CLEVELAND GAS DISASTER.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19623, 20 May 1929, Page 9

CLEVELAND GAS DISASTER.

VICTIMS BURIED. " SACRIFICES TO EXPERIENCE." (VII IT SB PBBSB ASBOCTATTO*—BT XISCTBIO — comidtn.) (Received May 19th, 11.6 p.m.) NEW YORK, May 18. News from Cleveland states that the victims of the hospital explosion were buried to-day, the occasion being observed by the city's population as a day of mourning. One more person succumbed, and two more became ill as a result of breathing poison gas. The Building Commissioner, Mr Guion, is among those stricken. He had penetrated the film storage room to examine the veatiges of the burned film, and now is suffering from traces of gas. It is interesting to note that several journalists who penetrated the building to obtain details of the disaster have been affected, though their entry was made hours after the explosion. Dr. H. L. Rockwood, Health Commissioner, stated that enouga gas was generated by 75,000 feet of burning films to kill 4,000,000 people. Major-General Gilchrist, chief of the Chemical Warfare Service in the United States, declared that although it was unknown what the combinatidli of gases was, it was evidently more deadly than anything used in the world war. He added: "I really believe the people who died here must be regarded as sacrifices to experience, rather than as victims of negligence."—Australian Press Association.

THE REAL CAUSE. NATURE NOT YET REVEALED. [THB MttSß Special S«rHe«.) | DUNEDIN, May 18. As there is an X-ray department at [the Dunedin Hospital, an enquiry was , made there this morning as to the nature of the gas that caused the Cleveland disaster. The answer was ! that the occurrence is not understandable on the information so far to hand. Bromide compound is mentioned in the cablegrams, but there is no bromide in a film after it is developed. A finished film consists of celluloid, gelatine, and silver, and it is difficult to understand how there could, from this, be an accumulation of poisonous gas. Any suggestion that such an accumulation might arise from storing is negatived partly or wholly by the fact that X-ray films are the better for being fresh, and it is not likely that old films would be kept seeing that new films are made not far away. Further, no dangerous drugs are kept in an Xray department. The real cause of the explosion has yet to be revealed. A further question as to the arrangements of the X-ray department in Jthe Dunedin Hospital leads to a specific as well as a general assurance. The Department is effectively isolated. The quantity of films kept on the premises is only sufficient for a week's use, the rest being stored in a warehouse. Moreover, the X-ray department is not near the dispensary.