Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-03-04
OPEN GARAGES TO
PREVENT MISHAPS.
Ventilation OF Buildings viii Avert
Danger From Gas Poisoning. Says
Physician.
NHALING ATMOSPHERE SUICIDE
Danger of confinement With Motor Fx.
hausting Is Pointed Ont in Arti-
Gle in Magazine.
MAILING ATMOSPHERE SUICIDE

Within the past month several cases
have been reported Of asphyxiation
from automobile gas fumes. which
physicians have defined as "petromor-
lis" In these cases the victims were
found seated in or standing alongside
Of their automobiles in a garage, ap-
parently suddenly overcome while
making adjustments to or testing the
motor preparatory to taking the car
on the road.
In commenting on this new danger
of working on motor car in closed
garage. Dr.. Z. D. Enfield, in an article
appearing in the February issue of
the HOTseIeSs Age, says that the owner
or private chauffeur should never take
the risk of confning himself in the
small private garage with a motor ex-
hausting into the air he has to breathe,
but if work must be done with the mo-
Tor running the doors and windows
should be open to provide free cur
rent Of air. Adequate ventilation is
the only means of escaping this fatal
poisoning
IN the case recently reported" SAYS
Dr. Enfield, death resulted in a room
with an idling motor exhausting into
the air Of the room. As it would
seem that death in these cases came
too soon. and after too short period
of combustion to be the result of mere
oxygen exhaustion of the air in the
room, toxic agent has been sought as
4 cause of death and apparently dis
covered in the carbon mOnoxide gas
which is one Of the products Of incom-
pletc combustion in a gasoline motor
just as it is in a coal stove In the
ordinary burning process, in either the
motor or the stove, the oxygen of the
air unites with the carbon of the fuel
in the proportion of two atoms of oxy-
gen to one of carbon. producing the
comparatively harmless gas, carbon
diOxide.
Cuts Oxygen Percentage.
This gas is the most common and
In volume the most important product
CT combustion. II is not poisonous ex-
cept it be in sufficient concentration
to cut down the oxygen percentage of
the air materially. Experiments in
ventilation have shown that it has lit
tie to do with the headache and drOws-
mess that comes too often as result
of stay in an i'll ventilated room. If
the same air with the same carbon d.
oxide concentration. which causes
these unpleasant phenomena. be fresh
eIed only by agitation with a fan,
without the addition Of any fresh air
at all. these Symphonic of bad ventila-
ton disappear.
However, in the carbon monOXoide
gas which results from incomplete
burning of the charge of gaoline vapor
there is real and insidious danger.
This gas is composed of one atom of
oxygen only, combined with one atom
of carbon, and obviously the COmbina-
ton tends to replace the other when
ever the available supply is little
low In the case of the gasoline en-
CINE this condition might obtain as
result of poor carburetor adjustment,
weaker explosions, oversupply of gas
Oline in other words. exactly those
conditions which are very likely to be
found in a motor which is being run in
a shop
Carbon monoxide is a very active
poison. II is the most poisonous con-
stituent of ordinary lighting or fuel
gas, it is the poison which kills in the
traditional. Latin quarter method of
suicide with brazier of charcoal, the
same which accomplishes its work so
quietly in coal poisoning. 1t does not
.ause feeling OF suffocation at first. !
SO that the victims rarely try 10 reach /
the open in time to save themselves, /
rather. they fall quietly and easily in |
10 state Of Inconsistencies from
which if it lasts long, they do not re-
turn.
There is another very real danger, !
which. while ii has not to do with sud
den death, is perhaps more serious, !
for II entails a considerable loss OF
efficiency spread over a large number
Of wage earners. and effect on their
general health and well being the sci
entists is not yet prepared to estimate
accurately. Carbon monoxide as a
poison, acts on the blood, and through
the blood. on the other tissues. partic-
ularly the nervous system. 1t can ana
does cause paralysis. deafness. con-
WILSON'S and a large group Of other
symptoms Often if the poison is not
fatal II leads TO chronic tnvalidism
and mental weakness, which, in vary
ing degrees, may last throughout lie.
These are the severer non-fatal cases.
Danger Of Slight Impairment.
Just how much effect the constant
daily breathing of a small quantity OF
this poison, too small a quantity to-
have any immediate noticeable results,
Will have on health, mental and physl-
cal. the physicians do not know exact
iy. That it must have some enect Is
fairly certain, and as we are coming 10 /
look with less tolerance on waste OF
every KIND every day, lltlle ieoS wa n
every day, a little slower thought pro
cesses, a little impairment OF physique
in hundreds and perhaps thousands OF
men, is not to be regarded lightly.
"A little of this poison every day IN
The air you breathe may never cause
sou 10 lose the use Of your lungs por
your ears, but II will certainly make
you think a little slower, It will cut
An,1.,. L.. .l.r,,t Of rnullN first. class