The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1919-05-11

rhcmlstu dubbed King Of poison
EDeca Mustard was frn' used by
the Germans. with terrific effect. ct
NprcS July 10. 1911 erhcrc1f'rr i's
ufe became general ana afforded
such marked tactical advantage TO
the enemy that retaliation by the
allies became imperative aa a matter
~ self .prrs~rYHilun. American
chemists devised formula one.
fourth more toxic than mat used by
the Germans The gas known ID"
chemists aH dlchiurcthNl sulphIdo b.
now the common property ~ iho
combalant nations. The process hF
which u ls made are generally
known n Is Il swedish liuuld. both
In iHsto ana smell about as volatile
Bs turprntIno IN contact VII hihr
skin i'H proHcnco i7 az frN not
noted Thon thoro heginH ihc burn
Inv nud swelling which prompted ~
nickname among tho TommioH u
spreads through the tissues ana ON
reaching the lungs hropNa ihcw
down. setting up what H called
"ChcWicpl' pneumonia usually ih'hl
Mrihyl IN somowhni mor" volatile.
ana ~ compatible In mat r'Fhrd
with honZol luHlcud Of hring In
offensive ~ first contact II sets up
an acute ana almost uneudurhbl"
pain II docs not Hprchd through the
tissues. but poisons the blood ana
attacks first the Kidneys. then the
heart and lungs II hnrdcns the coll
tissues of the lungs, and causes
simultaneously stranEulhtion ana n
heart affection which speedily pro
duces violent death n tnken into
the lungs hy inhalation In any par
cepthlo quantity II Kills almost In
siantly. II ls estimated 10 he
sevonty-two times deadlier than
mustard
The process ~ manufacturing Tho
two poiNonA differ radically II In
not permissible even now to toll what
basis is used for methyl. but ils
manufacture from the raw material
requires hut n short time The
equipment In elaborate. No fear ~
felt that cSpcrlmentcrs will bc able
to mako such gas That tho United
states Cnmr 10 know OF such "A poison
was due, In the first place, tn an nc-
cldcnt Years ago student Of chem
iEtry, then living IN another country.
happened upon n combination which
almost cost him his life II waH
compound never made before. or
ut least never recorded Subsequent
ly he cnmc TO this country and
when tho aueHllop OF poison gnses
came to the fore he recalled his
narrow escape ana impaired the In
formation 10 the government The
production OF methyl resulted,
Workers Protected
Not one worker died from poison
Ing In largo measure this was duo
TO tho precautions enforced by Cap
ton George A. Plummer. physician
from the Mayo Institute. whose work
was the care OF lives IN an institution
dedicated to the destruction OF life.
Hut. In addition To those precautions
| n mask and suit OF clothing was de-
vised which afforded protection
against methyi Defensive work
went hand I'm hand with the Of
! penalvo work, None OF the gas mask,
| invented To save lives from mustard
gaa and the other polAons was Of
fectlve against methyl, II In Ger
tain,y that even now should Il evel
become necessary To use this poisor
| In warfare, the enemy would he .
| long time finding way 10 proteC
| himself Hut the workers them
selves were equipped with n uni
form and face covering which az
forded safety
The work went ahead with re-
markable rupidity An entire plan
was supplied with an equipment sucl
as had never been used before. To
complete the plant required three
! YNnnyha Thu ananh nil al a q
was due TO the fact that the blgses
Industries In the United stnteu flttc,
for that kind OF work put, themselye
behind Uncle Sam In his war efforts
Colonel +. NJ Dorsey, formerl'
chemical engineer of the Natlona
Lamp Works OF the General Elec