The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-06-01
TURN ENGLISH SOLDIERS LUNGS
 INTO LIQUIDS
Gen. Wortley Says Germans s Drop Terrible Asphyxiat-
 ing Gases From Bombs.

New York, June IA letter from
 Major-GeneraI Edward Stuart-Wort- ley, commander of a British army corps in France, is made public here by his brother, Ralph Stuart-Wortley of New York, giving this distinguished officers tribute to the behavior of a Canadian division in France, and de- l scribing the horrors which resulted from the use of asphyxiating gases by the Germans.
 The effect of these gases upon the men who fnhaIe them, he says, has been to turn all the tissues of the lungs into liquid, and during the two days that it takes for the men to die, the victims are ''the most hopeless, helpless, sickening sight imaginable g, The letter follows:
 -Cf'You will of course have read of the fighting that has been going on round ,Ypres just lately, and of the
 magnificent behavior of the Canadian division. In their attack on the pres l salient the Germans made of 1 asphyxfating gases. This gas is des- seninated both in shells and bombs
 and also from cylinders, which are | buried in the trenches with their noz- zles pushed through the parapets. The taps of the cylinders are then 1 turned on and the gas, which. is, as l far we know, chlorine, is pumped i out. The gas, which is heavier than air, and which is blow by the wind 1 across our lines, sinks into our l trenches and kills or incapacitates any
 men who happen to be in them. The | effect of the gas can also be felt as
 far back as five or six miles and pro- 1 duces headache and a srnarting of the 1 eyes.
 l tfThe German papers as well as 1 falsely accusing us of making use of
 poisonous fumes, apparently defend their conduct by stating that the dis | semination of this gas results in a 1 swift and painless death for those 1 with whom it comes in contact, and l consequently is less barbarous than
 subjecting men to an inferno of shell fire from which great physical and mental torture must necessarily be en-
 dured.
 q am sure the public cannot have
 as yet the slightest idea, of this last
 damnable effort on the part of the 1 Germans to disregard all laws of hu-
 naanity and civilization.
 | ''I have seen our men in hospital after having been brought back from l the trenches There is no need to 1 ask for the word in which they are,
 as their groaning is quite sufficient a l direction of itself. In one ward there
 are eighteen cases. They are all sit l ting bolt upright, or swaying back l and forwards, gasping for breath; grey black color, their eyes glazed, l and unable absolutely to speak or l feed.
 'tIt takes two days for these men to 1 die. During these two days they are l in. the most acute agony, and if by the slightest chance they recover from l the poison they will in all probability 1 be rendered useless for life, as the eff 1 feet of the gass is to turn all the tis- 1 sues of the lung into liquid. The doe l tors and nurses are working day and
 night in the attempt to give some re- lief. But there is nothing to be done. 1 It is the most hopeless, helpless, sick ening sight imaginable. Our medical i officer, who has had a very large ex-
 perience of the habits of African and 1 Asiatic natives tells us that in all his l life he has never had to deal with such an example of scientific torture. 'At first was inclined to disbe-
 Ieve the accounts of the il1-treatm ent I of our prisoners at the hands of the 1 enemy and to put them down to the
 inevitable congregations of warfare, 1 but now that have come face to face with German methods in the field,
 my opinions have undergone gradual 1 but permanent change
 | General Stuart-Wortley was for
 merly on terms of considerable in
 tinacy with Emperor William of Ger many. A few summers ago when the emperor was ordered by his physi- 1 clans to spend some weeks at the Eng I fish seashore, tie general placed his l country seat on the Hampshire coast, l at the emperor's disposal.