New Britain herald., 1930-12-06
MYSTERIOUS MIST
 DISAPPEARS FROM
 STRICKEN VALLEYS

tCon,inued Frcm First Pagc) hilton dumps, were the cause of the deaths, which were regarded as be ing spread over too wide an area for such 10 be the case.
 Ina ministry of health undertook g searching medical and judicial inquiry into the visitation, and while awaiting is result before making an official statement an nounccd that tha medical experts making preliminary Investigations presumed the deaths due to an in- tenseIy cold. wet fog which has lain over the area since Wednesday,
 Not Like Winter Fog
 Tt does not seem like an ordi- nary winter fog but lies in streaks,' he newspaper, People said Of the mist. One moment you are walk ug in ordinary daylight and then suddenly you find yourself against what looks like an impcnetraUle wall in which the dim shapes Of p-oplc are disceruiblo walking about like phantoms A you enter tho fog breathing becomes difficult and the atmosphere is pungcnt anl oJammy."
 One theory was that the persons affected by the fcg were virtually all agrhmatic. or afflicted ni;h lung or heart ailments which made them susceptible 10 the unnatural condi- tons. or that they already suffered from weakened lul -~ due 10 work in factories. Or in chc coal. zinc, stone. lead and sulphurc acid indus rrirs. This theory was discounted somewhat. however, by tho extent ot rn. calamity, whlc1 has swept the countryside,
 Not War Ga~
 Professor HaIdauc. commenting from London and advancing his theory of d now visitation e the .black death" said: "I do not be- rave the epidemic can have been caused by var gas because the deaths have occur ed in widely apara,ed villages. They have been having floods in that district lately an. it s possible that may have something 10 do with it.
 Wet Or Goggy conditions are be- Haycd to be particularly favorable to inc spread Of the mysterious "biack death"
 . prominent physician ot Leigc recalled a similar mysterious cpl demic in 1911. when II persons died unexpectedly in one day after an icy fog. Most ot the victims were either elderly persons or york CTS in deIeterious industries. their lungs unable 10 resist the sudden cold.
 Mayor Gives Facts
 Thc little town Of Engis was the hardest hit by the malady. Its mayor, talking over the phone with newspaper in England, explained that ho himself had got up from q sick bed 10 answer the papers call.
 The 5000 inhabitants Of my littI" town aro terror stricken.' the mayor sad. Nobody knows what the cause is, but it is associated in the popular mind with the fog which has lain over the valley for the past fo1 days. We already have 14 dead here and there gre about 60 persons III T inc osp.tal. Besides there ar" hundreds of persons sui fcring with the disease but not badly enough 10 20 10 hospitals.
 The symptoms arc pains in the throat and the chest, with a severe dry cough that gives one no rest. l don't think the theory Of German poison gas having been buried in the neighborhood and now corrupt ing the air is sound. The fog has no smell and no apparent taste. My doctor has considered the poison gas theory with his colleagues but sti' retains the opinion that the af- fair is entirely mysterious"
 Other Victims of Mist
 Beside Encis there were eight dead in Flemalle Haute. four in F'le- malle Grande. five in Yvoy Ramet, ten in Jeneppe Sur Mouse seven in Othce, eight in Hamay and Ampsin and ten in rural localities.
 The fog lies in a dense patch for more than r kilometers along the Mouse. The fog first lowered over the valley Tuesday, remained Wednes- day. but Thursday night cleared somewhat. Later it returned as thick as e CT, and q similar change was reported last night.
 Many COWS, chickens. mules and horses have died.
 Real Fog Lifts Some