26 S 
I-'eli ni a ry 
THE RUKAU NliW-YORKb,^ 
THE USE OF HYDROCYANIC ACID GAS 
IN CITY HOUSES. 
Of late years the use of this gas as a 
means of ridding houses of bedbugs, 
roaches, fleas and other pests, has be¬ 
come so generally recognized that a few 
precautions concerning its use, in city 
houses particularly, will not be out of 
place. Several years ago I had the 
somewhat risky pleasure of personally 
fumigating several hundred dwellings 
in one of the large Eastern cities, and 
I was strongly impressed with the dan¬ 
gers attending the work. These dwellings 
ranged in size from small two-story 
houses to large hotels, and presented 
quite a variety of conditions. 
The principal insects at fault were 
bedbugs, fleas and roaches. The usual 
formula was used, this being one ounce 
of potassium cyanide, two ounces of 
sulphuric acid and four ounces of water, 
for every hundred cubic feet of space. 
In nearly every case the operation was 
successful, it being understood, of 
course, that two fumigations took place, 
a week or 10 days apart, in order to kill 
the insects which might have hatched 
out during the interval, the gas being 
ineffective against eggs. 
For generators, instead of using 
glass aquaria or heavy earthenware 
crocks, fibre buckets having the insides 
coated with black asphaltum were found 
to be perfectly serviceable, it being 
necessary to recoat them only once a 
year. The proper amount of acid and 
water was placed in each bucket and the 
potassium cyanide, in small lumps, in¬ 
stead of being placed in a paper bag, 
as is the usual way, was wrapped in 
cheesecloth, it being found that the 
meshes in the cloth allowed the acid to 
circulate freely between the particles of 
cyanide and thus result in a large vol¬ 
ume of gas being formed almost imme¬ 
diately. In using paper bags, it was 
sometimes possible at the end of one 
hour to find them not entirely destroyed 
and containing cyanide un-acted upon. 
This was especially true where the cyan¬ 
ide was rather finely powdered and 
packed closely. The cheesecloth readily 
gave way to the acid, and allowed the 
gas to escape in a rather steady stream 
without a violent bubbling and splashing. 
It also allowed ample time for the 
operator to walk out of the room. 
In preparing a room for fumigation, 
cracks around doors and windows, open 
fireplaces, registers, key-holes, etc., 
should be closed, either by sealing with 
gummed strips or stuffing tightly with 
rags. Drawers should be pulled out, 
closets opened, and bedding removed 
and hung over chairs. In fumigating a 
house in a city block, it is necessary to 
ascertain beforehand if garret and cellar 
connects in any way with similar places 
in adjoining houses. If they do, such 
openings should be closed and the occu¬ 
pants on each side warned. 
While the actual fumigation is going 
on it is best to have the occupants of 
the house move out for a few hours. It 
is hard to keep track of all the mem¬ 
bers of a family and even when only a 
few rooms are being fumigated, small 
quantities of the gas will permeate the 
adjoining corridors. The room or rooms 
should be closed for at least two hours. 
This allows the gas plenty of time to 
diffuse. 
Strange as it may seem, the airing out 
in a city house is quite often attended 
with danger. The windows should in 
all cases be opened from the outside by 
means of cords previously attached to 
the upper sashes. If even a slight 
breeze is going, the gas will have disap¬ 
peared inside of five minutes. If the 
day is warm, sky overcast, and the air 
still, then look out for trouble. In this 
case, it may take some time to air out, 
and one half hour should be allowed 
before entering. In airing houses under 
such adverse weather conditions, I have 
known the gas to pocket repeatedly in 
alleys and areaways between houses, 
and in one case, while airing out the 
first floor of a house, a cat on the 
ground in an adjoining alley gave up 
its nine lives at once, and two maiden 
ladies who were in a small garden in 
the rear were given severe headaches. 
This, of course, would not have hap¬ 
pened had the day been at all windy. 
As to the action of the gas in the house 
—at times it will pocket in closets and 
corners of rooms and must be fanned 
out with a towel or other article. Such 
pockets of gas may or may not prove 
fatal, but no chances should be taken. 
The generators containing the residue 
smelling more or less of the gas should 
be covered with several folds of news¬ 
papers, carried to the nearest toilet, and 
emptied one at a time, together with 
plenty of water. It is a good plan to 
empty these, one every five minutes, if 
there are many. Do not allow a num¬ 
ber to accumulate on the floor of a 
small room during the operation of 
emptying. On two different occasions 
I have seen men overcome under such 
conditions, and it was simply due to 
good luck that they recovered. 
If there is a drain in the yard, it is 
better to empty them there, rather than 
in a small room. Always allow plenty 
of water to flow. I remember one time 
when 10 generators were emptied in 
succession down an outside drain' and 
the pipes being connected with the in¬ 
side plumbing conducted the hydrogen 
(formed by the contact of iron pipe 
with acid) into the house. Result- 
much sputtering, coughinr and incon¬ 
venience; finally exit on the part of 
everybody until it had disappeared. At 
no times should the contents of genera¬ 
tors be emptied into gutters, alleys or 
garbage pails. If there is any. earth 
handy, a hole should be dug and the 
residue poured in and covered. 
While the actual fumigation is taking 
place and during airing, the entire house 
should be under the observation of a 
careful man. The work should never 
be undertaken at night, nor should a 
city house be allowed to remain closed 
over night with the gas inside. Do 
everything during broad daylight, so 
that you can see what is going on. 
As to hotels, if the entire house is 
vacant or an entire floor, it may be safe 
to use this gas. On the whole I am in¬ 
clined to look with disfavor on the use 
of hydrocyanic acid gas in hotels. In 
many cases the partitions between the 
rooms are flimsy. There are always 
few or many people using the passage¬ 
ways and entries. Many rooms contain 
only one or two windows opening into 
a light well, and airing into a place like 
that is fraught with much danger. At 
one time while airing a third-story room 
into such a place, portions of the gas 
entered an open window in the floor 
above and the night clerk who was sleep¬ 
ing there at the time awakened with 
headache and nausea. The entire opera¬ 
tion in a hotel must be watched closely 
from start to finish, and when I look 
back and think of the chances that were 
taken and of the possibilities of the gas 
acting fatally after it had left the room, 
I am inclined to say—let the hotels stick 
for a while yet to insect powders and 
other preparations, until the fumigation 
can be made safer. 
I have not gone into details concern¬ 
ing the actual work or amounts of ma¬ 
terials to be used, nor have I dwelt at 
length on the fatal action of the gas 
when taken into the lungs. It is as¬ 
sumed that persons attempting fumiga¬ 
tion will acquaint themselves beforehand 
with this information. I do wish, how¬ 
ever, to emphasize the necessity of hav- : 
ing city house fumigation and, in fact, 
all house fumigation, done by a person 
thoroughly familiar with the gas and its 
possibilities. In fact, the use of hydro¬ 
cyanic acid gas, in cities especially, 
should be regulated by city ordinances, 
and only properly qualified persons 
allowed to handle it in house fumiga¬ 
tion. HARRY B. WEISS. 
N. J. Exp. Station. 
R. N.-Y.—The warning as to the 
poisonous nature of this gas cannot be 
made too emphatic The chemicals are 
combined in the following proportion: 
Potassium cyanide, one ounce; sulphuric 
acid, two fluid ounces; water, four fluid 
ounces. Use an earthen dish; pour in 
the water first, and add the sulphuric 
acid to it. Put the required amount of 
cyanide in the cheesecloth bag, drop it 
into the liquid, and leave the room im¬ 
mediately. The rule is one ounce of 
cyanide for each 100 cubic feet of space. 
All silverware and food should be re¬ 
moved from the room, and any brass 
and nickel work that cannot be removed 
should be coated with vaseline. 
“For the Land’s Sake, use Bowker’s 
Fertilizers; they enrich the earth and 
those who till it.”— Adv. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
Ii. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.’’ See guarantee editorial page. 
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Onion 
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.Middletown, 0. 
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Easy Pumping 
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(Incorporated) 
Ptwer-Farming Machinery 
La Porte, Ind. SS S 
The question of the most profitable fertilizer 
for potatoes has been the subject of° very 
extended investigations. 
The conclusion is that 1000 lbs. per acre of 5% 
ammonia, 8% phosohoric acid and 1Q% 
POTASH 
for early potatoes and 800 lbs. of 3-6-8 for the late crop are the 
most profitable under average conditions. The Potash should 
be in the form of Sulfate. 
Many growers use double these amounts. 
Such brands can be had if you insist upon them. Do not accept 
so-called potato fertilizers of low grade. 
Write us for Potash prices and for Free books with formulas 
and directions. 
GERMAN KALI WORKS, Inc., 42 Broadway, Now York 
Continental Building, Baltimore Bank & Trust Bldg., Savannah 
Monadnock Block, Chicago Empire Bldg., Atlanta 
Whitney Central Bank Bldg., Mew Orleans 
San Francisco 
