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

n had the fragrance ~ gcranium
blossoms Il was an Glly amber
lluuid highly explosive, ana bursting
into flame with water Il waR ihc
American super poison EnS, deadly
by contact or by inhalation ~ the
smallest debpciahn portion. 4 drop
on the hanb1would cause intoi"rthlu
agony and death after few hours.
J was called mcihyl tphrily b"churc
that name did not describe ~ aud
it was tho Gilman ~ this country q
Hohleymcnt iu the lrthti arts
The signing OF the arm.AtiCc spared
tho enemy any fifst hand a6puaint-
Ancc with tho iorrors ~ mc,hyl.
Major Gen. W. L. Sibcrt In COM
mand Of tho Chemical Warfare Scr.
vice. had directed that 5000 tons of
Il IN shell and drums, he In rohdinrs"
on the battlefield March l. 1919.
Ten tons day were being produced
Il an eleven acre plant near Clcvo-
and, ohio. and tho plant was two
months ahead Of ils schedule when
Foch crossed No Mans Land 10 ~.
fer terms 10 beaten Zoe. II n
estimated mat ten tons ~ mothyl Is
ono ton more than enough to dc
populate Manhattan Island 3Hnd 50
II IN not difficult 10 guess what would
have happened had HIndenhurt and
his cohorts persisted until spring
Two days after tho armistiCc was
signed workmon began dlrmnntling
the big plant They. trapped the com.
plicated and expensive apparatus.
every piece of which had been
specially planned and manufactured
for tho production Of the
most terrible instrument Of
manaia uRhter ever conceived On
Feb I. tho work OF demolition was
completed, There remained no trace
of that scattering array OF barrackH
and Laboratories which had been n
cradle OF death, But the formulas.
processes, and psronel were palms
takenly set down for the records at
Washington against the contingency
OF another war.
bury II In Occan
There did remain, however, tons
and tons of methyl. what was to
he done with n now that there was
no longer any active occasion for
EXTERN hating Gcrmans7 Cleveland
did not want the deadly stuff dumped
into LAX. Erie, and thdre seemed no
ita deadlLness chemically Almost
enough was on hand to destroy the
entire people OF the United States
10 dispose OF Il,
The ocean was selected as Its
catch basin. Difficulties were met
in transporting the stuff from Cleye-
land TO the ocean. Handling such
quantities was pcrilous. SO II was
put INTO big iron containers, for II
does not react on iron, and those
containers were loaded into freight
cars. Then there was assembled the
most extraordinary train probably
that ever traversed American rail-
road tracks. 1t moved under an
armed guard and on special
schedule. No railroad cmploye rode
on II except the engine driver, Tns
train moved slowly. so that two days
were consumed In the journey from
Cleveland to the Edgwood Rrsena
near Baltimore. And then the iron
containers were slowed gently In 9
chip and taken fifty miles 10 sea
where thoy were lowered over tn,
aide Int water three miles deep.
Rust will eat pinholes into thes,
containers, and there will be n Eradu,
al intermixture OF water with thnii
fatal contents. In such clrcuin.
stances there Ia no flame. but 4
slow chemical reaction which pro.
duces two nontoxie compounds. FIX.
perts do not believe even that fish
will perish from the presence OF
the ocean bed OF this vast auantit,
of poison. When the mlt water o
the Atlantic embraced tho las, o.
those iron tanks. finis was writer
TO chapter IN American war effor
which. until now, has been a seore
scrupulously guarded
Compare this secret new com
pound with mustard" which m