The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, June 05, 1919, Page 2, Image 2
METHYL A TERROR
TO THE ENEMY
AMERICANS WENT GERMANS 72
TIMES BETTER.
Manufactured in Secret
America Wavs' Prepared to Destroy the J
Whole German Nation in This
*
New Secret Poison Compound.
(New York Times.)
It had the fragrance of geranium
blossoms. It was an oily amber
liquid, highly explosive, and bursting
into flame with water. It was
the American super-poison gas. dead
There did remain, however, tons
yv ' and tons of methyl. What was to be
\f - : done with it now that there was no
longer any active occasion for exterminating
Germans? Cleveland did
not want the deadly stuff dumped into
Lake Erie, and there seemed no
practical method of neutralizing its
deadliness chemically. Almost enough
was on hand to destroy the entire
people of the United States, and some
safe way must be found to dispose of
If it. '
The ocean was selected as its
catch-basin. Difficulties were men in
transporting the stuff from Cleveland
v - to the'ocean. Handling such quantities
was perilous. Some was put into
big iron containers, for it 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 railroad tracks.
It moved under an armed guard and
on a special schedule. No railroad
employe rode on it except the engine
driver. The train moved slowly, so
that two days were consumed in the
f?-Y ^
journey from Cleveland to the Edgewood
arsenal near Baltimore. Anu
thpn thp irrm prmtninprs wiprp stnwprl
gently in a sliip and taken 50 miles
to sea, where they were lowered over
the side into water three miles deep.
Rust will eat pinholes into those
containers, and there will be a minute
and gradual intermixture of water
with their fatal contents. In such
circumstances there is no flame, but
a slow chemical reaction. Experts
do not believe even that fish will perish
from the presence on the ocean
bed of this quantity of poison. When
the salt water of the Atlantic embraced
the last of those iron tanks,
finis was written to a chapter in
American war effort which, until
now, has been a secret scrupulously
guarded.
Compare this secret new compound
with "mustard" which the chemists
dubbed "king of poison gases." Mustard
was first used by the Germans,
with terrific effect, at Ypres, July 20,
1917. Thereafter its use became general,
and afforded such marked tactical
advantage to the enemy that retaliation
by the allies became imperative
as a matter of self-preservation.
American chemists devised a formula
one-fourth more toxic than that used
by the Germans. The gas, known to
chemists as dichlorethyl sulphide, is
now the common property of the
combatant nations. The processes by
which it is made are generally
known. It is a sweetish liquid, both
in taste and smell, about as volatile
1}* by contact or by inhalation of the J
smallest detectable portion. A drop
on the hand would cause intolerate
agony and death after a few hours.
It was called methyl (partly because
that name did not describe it) and it
was the climax of this country's
achievement in the lethal arts.
' \ ! .
The signing of the armistice
spared the enemy any first-hand acquaintance
with the terrors of the
methyl. Major General W. L. Sibert,
in command of the chemical warfare
service, had directed that 3,000 tons
' of it, in shells and drums, be in read* '
4 iness on the battlefield March 1,
- 7
1919. Ten tons a day were being
produced in an 11-acre plant near
Cleveland, Ohio, and4 the plant was
two months ahead of its schedule
when Foch crossed No Man's Land
to offer terms to a beaten foe. It
is estimated that 10 tons of methyl
is one ton more than enough to depopulate
Manhatten Island; and so
it.is not difficult to guess what would
hnvo hannened had Hindenburg and
I r r
his cohorts persisted until spring.
Two days after the armistice was
signed workmen began dismantling
the big plant. They scrapped the
complicated and expensive apparatus,
every piece of which had been specially
planned and manufactured for
the production of the most terrible
instrument of manslaughter ever conceived.
On February 1 the work of
demolition was complete. There remained
no trace of that scattering
array of barracks and laboratories
which had been a cradle of death.
But the formulas, processes, and personnel
were painstakingly set down
^ for the records at? Washington
v- . against the contingency of another
war.
'Vvv' - I
as turpentine. In contact with the i
skin its presence is at first not no- i
ticed. Then there begins the burning <
and swelling which prompted its !
nickname among the Tommies. It <
spreads through the tissues, and on
reaching the lungs breaks them
down, setting up what is called
"chemical" pneumonia, usually fatal.
Methyl is somewhat more volatile,
and is comparable in that regard with
benzol. Instead of being inoffensive
at first contact, it sets up an acute
and almost unendurable pain. It does
not spread through the tissues, but
poisons the blood and attacks first
" 1 1- ' 1" * b
TilG Kidneys. men mc ncaii anu
lungs. It hardens the cell tissues of
the lungs, and causes simultaneously
strangulation and a heart affection
which speedily produces violent
death. If taken into the lungs by
inhalation in any perceptible quantities
it kills almost instantly. It is
estimated to be 72 times deadlier
than mustard.
The processes of manufacturing the
two poisons differ radically. It is not
permissible even now to tell what
basis is used for methyl, but its manufacture
from the raw material requires
but a short time. The equipment
is elaborate. No fear is felt that
experimenters will be able to make
such a gas. That the United States
came to know of such a poison was
due, in the first place, to an accident.
Years ago a student of chemistry,
then living in another country, nappened
upon a combination which almost
cost him his life. It was a compound
never made before, or at least
never recorded. Subsequently he
came to this country, and when the
question of poison gasses came to
the fore he recalled his narrow escape
and imparted the information to
the government. The production of
methyl resulted.
Not one worker died from poisoning.
In large measure this was due ,
to the precautions enforced by Capt. ;
George A. Plummer, a physician from
the Mayo institute, whose work was
the care of lives in an institution ded
icated to the destruction ot me. jbut,
in addition to those precautions, a :
mask and suit of clothing was de- j
vised which afforded protection ]
against methyl: Defensive work went
hand in hand with the offensive
work. None of the gas masks in- ]
vented to save lives from mustard gas
and the other poisons was effective ]
against methyl. It is a certainty that 1
even now, should it ever become nec- 1
essary to use this poison in warfare,
the enemy would be a long time in ,
finding a way to protect himself. But i
the workers themselves were equip- j
ped with a uniform and face cover- j
ing which afforded safety. ;
The work went ahead with remark- (
able rapidity. An entire plant was i
supplied with an equipment such as J
had never been used before. To com- \
plete the plant required thiiee I
months. The speed accomplished was <
due to the fact that the biggest in- !
dustries in the United States fitted
for that kind of work put themselves 1
behind Uncle Sam in his war effort. ^
Col. F. M. Dorsey, former chemi- .
cal engineer of the National Lamp ]
Works of the General Electric com- i
pany, a graduate of Ohio State uni- 1
versity in 1908, and a man who add- (
ed courage and tremendous driving *
energy to his specialized technical
ability, became chief of the development
division under General Sibert.
The General Electric .company per
mitted him to give all his time to the
work. M. W. Allen and Mr. Batchelor
of the National Carbon company, F. S.
Terry and B. G. Tremaine, general
managers of the National Lamp j
Works, and J. E. Randall, its consult- <
ing engineer, offered their facilities j
and met all the expenses involved, "
under an agreement to be reimbursed I
,j- - - -if ii.- I
later at me convenience ui me waij
department. This was to save the
time which would have been consumed
in waiting for appropriations.
Time was as precious as poison gas
in those days; and to the efforts of
these men can be credited much of
the success of the development division
of the service.
Captain W. H. McAdams, a graduate
of the University of Kentucky,
1913, became Colonel Dorsey's executive
assitant and right-hand man.
Other executives and experts were
recruited from the largest and most
successful industrial establishments
in the United States. The companies
put into the war work assigned to
them not only the superb technical
equipment of their employes, but also
their own tremendous resources.
In the production of mustard and
other poison gasses known to the
public some complaint was made to
delays. No such complaint could
have been made about methyl, even
II me puuilC liau W1U?I1 aujumg
about it. This compound is known
to the chemical warfare service also
as G-34. The preliminary experimental
work with it was done by the research
division at the American University,
"Washington. When General
Sibert on July 12 last told Colonel
Dorsey to make ready to manufacture
the poison, it had been produced by
a laboratory process of five steps. '
Subsequently the fourth and fifth i
steps were revised. But the immediate
problem was the design and
layout of a full-scale equipment for
quantity production. Some of the
raw materials required were of an
unusual nature for such work, and
were difficult to procure. It was necessary
to manufacture two of them
in the plant itself. And it was necessary
to assemble a new organization
of exceptional calibre.
Colonel Dorsev set to work with
that energy and lack of ceremony
which had won him a name in the
industrial world for getting things
done. He took over in July, 19*7,
the abandoned plant of the Ben Hur
Motor company, Cleveland. On July
20 he installed Major James B. Conant
of the research division there,
with Lieut. Col. \V. G. Wilcox in
charge as superintendent. On July
26 there was a guard on hand of 25
men, and work was under way. The
plant, was in such condition that it
was necessary to grade the dirt floor,
wire it for electricity, provide for
sewerage and water, install desks and
chairs. The first of the laboratory
equipment arrived in trunks, as personal
baggage. Colonel Dorsey was
in a hurry.
Space will not permit a detailed
narrative here of all the obstacles
overcome, of all the vexaious barriers
to be hurdled in order to make this a
(Continued from Page 2, column 3.)
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