Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1900-07-28
WORN IN POISON SHOPS.
Men Who Are Exposed to More Dam
gers than Firemen.


gers than Firemcn.
4 factory for the manufacture of some
of the deadliest poisons known is located
not far from the heart of New York city.
and sufficient poison is being made there
now to annihilate the whole population
of the greater city. 1t is guarded care
fully from all intruders, and no one
passes beyond its portals without Il spe-
cial permit, and even employees have to
be skilled i'll their work and the nature
of the risk they take before admittance
is granted them. In this factory is man
ufactured pure anhydrous acid, drug
that is never placed on the market in
its pure state, and even in the chemists
laboratory it is handled with all the care
of a poisonous reptile. Ii the fumes of
90 elAsssshouid escape. the chemist,
would never live to tell the tale. The
man who discovered it was killed by in
haling its fumes, and many another has
met a similar death. From 3 to 8 per
cent. of this acid diluted with 81 parts
of water forms prussic acid. Even this
poison is so deadly that inhaling its
, fumes would mean instant death, and it
/ Is never handled except in the factory or
a few large. responsible laboratories
Probably next in Importance to this
acid is the cyanide of potassium, which
I is manufactured in the same factory,
only in another part of the building,
where II freproof and alright wall shuts
are not poisonous. and one can work in
the room where il is manufactured with
out fear, except that he must not touch
/ it. The slightest quantity of the poison
( in its pure state would kill il swallowed
/ The fumes of cyanide of potassium have
n rather pleasant odOr, and it is said at
1 the factory that it has witching effect
/ ON wOrkmen. For all the world the fin
4 iShed poison looks like crystallized sugar,
! and as you gaze on ii and smell the faS-
/ cinating Cdor. there is strong tempta-
/ ton to taste it, This fascination is uroh-
/ ably much like that which draws a man
/ over steep precipce. At any rate. the
/ attraction to taste of the poison is so
/ well recognized that a workman is never
/ allowed in the room alone In the mix
I ing room, where the men toll before a
huge caldron Of molten cyanide. the scene
( Is like that of some old witch'S cave, es-
I pecially if one knows the nature of the
terrible poison that the men are brewing
\ Nitric acid Is another poison equally
fearful in its results when once liberated.
/ This poison eats away and through al
most anything, and IT can be kent i'm glass
carboys alone. Break one of these, and
/ the factory is doomed. The acid spread,
around and begins to eat into everything
II touches and incidentally sets every
thing intammahle on fire. No man can
collect the acid and it is almost impossi-
I bile To pour anything over it To countpract
/ its effect. As il burns and spreads
/ around. its fumes become deadly in their
effect. and hremen attempting to put out
the flames would suffer therefrom, The
fumes do not kill at once but if hreathqd
steadily for time, they enfeeble and
/ poison the system, so that within twenty
four hours death comes
\ carhoy of nitric acid was accidental
/ ~ broken several years ago in this fac.
tory. and the acid began to have its way
without opposition. il soon started tho
interior of the factory on fire. and il was
eating its way into the adjoining rooms.
where prussic acid was stored. Several
of the wOrkmen volunteered to put the
flames out and to check the acid in its
deadly work. They worked for severa:
hours before they succeeded, and then
they seemed all right. and returned home.
But the next day they were all dead, the
fumes of the acid having been inhaled
and enough Of the poison absorbed 10
make death absolute.
The fumes of corrosive Sublimate are
as deadly rs almost any poison, and in
factories where il is made the greatest
care must be taken To prevent their es-
Gaping. Where ii Is necessary for the
men 30 70 into the room where the fumes
are likely to escape. they are masked
with glass head-dreSS. which enables
them 70 see but not breathe the atmos
phere. Pure air is pumped TO them
through a tube, and they are much like
the diver who explores the sea bottom
There are many other poSOns made for
commercial use that are only a little less
powerful than these. but nearly all of
them are diluted when sold on the mar
ket. The danger of using them is thus
minimized, so that one can handle them
with ease, ii ordinary care is bestowed
uuon their proper handling,-N York
Evening Post.
Among other signs indicating that q
man is insane. Il has been recently dis