Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-08-06
QUAFFING.
THEIR OWN MEDICINE
Toward Trenches of Kaisers Men Roll Great Clouds of
Poisonous Gas, and Hundreds Die in Agony
Gasman Tells Story of Deadly Fumes.

LONDON. August 5.-Before the big
squeeze began discussion Of British
gas attacks was strictly prohibited. but
now the taboo has been lifted. and a
British gasman has been allowed to
write n graphic account OF the work
OF his own special corps. whose bust
ness Is. he says. ito doctor the Germans
with their own medicine"
Behind our lines" nc writes. the
u set In a blaze OF glory. 4 glance
over the parapet shows the green and
scarlet Of the popped no mans land
already merging into the gray mists Of
twilight: but $50 yards away. like "a
brown earth shadow among the grays,
hangs the rusty barbed wire of the
enemy. and just beyond n white. chalky
upthrow marks his front-line trench.
The gasmen stare across the silent
shadows at that whi,e line. and for a
moment they think of the choky. CUR
CLING cough OF the men who die by
gas. II is not pleasant TO die by gas.
CONTAINS ENOUGH A
TO KILL WHOLE COMPANY
Connect up The order comes down
the line from one bay Of the trench TO
another. and the gasmen Immediately
get busy. The front rows Of neatly
piled ~sandbags. OF which each fre-step
Is apparently solidly built. are pulled
out. and disclose a cavity In which
show. black and ominous. the cowled
heads OF a row OF iron cylinders. They
are sunk in pits we'll 'bagged up to
protect them from possible crack or
puncture by flying fragments or
ricocheting bullets. Each cylinder
,.1l-lo n l~~,,t I on 11,,-.
sufficient compressed gas. IL it could
be used without waste. TO put an entire
company out OF action.
ION top of the cylinders lies a tangle
Of flexible connecting pipes, three and
four-way Joints, spigots n screw jet,
and upon these. with spanner and key.
the gasmen start work. The cylinders
are all connected up in series, and moth
ing remains but to throw the Jets over
the top of the parapet and open the
valves in order to release the deadly
fumes. :
But something is required to carry
the gas over TO the German lines-a
favoring breeze-and never did sailor
scan the sky more intently than the
gasmen watch their little. inconspic-
uous wind gauges. fixed to the edge Of
Il trench. They must have a wind OF
a certain direction, and they prefer il
OF n certain strength. On'this occasion,
the direction Is satisfactory enough.
but the breeze shows signs of weak
ness, and occasionally falls to a mere.
almost imperceptible zephyr.
when not watching tho wind. the
gasmen are watching their pipes, re-
peatedly feeling and testing every inch
Of tube and joint; for none know better
than they the danger OF leakage and
Of the escape OF gas into their own
trenches. Persistently an officer passes
down the line. casting rapid, though
keen, glances as he goes at each set
OF cylinders and their connecting pipes.
And In every bay he pauses and whis-
pers two words to the corporal In
charge: Clever o'clock But the wind,
without which the gas will not reach
the enemy's trench and do its deadly
work among its occupants. begins to
peter out.
AT 1850 the gasmen don their
special respirators. which in the dim
light give the wearers n strange al
most inhuman, appearance. Masked
and goggled. with weird, trunklike
pieces Of hose running from the mouth
piece to the box OF air-purifying chemi-
calls strapped to their chests. they look
like some Of the unearthly beings who
people the books of H. G.. Wells.
But no a breath disturbs the still