The Evening Independent from Massillon, Ohio • Page 19

THE MASSILLON EVENING INDEPENDENT 400 Communists poisoned during SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4,1976 NINETEEN 9 convention here By PAUL LEHMAN Few incidents of modern history will rival the bizarre incident of July 17,1932 when nearly 400 delegates to the state ratification convention of the Communist Party were poisoned en mass at the Massillon City Hall Auditorium. Aroordine to a front page story of The Evening Independent about 700 persons were attending the convention. The story read: "More than half of them, before the day was over, had received medical attention at the city hospital and two emergency hospital stations set up in downtown buildings when the capacity of the city hospital was overtaxed as hundreds of persons violently ill were carried in or staggered into the institution for treatment." THE CONVENTION was in full swing on the humid Sunday afternoon when droves of people became "deathly ill." The streets became lined with vomiting, gagging and violently ill people attempting to make their way to the city hospital on Amherst rd NE. Drivers affected by the symptoms of the ptomaine poisoning careened wildly down the dusty city streets. Within a matter of hours, the hospital became filled to capacity.

In the wards, two patients were crowded into each bed. Nurses ordered the overflowing crowd to be placed on the lawn behind the hospital. Minutes later the grass was filled with about 75 patients. In the midst of the pandemonium, Dr. J.

A. Games realized the magnitude of the situation and took command. He requested that all available nurses and doctors be summoned. In seeking places for the multitude of sick patients, he called on C. E.

Stuart, trustee of the YMCA. Within minutes, he sent out instructions to open emergency stations at the YMCA and the old Knights of Malta hall on North ave NE. (A religious meeting was taking place in the Knights of Malta hall, but the meeting was terminated after the urgency of the situation was realized). Dr. Carnes then called Adjutant L.

M. Pervier of the Salvation Army and Ira Robinson, executive of Massillon Boy Scout council. Robinson loaded a troop of scouts into a truck and rushed to Camp Russell to gather up 60 cots and blankets. The drug stores and other businessmen were contacted to rush medicines and other emergency supplies to the first aid stations. RELIEF CORPS of Massillon Post 221 American Legion answered an emergency alarm of 3-3-3 sounded at fire stations throughout the city.

The volunteers reported at their legion homes and were dispatched to assist with many of the yeomen services, directing traffic, and assisting the doctors and nurses at the stations. In attempting to instill order among the chaos and confusion at the hospital, Dr. Carnes next met with all available ambulance drivers. All patients whose condition allowed for movement were to be taken to the emergency the. men to the Knights of Malta hall and the women to the YMCA building.

By 9:30 p.m. the city hospital grounds, corridors and overcrowded rooms were poison- afflicted patients. A cot shortage was averted by shuffling empty cots at the YMCA to the Malta building. More blankets were also needed and the plea was sent to hospitals in nearby cities. Canton Timken Mercy Hospital was unable to spare any coverlets, but the Massillon State Hospital responded with sufficient supplies.

As the situation stablized, Carnes realized he had acted without authority, and called for an emergency meeting of the hospital trustees. He outlined the steps he had taken and asked' for direction, but the board only commended him for his initiative and rolled up their sleeves to assist in caring for the sick communists. AT MIDNIGHT, 108 patients were still receiving treatment at the emergency stations. Twenty of the more visibly ill had been returned to the hospital for overnight observation, but many of the symptoms were beginning to dissipate. The emergency stations were closed shortly after 7 a.m.

Monday morning. Immediately the unpleasant task of cleaning up the city and returning the equipment began. Again, the Boy Scouts and Legion relief corps volunteered to assist in returning the hospital to a sanitary condition. One woman patient at the McKinley Hall fire a spectacular blaze Shortly after the evening meal on Nov. 8, 1930, a patient exiting the dining hail noticed flames and smoke shooting out from a basement window of McKinley Hall of the Massillon State Hospital.

The hall, named for William McKinley, was a massive structure which held a dormitory for employes, and also an auditorium, library and bowling alleys. It was erected in of the hospital's original buildings. According to accounts from "The Evening Independent" at that time, the building had once been the pride and joy of the hospital, but in later years, was considered "a firetrap." THE FIRETRAP theory was proven correct on this chilly Saturday evening. The patient who spotted the fire alerted an attendant, who called the switchboard operator, who in turn called the Massillon fire department and hospital Superintendent Dr. Arthur G.

Hyde. Dr. Hyde notified employes who evacuated patients in neighboring buildings. The evacuation was carried off in an orderly fashion, according to Independent reports, noting that "many of the patients seemed unaware of the flames." At that time, MSH had some 48 buildings and 1,127 patients. Firemen arrived on the scene at 5:59 to find the evening sky aglow with the flames devouring the building.

The firefighters were hampered in their efforts by a lack of water pressure as well as the crowds who converged on the site from neighboring areas. Seeing the futility in their efforts, the Massillon firemen limited their efforts i to dousing surrounding buildings to keep them from catching afire. They then alerted tha Canton fire department. When the Canton men arrived, shortly before 7 p.m., they found the battle to save McKinley Hall virtually lost. The next day, several walls remained amidst the smoldering ruins.

AH the employes residing in the building escaped without injury. However, virtually everyone of them lost all their possessions. Elmer (Mac) and Lucy McCleHan of 1417 Wales rd NE were among the 76 employes housed in McKinley Hall at the time of the fire. Mrs. McClellan recalls that, being newlyweds, the couple had few material possessions before the fire.

AFTER the fire, however, their possessions amounted to the clothes on their backs, one dress shoe, an old photo and a bird in a cage. "And then." she reports, "with all the crowds about, someone stole my bird!" Mrs. McClellan said numerous residents of the fire-gutted hall lost what few possessions they could salvage to thieves who came out with the throngs from the nearby cities. Mrs. McClellan can laugh now at what was utter disaster at the time.

She tells the story of one woman employe who, in panic exiting the fiery building threw a lovely mirror out the window and ran down the steps clutching her pillow. After the fire, the McClellands were moved to one of the outbuildings of the dairy farm. Not exactly deluxe accommodations, she remembers, but "I got all the milk I wanted to drink!" THE PRESENT DAY OIHO HIGHWAY PATROL BARRACKS AT 12621 LINCOLN ST IN PRESBYTERIAN WORSHIP services in 1828 were heW in this carpenter shop of Daniel Myers, which was located on State it in Kendal, now put of Massillon. Later in 1831, the Presbyterians erected a building for their services on the hill between Kendal and Massillon. The Presbyterians were the first to hold services here except for the early Quakers.

YMCA station was unable to return to her home because in the confusion ut the hospital, her clothes had been lost. She was transported to the hospital to stay until her belongings could be located. As the word of poisoning spread throughout the state, the Massillon area became inundated with phone calls from relatives and friends to check on loved ones who had not returned home as scheduled. The Knights of Malta hall was not equipped with a phone, but alert officials of the Ohio Bell Telephone Co. installed one in the emergency station.

AS- THE immediate danger passed, attention was turned from the ill to the cause of the widespread disorder. Allegations and controversy filled the air between members of the Communist Party and residents of the city. One young woman Communist delegate who refused to give her name said that the leaders of the party had been hurried out of town to protect them against death. She charged that the poisoning was result of a deliberate plot to annihilate the party members. The head of the Massillon Communist Party told an Evening Independent reporter that he was convinced poison had been put into the Massillon water mains to poison the Communists.

When the reporter asked why only Communists became ill and not residents of Massillon, the Communist leader only shrugged his shoulders. Policemen, Safety Service Director Claude R. Kramer and Health Commissioner J. H. Williams visited the Trades and Labor hall where the lunch had been served.

They found potato salad in galvanized tubs and collected samples of the salad, meat, bread, coffee and other foods to be sent to the state department of health for analysis. At the hospital, the contents from the stomachs of a number of victims was also collected for future analysis. Mayor Jacob S. Coxey made a statement Monday terming the incident as "unfortunate." He went on to point out that the food in question had been prepared by the Communists themselves and that few if any of the leaders had become ill. It was generally believed that the potato salad was the cause of the poisoning.

Following an emergency meeting of the Ohio District Six committee of the Communist Party, the parly leaders sent a resolution extending "heartiest appreciation for Ihe assistance." The committee issued special commendation to the assistance given by the city hospital staff. ALTHOUGH THE crux of the story had ended, a related appeal surfaced in the aftermath. Two days after the Sunday poisoning, the Scouts announced the toll of Samarilanism. Of the 50 cots and blankets dismantled and donated for the emergency hospital, only 15 were returned in useable condition. The remaining 35 cots were ripped or torn or had had their legs broken off.

A large number of blankets had been torn beyond repair by the patients. C. H. Whitman, president of the scout council, announced the newly completed Camp Russell (located four miles north of the city) faced a grim future. The Boy Scout refuge had been scheduled to be opened the Monday after the poisoning.

Whitman said the 62 boys registered for the camp would have to be turned away unless money could be raised to replace the damaged equipment. He estimated that $100 could replace the 35 cots and blankets. By the following Saturday, city residents and businesses had donated $139 toward the boy scout benefit fund. TUSCARAWAS TOWNSHIP. Independent Staff Photo) Ohio Highway Patrol Post was opened here in 1933 By MARK ESTEP The Sesquicentennial year of 1976 marks the 43rd year of the Ohio Highway Patrol's Massillon post.

The post was originally opened in 1933 at a residence near the intersection of Manchester ave (Ohio 93) and Linclon st (Ohio 172) in Tuscarawas Township. Later that year, construction brgan for Ihe post's present headquarters at 12621 Lincoln st in the township. It was the first state-built patrol barracks, according to Lt. Robert Carson, present post commander. DEDICATION of the new building was on Sept.

20,1934 and a parade was held in Massillon to honor the event. The parade was followed by a ball garne played at Charity Rotch Ball Park (now the site of Whittier Elementary School) between Massillon police and Evening Independent employes. A demonstration of new police radio equipment was held at the ball park. An estimated 2,000 persons watched as six Massillon police cars were summoned to the ball park to investigate a report of a burning shed. Upon arrival, police reported their positions when they received the call.

Massillon firemen were on hand to put out the fire. The Sept. 21 edition of the Evening Independent reported that the police cars attained a speed "up to 60 miles an hour" en route to the ball park. Capl. Paul Atzel was commander of Troop 2 and Lt.

George Mingle headed District which were both based at the Massillon post. The highway patrol was born in 1933 by authorization of the state legislature. The patrol first took to the roads on Nov. 15 with 54 sidecar motorcycles and six automobiles. The 60 patrolmen, trained at Camp Perry in Ottawa County, made regular stops along their routes for telephone reports.

Today the patrol has over 1,200 uniformed patrolmen, according to Lt. Carson. AS IN 1933, the patrol's duties primarily concern traffic safety and regulation. They are also assigned the protection of slate property, such as (he Massillon Stale Hospital and Indian River School. Other duties assigned the patrol since its inception include the conducting of driver license tests, inspection of church and school buses, enforcement of truck size and weight limits, and the investigation of violations of farm (hefl laws, Public Utilities Commission regulations and aircraft accidents.

There are 57 patrol posts to cover Ohio's 88 counties. Today the Massillon post is the headquarters of the patrol's District 3. (There are 10 such districts in the state.) District 3 covers Stark. Ashland, Lorain, Medina, Summit. Wayne and Holmes Counties.

The district supervises posts at Ashland, Elyria, Medina. Akron and Woostcr. The district commander is Capt. J. W.

Smith. His staff lieutenants are Lt. D. R. Amveiler, Lt.

H. E. Shearer and Ptl. W. L.

Bradley is district investigator. Lt. Carson has four sergeants and 26 patrolmen at his post is equipped with 24 cars in addition to the five district cars at the barracks. CANTON-MASSILLON Electric Railway car about 1912. (Photo courtesy of Karl Spuhler) There were lending libraries as far back as Kendal By RUTH KANE There were lending libraries as far back as the Kendal days preceding the founding of Massillon, but the Massillon Public Library concept was not born until 1897.

In that year George Harsh, owner of the building on the city square which preceded the present Massillon Building, willed $10,000 to start a public library. At a town meeting to discuss the idea on May 24, 1897, J. Walter McClymonds announced that his wife, Flora, and her sister Annie, would give the home of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nahum RusseJl on the southeast corner of 4th st and North ave NE for a library building.

McClymonds added a $20,000 endowment fund. MCCLYMONDS Public Library was formed under a charier from the state on June 4, 1897. McClymonds was elected president of the first board. Members were Mrs. Caroline McCullough Everhard, Edmund A.

Jones, Charles A. Gates, Frederick A. Snyder, Mrs. Helena Ricks. Slusser and Frank L.

Baldwin. The bylaws stipulated that there must always be at least two women on the through the influence of Mrs. Everhard, a women's rights and suffrage leader. The $10.000 Harsh bequest was used for books. The McClymonds Public Library opened Jan.

I89fl, with Miss Charlotte Leavitt as the first librarian and a collection of 7,500 books. To get a library card the person must either have been known by Miss Lcavitt or vouched for by a prominent citizen. Borrowers could take one book for two weeks. Fines were two cents per day per overdue book. If a book was more than two weeks overdue, a messenger was sent for it and an additional 15 cent fine charged.

In 1921 the McClymonds Public Library opened a West Side Branch in a storeroom leased from E. L. Hering, and in 1923 the board purchased the property (site of present West side branch) and remodeled it. The Washington High School branch was also opened in 1921 and service started al Massillon City Hospital. IN 1921 A STATE law permitted school district libraries to obtain support from tax funds, and a year later the McClymonds Library, which had been supported by gifts and subscriptions, changed to a school district library to lake advantage of this law.

At the same time the name was changed to the present Massillon Public Library. By 1924 the Russell home had been outgrown and Die board obtained consent of the Russell heirs to sell and buy a new site. Meanwhile in Mrs. Frank L. Baldwin, owner of the historic home built in I HISS by IVlassillon's founder, James Duncan, on Lincoln Way E.

willed the home to the library hoard for a library or museum. With the building went It was decided to use the historic Duncan home as a museum and construct a new library section which would be architecturally compatible. The Massillon Museum was opened in the Duncan home in February 1933 with C. L. in charge and Miss B.

V. R. Skinner chairman of the Museum Commitlee. IN THE library board of trustees obtained a federal PWA grant of $85,000 to build the new library and branch buildings. There was already $30,000 in the building fund and $74,500 more was raised through a bond issue.

Albrccht and Wilhelm were the architects and the building was in modified Georgian design to harmonize architecturally wilh the Duncan home. The library opened in October, 1937 and a new West side branch building opened the same year. During the construction the museum was closed temporarily and was reopened in May, 1936. Mrs. M.

A. W. Pratt' was chairman of the Museum Committee at the time, and Albert Hise was curator. On retirement he was succeeded by Miss Mary Mcrwin, Ihe present director. Massillon Library opened the Brcwsler branch in 1935 and the Navarre branch in City librarians, in addition to Miss Lcavitt, were Marian S.

Comings in 190809, Clara Miller, 1909-20, Florence Hulings, who served 36 years, 1920-65, and John Storck, 1956-65. The present librarian, Ethel Conrad, has served since 1965. THE MCCLYMONDS PUBLIC LIBRARY building still stands at 4th st and North a ve NE.