The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1916-08-09
British Gas Men Describe
Attack With Deadly Fumes

London, Aug. 9.-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 graphic account OF the work of
his own special corps whose business
1t Is, he says, Ito doctor the Germans
with their own medicine.
Behind our lines" he writes, the
sun set in blaze OF glory. A glance
over the parapet shows the green and
scarlet of the popped No-Man's land
already merging into the gray mists OF
brown earth shadow among the grays,
hangs the rusty barbed wire of the
enemy and Just beyond a white, chalky
upthrow marks his front line trench
me gasmen stare across the silent
shadows at that white line and for a
moment they think of the choky. gurg-
ling cough of the men who die by gas
1t Is not pleasant to die by gas
down the line from one bay of the
trench to another, and the gasmen i'm
mediately get busy. The front row OF
| neatly piled sandbags of which each
fire-step is apparently soIidIy built are
pulled out and disclose a cavity in
| which show. black and ominous the
| cowled heads Of row of iron cylin-
ders. They are sunk in pits well
'bagged up to protect them from pos
| sible crack or puncture by flying frag-
ment or rtcochetting bullet. Each cyl
| inder weighs about 130 pounds and con-
tains sufficient compressed gas, II 1t
| could be used without waste. to put g.
entire company out of action.
On top OF the cylinders lies a tangls
| OF feXible connecting pipes three and
four way joints, spigots and Bcrew-jets
and upon these, with spanner and key,
| the gasmen start work. The cylinders
are all connected up in series, and
| nothing remains but to throw the Jets
| over the top of the parapet and open
| the valves in order to release the dead
| ly 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, inconspiCu-
GUS wind gauges, fixed TO the edge Of a
certain direction. and they prefer it of
certain strength. On this occasion,
the direction is satisfactory enough,
but the breeze shows signs of weak
| almost imperceptible zephyr.
when not watching the wind, the
gasmen are watching their pipes, re-
peatedly feeling and testing every inch
ter 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: Eleven o'clock But the wind,
without which the gas will not reach
the enemy's trench and do its deadly
work among it's occupants, begins to
peter out.
"At 1850 the gasmen don their spe-
cfal respirators. which in the dim light,
give the wearers a strange, almost in
human appearance. Masked and gog-
gled. with weird, trunk-like pieces Of
hose running from the mouthpiece TO
ha nf al iCa al q
strapped to their chests, they look like
some of the unearthly beings who peo-
pie the books of II. G. Wells.
But not a breath disturbs the still
air. The feeble breeze has died com
pletely. Hurriedly the order runs down
the line: Cancel. and stand by Be-
| hind their masks the gasmen grunt
| disgustedly. But suddenly - crack!
crack!! rat-a-tat! rat-a-tat-tat!! The
| orders to the infantry have not been
countermanded. and the quiet of the
| night is roughly shattered by a long
| line of viciously cracking rifles and