PA Mass poisoning at Salvation Army Center, November 1940,Pittsburgh, PA

[Richard]

80 years ago, a mass poisoning took place in Pittsburg, PA. No information indicates that this case was ever solved. Was it an accident or murder?
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Newsweek Article from 25 November 1940:

Twelve men died and 43 others were made violently ill last week after eating pancakes at the Salvation Army's Lawrenceville Center in Pittsburg. City Chemists discovered that sodium flouride, chief ingredient of certain roach powders, had been mixed with the pancake flour.

A Discharged Chef was picked up in Philadelphia for questioning on a charge that he had threatened to "get even".
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On November 12, 1940, a Times-Dispatch front-page headline read, “Poisoned Food Kills 11 Men in Pittsburgh.”

A routine breakfast in the dining hall of the Salvation Army’s Lawrenceville Center in Pittsburgh went sour when 11 men died and 52 others fell ill after the meal. There were normally 80 men in attendance.

That morning they breakfasted on fried bacon, raisin bread, angel-food cake and pancakes. The results were swift—men reportedly staggered from the tables, falling to the ground—some died on site. The others were rushed to the hospital.

The doctor at the hospital where many of the victims were taken sounded the first alarm after discovering the link between his patients’ symptoms and the breakfast food.

His hypothesis was confirmed further when chemists discovered the pancakes contained a poison common in roach powder.

LINKS:

Poison Pancakes

Salvation Army Men poison - Newspapers.com

Dark Matters & Mysteries in Western Pennsylvania ,Ohio ,W.Virginia : How did Roach Powder get into a Pancake batter killing 12 men in Pittsburgh in 1940?

POISON KILLS 11 MEN AT SALVATION ARMY; Pancakes Given for Breakfast in Pittsburgh Make 52 Others Desperately Ill (Published 1940)

1940 — Nov 11, Roach-killer tainted pancakes food poisoning, Salvation Army Ctr., Pittsburgh PA–12 – Deadliest American Disasters and Large-Loss-of-Life Events

 

[Richard]

On November 12,1940 a breakfast of pancakes and bacon resulted in 12 men dead and 48 severely sickened when
Roach Powder made of Sodium Fluoride (a white powder) got into the pancake batter.

 

[LadyL]

well very strange that the rest of the men continued to be served/eat the food if patrons were staggering from the tables ill - it's not like they could all get served at the same time - there had to be still people in line while others were already eating?

anyway, aside from that - it seems obvious the former chef did it

 

[uburoi1]

The serving section must have been walled off, or partioned sufficiently, from the section with tables, where they ate. Then the men walked in with their plates, hungry enough to ignore the growing hub-bub.

<modsnip>

 

[uburoi1]

Sorry. Pass the ipecac syrup. I should have been more specific.

 

[Richard]

1940 Photo showing scene of mass poisoning incident at the Salvation Army center, Pittsburg, PA.

 

[Laughing]

@Filly, say, that disgruntled chef headed straight for ya'!!!

 

[StarrChance]

Quite a bit of info on the chef with another mystery at the end!

Nov 1940

 

[StarrChance]

Another one

 

[Filly]

@Filly, say, that disgruntled chef headed straight for ya'!!!

Bwahaha. I'll try any food once. The odd thing is we grew up with a Mertz. Ummm yeah if you did him dirty he'd poison ya.

What a case. How about how he became a butcher in Philly? The Mertz we knew would probably spray alot of Round Up weed stuff on your steak. Yeah he had parties. Spice it with D-Con too just to be sure ya never switched on.him.

This is horrible this case. The suffering.

Thanks for the heads up @Laughing I'm Blessed not to have to eat up at The Salvation Army this week. Ya never know though.

Mertz! Hmmmmm.

 

[Laughing]

OT: The reaction of Ethel Mertz to this chain of events:

image from barnebys.com

Of course this is Vivian Vance portraying Lucy Ricardo's neighbor & runnin' buddy, Ethel Mertz.

Or maybe a candid of @Filly and Laughing, no one is really sure:

image from pinterest.com

Diversion over, back to poisoned pancakes in Pittsburgh! (Now say that 3 times fast....)

 

[Kittybunny]

Wow very interesting! Although I'm from Pittsburgh I'm not too surprised I've never heard of this case since we did not move here until 1980. Agree with those that think it was the former chef who did it, I guess he probably just mixed in the Roach Powder into a variety of different things, but primarily the flour since he knew that was used the most. I suppose since his fingerprints had a right to be on all that stuff it would be a difficult case to prove though. Even today, with forensics, although perhaps video cameras would help.

 

[Richard]

Here is a list of the twelve men who died from poisoning in November 1940:

Herbert Ohliger, 51
Henry McNally, 54
George Williams, 58
Frank Stack, 57
Fred Merkel, 51
Isaiah Sandru, 54
Jacob Jut, 63
Robert Mead, 33
Andrew Burda, 48
Joseph Frank Williams, 56
Nathaniel Campbell, 55
Stanley Tumosia, 58

45 other men who had eaten poisoned food that day were hospitalized. Two of them were in critical condition:

Clarence Budell, 41
Samuel Mayko, age not reported

Another death was also suspected as being related, that of a former janitor and friend of the chef:

Frederick J. Schmittlein, no age reported

The location of the Salvation Army's Industrial Home for Men was;
4637 Plummer Street, Lawrenceville, PA.

 

[rob525]

This seems like it could be a matter of mis-stored items and mistakenly identified product. I wonder what the outcome of the other death eventually was?

 

[Laughing]

This seems like it could be a matter of mis-stored items and mistakenly identified product. I wonder what the outcome of the other death eventually was?

Wonder if possibly kitchen staff had difficulty with reading & did mix up products?

But, that skull & crossbones is kinda noticeable!

 

[StarrChance]

This seems like it could be a matter of mis-stored items and mistakenly identified product. I wonder what the outcome of the other death eventually was?

Found death certificate, autopsy was performed.
Acute alcoholic gastric
Don’t know what 77E is though

 

[Laughing]

I can't figure out how to enlarge & read that death certificate.

I'm an old genealogist and have looked at -- a bunch!

Treasure trove of family information, usually.

 

[Richard]

Here is a pretty comprehensive reporting of this case from November 1940:

1940 — Nov 11, Roach-killer tainted pancakes food poisoning, Salvation Army Ctr., Pittsburgh PA–12 – Deadliest American Disasters and Large-Loss-of-Life Events