Homemade DDT

Many a civilian would give red points to get his hands on a little DDT, the Army's high-priority insecticide. Recently citizens of Media and Swarthmore, Philadelphia suburbs, were astonished: two of the towns' hardware stores offered bottles of DDT for sale across the open counter. The solution was just right for killing flies and mosquitoes. The stores did a land-office business at $1 per pint. Then WPB heard about it and asked grimly: where did the stuff come from?

The answer: a Swarthmore chemist named Walter Steuber (of Houdry Process Corp.) had decided that the easiest way to get DDT was to make it himself. He was turning it out by the gallon in his cellar. Said Steuber: any competent chemist can figure out the formula and make DDT out of non-priority materials. The ingredients are: chloral hydrate (better known as "Mickey Finn"), monochlor benzine, and concentrated sulfuric acid.

WPB solemnly ruled: "Anybody can make DDT, provided he uses non-priority materials or materials for which he has obtained a priority rating. But you can't sell it except for military or experimental purposes."

Last week, as a result of Steuber's enterprise, WPB suddenly changed its mind. Beginning this month, it announced, regular manufacturers will be allowed to sell limited supplies of DDT to civilians, manufacturers producing less than 1,000 lbs. weekly may sell their product to anyone they choose.

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