contact with this poison
build mean death so certainly that de-
Is for carrying on every operation of
Il manufacture. completely shielded by
! forts and tubes, have been perfected,
~ before it was sold so cheaply as now
4 -, I,,frs
'l,ness made the acid for themselves in
iitle toy-like apparatus. Diluted, by the
b. this poison has an extremely pleas
b { smel-nOt unlike peach blossoms. II
Ests too, in peach pits. Its discoverer
fas killed instantly from incautiously
fellng Of the undiluted acid.
When a CRrbOy Bursts.
'h@e is something else about poisonous
Distances that few not versed in chemis-
h know il is that most pure acids are
feols and not liquid. Nearly all are So
Pc In water though, and after being
lled and purified are conducted through
pes 10 tight vessels partly flied with
ter, where it and the acids combine to
Pfm the acids of commerce. You never
Nv pure ammonia, for instance; it is in
Sible-a gas of such strength that one
spiration would destroy life. The am
loAla which you buy is mostly water, and
\ fumes arising from il are produced by
releasing OF the gas, which disengayes
Fen whenever opened 10 the air. Am
|0hla Ike prussic acid. is manufactured
aftght receptacles, and therefore The
rAmon are not in special danger unless
Ere Is leakage or something bursts.
alhs Iom this class of poison are, there
'e rare Nearly all the more recent of
@e accidents have been caused by the
fsnng of carboys of nitric acid. Death
nIed IN none of these cases while The
I'l was being made, but after t mad been
up for shipment.
RE nitric acid is so deadly, to tell the
I'n' mat were it not for it's tendency to
Uie 10 whatever wood substance with
i.u comes in contact, no one would
I'o'e near burst carboy. Such an ac-
.t occurred in an American chemical
."S-nol in New York-last year.
'O9sn ihe carclessness Of a workman in
"Ppins deDdrLmcnt carhoy was
a'u' Al the men III the department de-
Wy "itnout ceremony. and for little
no one approached the acid. IT
o' out UPON the floor and over a lot
'o"uusl, and soon ii was observed that
\, ,t "uuSt was smofdering. 1t was then
,,r, 'Idl unless something was done the
mel, WORKS would be burned not only
irdr,' immense money loss, but throwing
r,l.'9s oI men out of work. Four men,
rsj IN the acid department, volun-
10 PUT out the fire, and were allow.
os,.5 make the attempt in which they
IA. ,. ,',,l easily and speedily. Moreover
fectsl '' w. out of the room apparently I'M
,rr1'l ny tne noXious fumes, one or two
-oso TO their work, and the others.
M. '''"e il was TO rest, going 20 their
clrr o ,a II nothing had happened, and