Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-18

Americans have shared with Belgium
and neighboring parts of Europe a deep
interest in numerous deaths which &C.
CURED while heavy fog spread over
the industrial district in the neighbour
hood of Liege and the Mouse Valley.
While various explanations are offered,
and the theory has been advanced
that hysteria contributed to the record
of fatalities, the incident has turned
scientific attention to the need of study
ing the effect Of gases in the atmoS-
phere.
Imagination Is stirred by the re
ports" says the Buffalo Evening News,
suggesting that men die in fear of
things they cannot understand" The
News quotes Belgian medical authori-
ties to the effect that the victims, with
few exceptions, were persons more than
so years old who had suffered from
heart ailments and chronic bronchial
affections" The Baltimore Sun, con-
ceding that the fog was so unprece-
dentedly dense, cold and penetrating as
to cause death to persons already af-
t1icted with respiratory ailments" adds:
Even the skeptic S unsettled by the
mention of the Black Death by a
scientist. The phrase itself is terrify-
ing, and the. assurances of science that
all these seeming mysteries and ScourgeS
have an applicable origin, If only one
is smart enough to find the eXplana-
ton, leave one cold as the swift and
sudden peStilence claims its victims"
1.-THE fact that the victims suffered
from parched and burning threats" ac-
cording to the Atlanta Journal "indi-
Gates that some sort of toxic substance
must have been suspended in the air
a view confirmed by the circumstances
that the deaths were most numerous in
q
Accepting the theory that there was gas
generated at the many industrial
plants along the Mouse River" the
Seattle Daily Times concludes: What
ever the nature of the Belgian fog, it
seems fairly certain that it is not new
disease nor return of any well known
peStilence. No doubt the explanation of
it will be found in the Mouse Valley
and in no other place"
\ X -
"Such a story" thinks the Davenport
Democrat, "stirs the hearts of every
land which, even if it has its own
troubles, finds that 1t is not alone in
them, but that here and there from
time to time come visitations which call
not only for sympathy but ofttimes for
the helping hand" The incident, in the
opinion of the Racine Journal-News,
serves to show that science and edu-
CaClOI nave IlOU COlIlpleOt0 COil-
quest of superstition and mob emotions.
Civilized peoples continues that paper,
"Still fear the unknown, preferring to
accept diabolical and Superhuman eX-
plantations until the natural cause is
shown"
"The inhabitants CROPPED In a world
Of unreality" according to the Louis
vile Courier Journal, lin which every
thing was shadowy and assumed fam
tastic shape. Judgment Of the reason
ing faculties was betrayed by the false
witness of misled perception. The fog
alone was materially in evidence, and
it blinded, choked and chilled them.
The pervasive phenomenon penetrated
their thought. There wasn't anything
else to engage it. Some one was Ill in
nearly every home, several died. Coin |
cidence attributed the cause to the fog |
and wartime memories saturated the
unrestrained imagination with poison
gas. Normal conditions were restored
when the fog lifted, but it was erroneous
to assure BritonS across the Channel
that no contagion had developed. Moth |
ing is more contagious than hysteria."
Something beyond a normal, clean
fog was responsible for the Deaths" de-
clares the Providence Journal, holding
that "the Belgian fog had some alien
quality of a distinctly poisonous ma
ture." The Asbury Park Press points
to a plausible theory that "the damp
air itself Is sufficient to take the lives