SEA MYSTERY SOLVED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20132, 29 December 1939, Page 12

SEA MYSTERY SOLVED

POISONING OF CREW DOCTOR TRACES SOURCE LONDON. Dec. 2. A two-year-old mystery of the sea, the poisoning of almost the whole crew of the steamship Jean L.D.. has at last been solved. The story began in October, 1937. With a crew of 34 and three passengers —a woman and her two small daughters —the Jean L.D. reached the Port nf London from Durban. Members of the crew reported having been attacked by a strange illness. The vessel went to her home port, Dunkirk, early in November; there 17 of the crew were admitted to hospital. Altogether 22 men were attacked. The illness began with digestive troubles, then, after from eight to 15 days, paralysis symptoms appeared. Some were unable to bend their knees and could not stand up without help. Others were unable to move their wrists, fingers or thumbs, or clench their hands. Arsenic was suspected, but could not be traced. Some weeks after the outbreak came a clue, from South Africa. 0 Cases occurred at Durban of motor neuritis, similar to the so-called finger paralysis that occurred some years ago in America. That led to inquiries and analyses of certain edible oils.

It came to light that a salad oil used on the homeward voyage of the Jean L.D. had a curious smell like iodoform and cans of it had been thrown overboard by order of the captain. Through the efforts of Di C. F. White, then medical officer for the Port of London, a one-gallon can, said to have been part of the oil from the stores of the Jean L.D., was traced. It was found that this oil contained phenols (probably cresol) and phosphoric acid.