The Alaska daily empire., 1916-03-25

in between skin and flesh,
 "Good, he Ia better since this morn ing." says the doctor. and he contin- ues in O low voice, for the nurse: q begin to think Madame, We shall save this one also; but you must not leave him for Q moment" Oh, needless ad- sice, for sho has not tho slightest n' tent.on Of leaving him. this white clad nurses. under whose eyes there are already dark shadows, caused by eight-and-forty hours of truceless watching. Not one of them will be left, no; to be certain Of that one has merely to look at an these young doc. tors, all these orderlies. 8 little worn out 1t is true. but so attentive and courageous that they do not lose sight of one of them.
 And, thank God. they win save al- most all of theml (Of 500 asphyxiat- ed that night more than 800 are out of danger.) As soon as they can be moved they will be taken away from this hell of the battle front, where the Ka.ser's shrapnels fall 80 willing Iy, even on the dying; they win be laid more comfortably in quiet hospitals where they win not suffer much, in- deed, for @ week. Q fortnight. a month but which they will presently leave, more cautious, more prudent, and ea- ger to return to the fight.
 It may be said that tho trick of as- phyx.ation has failed like that Of the great. savage rushes; 1t has not given the result which the Gorgan'a head ex- pected. And yet with what skillful calculations 1t has been tried on each occasion, always at the most favorable momentsi We know that the Ger mans, masters Of spying and cease llessly informed of everything. never fail to choose for the attack of what ever kind the days of relieving guard the hours when newcomers, facing them. are still In the disorder of their arrival
 So the evening when this last crime was committed six hundred of our men had just taken their advance DO slt.ons after long and tiring march; all at once. in the midst of a salve Of shrapnel which aroused them from their first sleep. they made out here and there little sounds of whistling as if from treacherous steam sirens and the death gas was pouring about them. spreading It's thick, gloomy grap clouds. At the same time, In the midst of the fog, their lights waned to dim. small points. Bewildered, then, already suffocating, they thought too late. Of the masks which had been given them. and which, besides, they did not greatly believe in; they put them on too awkwardly, some of them even. by an irrest.ble instinct of self preservation. when they felt the burn. ing of their lungs. yielded to the de- sire to run. and these were the most terribly Injured because of the excess of chlorine inhaled in the deep breaths of running.
 But the next time they win not be caught. neither these men, nor any of our soldiers; with masks dramatically sealed they will stand immovable around heaps of fagots prepared be. forehand, the sudden flames Of which neutralize the poisons In the air, and result beyond an hour of discomfort, painful to pass through but almost always without fatal consequences.
 It is true thnt in the accuroed cav orns which are their labator,es the .ntenectuals of Germany. convinced now that the neutrals will accept ev- erythlng,. are working hard to find new and worse poisons for us; but will have lost this trick as. beyond contest. 1t has lost so many others. We, alas, have not been able to find any means to repay them with suff,c- tent cruelty; to defend ourselves we have. therefore, only the protective mask. which is being improved, 1t Is true, day by day; and, after all, in the eyes Of the neutrals-if they still have eyes to see-it is. perhaps, mo- bier to employ no other means.
 At the. same time, how different would our position be If we did as- phyxiate them. those plunderers and assassins who have attacked and in- yaded us. and who. despairing of pierc- Ing our lines. try to suffOcate us in our own homes. in our dear land of France, as one night suffocate rab- bits in their burrows or in their deep holes. The tongues of men have not forecast these transcendent ignomin- ies, which would rend the hearts of the basest cannibals; therefore, we have no words to name them. Our poor. asphyxiated soldiers. gasDing ou their narrow cots, how willingly l would have shown them to all, to their fathers, to their sons, to their broth CTS. to raise to paroxysm their holy in- dignation and thirst for vengeance; yes I would show them everywhere, and let their death rattle be heard, even to the impressive neutrals, to convince them of their folly or the.r crime so many obstinate pacifists, to snrea5 broadcast fhe aiarm aoainst