Oh fudge

While searching for information about the Ohio State poisonings I came across this article in the Nov. 14, 1925 edition of the Defiance (Ohio) Crescent News:

9 GIRL STUDENTS AT OHIO STATE ARE POISONED

Mystery Veils Cause of Sudden Illness at University Fudge Party -- Unsolved Drug Deaths at Same Place Are Recalled

(By The Associated Press)

    COLUMBUS, O., Nov. 12 -- Officers of the Ohio State Board of Health today were asked to investigate the poisoning of nine young women, all of the Ohio State University students, four of them upper classwomen of the College of Law, at a party staged by Miss Helen McDermott, Stockport, O., Wednesday night, at the home of her sister here.

    Complete mystery surrounds the cause of the poisoning as one theory gave way before another, which for a time seemed certain to result fatally for four.

    The mystery is made more complete by the fact that no food or liquid of any kind had been served when the illness seized the girls one by one. The girls taken ill all ate dinner at different places, precluding the theory that food might have been the cause.

    The only clew remaining is in the fudge made in the McDermott home before the party began and partaken of by all the girls who became ill. Sample of this were submitted to the Board of Health and examination of them to determine the presence of foreign matter is to be made.

    The theory of poisoning by carbon monoxide fumes from a gas stove was scouted tonight by Fred Berry, Chief of the Division of Laboratories, to whom all the evidence thus far attainable has been submitted. He expressed the opinion that some sort of metallic poisoning might have been responsible.

    Those made ill included Miss Helen McDermott, Stockport, her sister Alice, also of Stockport; Blanche I. Harris, Ravenna; Rhea Pettit, Logan; Mrs. Baldwin Dickinson, Columbus and Esther Pinkey, Bellaire. Names of the other three were not available tonight.

    The condition of all the young women was reported as good tonight. All the students poisoned are among leaders in university life here. Miss Harris is President of the Pan-Hellenic Council and a leader in campus activities.

    This is the second poison mystery that has stirred university circles within a year. Early in the spring two Ohio State students, Charles H. Huls of Logan and David Puskin, Canton, died of the effects of tablets [sic] received from the university dispensary. Four other students also received the tablets, but recovered after serious illness. How the students obtained the tablets never has been explained and responsibility for their issuance never established. State pharmacy authorities still are investigating the case. Officials never were certain whether the tablets were issued maliciously or by mistake.

I can only imagine the terror of the girls, their parents, and the campus as they all thought, "Not again!"

And Logan! My poor hometown! (I was delighted to see Rhea later passed the bar and became a judge.)

Thankfully it wasn't strychnine or any other poison concealed in their fudge. A faulty gas fireplace was finally revealed to be the culprit. Natural gas is colorless and odorless unless an odorant is added to make it smell like rotten eggs. The addition of odorants was mostly optional until the New London, Texas school explosion which killed more than 295 children in 1937.

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