The Detroit times., 1915-06-01

ing tldllOua Abl AANaAAF hN4A.-
men--the estimate OF the percent
age OF men who died in the hos
pitfalls is as yet mere guess work
The figures ! have given are com
posite.
They do not lose courage" Is the
statement OF the authorities OF the
British hospital az BailleuL The
men who came in here were Of the
finest type we have seen
"'WeTl stick Il out II We can,
they said.
"But they coughed--continually.
The whole wardful coughed When
they hrst came IN their faces we're
a reddish purple IN oolor-higely
congested. Their eyes stresmed with
a yellowish secretion. The expec-
tora,ion was profuse. They could
not lie down. They could not
sleep. BY and by their color turned
20 grayish-blaek. They they
died"
That description % their suffer
ings may answer for the men n all
the hospitals. In some instances
acute pneumonia developed after a
few days. In other cases the men
seemed but slightly Affected az the
outset. Later on the acid seemed
10 wear away the lung tissue. In
the hospital st Zuydcoite there was
a Moor-just boy. with a pleasant,
kindly. infinitely sad face, He
could not talk word OF French.
or OF any other language except
the Cabin dialect He vas patient
and accomplishing
I'VE sent him back 20 the
trenches once" said the doctor.
They thought he was cured. Bat
after a day in the trenches the
cough came on. aud he was ne
turned TO the hospital Now they
fear he may die His symptoms are
those OF other sufferers. His nose
bleeds. and be has 4 high fever
and constant headache. Always
that tearing cough.
III Is as though they were SUI
fering from quick consumption,
said one man.
The gas seems 20 have srst been
used on April %. All along the
line the story was the same. The
men saw the clouds OF gas Issuing
from various points IN the German
trenches. as though Il was being
pumped from machines, or was boil
ing out O. cauldrons. More likely
il was under the pressure OF sew
eral atnospheres IN strong recep
tacles. When the order came Il
was only necessary 10 release H.
'Tt vas greenish yellow, with
cast OF red in 1T all said or the
trench gas. This ~ 20 be distin
guished from the shell gas. on which
more later.
1T rolled toward Us IN a cloud
borne by the wind. In some place:
II rose TO a height OF % meters. As
IL rose II became more yellowish
IL did not attain a great height foT
the first 100 or 200 yards"
The importance Of this Is that
the opposing trenches are not more
than 100 yards apart In many places
along this line.
1T flowed heavily. like a thick
LIQUID" was one mans description.
1T ran over tho trench em5ank-
ments and into the trench just as
a table CLOTH slides over the edge
Of table. The trench became IN
tenable az once"
The first thing noticed by the
men was a tendency 10 cough.
Their eyes waterede. Soon they
could not stand IL and ran away.
Those who stopped over 10 pick Up
their bags or guns were lost" was
the universal testimony. They
died right there"
Some OF the French and Belgians
charged through the cloud and at
tackled the Germans. Not many.
The survivor OF one such charge
said: "One wasn't much good after
he had fought his way through The
gas. He couldn't fight" For the
most part the men staggered out
helping their comrades as best they
could. The RANGE OF the gas de.
pended upon wind conditions In
one case It knocked out artillery
men who had been firing az The
German trenches az a range q
$500 yards. Being artillsrists, they
knew the range 10 the yard
The Englishmen affected nun.
bered something less than $500
About $500 French were "gsssod
40 precise statement has yet been
made Ut the number Of Belgians
Laboratory experiments upon the
affected men show that the gas
used--the trench gas--is probably
compound Of chlorine and bro
mine. The men recognized the
bromine fumes. But y was not 90
reddish" they said. The gas
stayed on the ground" Then they
were offered the fumes OF chlorine
That's what We got" they said
with precision. II Is thought that
other acids were blended with these
two principals.
The shell gas has been discharged
In bombs fred from tito German
field pieces. II Is Of a gray!sh.black
| .~to- "a ,-hgt. dtae-.t.-. .tf.L.t.