Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 153, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 July 1919 — Intended for the Germans [ARTICLE]

Intended for the Germans

Deadliest Poison Ever Known Was Made in the U. S.

Guarded night and day and far out of human reach on a pedestal at the interior department exposition in Washington, D. C., Is ft tiny vial. It contains a specimen of the deadliest poison ever known. It is “Lewisite,” product of an American scientist. It is what Germany escaped by signing the armistice before all the resources of the United States were turned on her. Ten airplanes carrying “Lewisite” would have wiped put every vestige of life —human, animal and vegetable, in Berlin. A single day’s output would snuff out the 4,000,000 lives on Manhattan island. A single drop poured in the palm of the hand would penetrate to the blood, reach the heart and kill the victim in great agony. What was coming to Germany may be imagined by the fact that when the armistice was signed it was being manufactured at the rate of ten tons a day. Three thousand tons of this most terrible Instrument ever conceived for killing would have been ready for business on the American front in France •On March 1. “Lewisite” is another of the big secrets of the war just leaking out. It was developed in the bureau of mines by Prof. W. Lee Lewis of Northwestern university, Evanston, 81., who took a commission as a captain in the army. It was manufactured in a specially built plant near Cleveland, called the “mouse trap,” because every workman who entered the stockade went under an agreement hot to leave the 11-acre space until the war was won.