The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1919-06-05
METHYL A TERROR.
(Continued on Page 8, column
record achievement in speed. The

record achievement in speed. The
utmost secrecy surrounded the ef-
forts. 1t was forbidden to officers and
men to divulge the nature of the
product or even the existence of the
plant. Mail was censored. A CleVe-
land postoffice lock drawer was used,
and letters were mailed and received
there, for the very name of Will
loughby was verboten in correspond
ence. Telegrams were sent through
the headquarters at Nela Park. The
experimental plant, as it was calico,
was conducted as an army post and
the men were not permitted to visit
Cleveland. The work was hard and
there was no reaction. But patriotic
men and women of the neighborhood,
who knew something was being done
for tLc country but not what was be-
ing done, supplied the men with
reading matter, Victrola, fruit, and
pies, and even a grand piano!
Klaxon horns were installed and
an alarm system agreed upon, and
the men in the plant worked always
with their masks in the "alert' po-
sition. A fire and gas brigade was
organized and alarms we're given at
intervals, sometimes 'sfor cause"
But none of the men were lost from
poisoning. The only death at the ex-
perimental station was from influen-
"a.
The methyl was packed partly in
f15-millimeter shells, each carrying
about 10 pounds of liquid, and partly
in drums carrying from $50 to 400
pounds to be dropped from airplanes.
It is estimated that so of these
drums, judiciously dropped about
Manhatten Island, would kill it's pop
ulation.
In this connection it is pertinent to
reveal some facts, until now not
known to the public, about the man
,ufacture of mustard gas. The chlo-
rhydrin process for making this pois-
on was unsuited to quantity produc-
tion, and it was not until February,
1918, that an. English professors S
discovery of a new method was ca
bled to America. The. cablegram an
ticipated by just two days a discovery
of the same reaction at George
Washington University in Washing
ton, where experimental tests were
under way.
In March a smaller experimental
station was established at Taft ave-
nue. and East 131st street in Cleve-
land, with Colonel Dorsey (then Mr..
Dorsey of the National Lamp Works.
as technical director. The little two
story Office building of the Great
Lakes Refining company became, in
August, the offense section of the de-
yelopment division, with Colonel Dor
sey in charge. 1t was connected with
large single-story structure suitable
for plant operations.
This plant, within six miles OF the
Cleveland public square, was in a
cengested district, and great precau-
.tions were necessary to avoid gassing
the neigh hbors, who did not suspect
the deadly material being prepared
within. But few outsiders ever be-
came aware of the nature of the work
being done in East 131st street, and
no serious trouble was caused by
it. The second-story room was con-
Yerted into a control and research
laboratory, and was equipped with 10
well-ventilated hoods and all the 9TH
er necessary equipment. The rapid
assembly of the materials was made
possible through the cooperation OF
Cleveland manufacturing concerns,
whose attitude throughout the war
has been thus expressed: IF we
have it, the government can have it;
if we haven't we'll get it,
At this plant no barracks nor mess
hall was provided, and the men ate
and slept wherever they could in the
neighborhood. AS each arrived, he
was told what was being done and it's
importance was explained to him; and
the officers in charge report that the
workers performed eagerly and thor
oughly the tasks assigned to them,
although often they were tedious and
hazardous.
The results at this plant were I'M
mediately transmitted to the Edge
wood arsenal (Hastings-on-Hudson)
plant, to the National Aniline and
Chemical company plant at Buffalo,
and to the Dow Chemical company at
Midland Mich At each of these