New Britain herald., 1916-08-17
AMERICAN ATTACHE
 MEETS GAS STROKE
Colonel Cosby Nearly Strangled in Examining German Preparation
(Correspondence of the Asso. Press.)

l Correspondence of the Asso. Press.) | Paris, July 31.-Colonel Spencer l Cosby, United States military attache
 at Paris, has been speaking in a
 hoarse whisper of late. His friends have noted it and have expressed l their regrets at his very bad cold. | Colonel Cosby's voice has not permit l ted him to reply, and he has let 1t go l at that-a cold. But it was not a cold.
 l The use which the German army
 has made of poison gas In the present l war has brought new and terrible 1 element of destruction into military l science. Just what this terrible new 1 agency is what part it plays In the l offensive and defensive tactics, and to what extent if any it must be reck- oned with as permanent element in 1 future warfare-these are problems l which the military experts throughout l the world are trying to determine. l Here in France where the poison gas l has been used with most deadly ef- 1 feet in Champagne, Argonne, and all along the fighting line, it's ravages l have been particularly apparent, and 1 the military attaches of many coun- 1 tries have been active in securing data l for their governments on this new agency.
 Investigates Poisonous Gas. Colonel Cosby shared the keen in- terest of his brother military inves- tigators and in one respect he went far beyond them. There was ample data. from the battlefields and the hospitals where ghastly patients were a living witness of the effects of the new ele- ment. But Colonel Cosby determined on a direct personal investigation on the element itself-the poison gas in all It's forms-just as a medical scien- tlst has at times put some new serum to the supreme test on himself But you should be warned of the extreme risk" said the Chief Chem ist. "Tt Is very dangerous-a matter of life and death.'
 Yet agaist the warning was the feeling that a mysterious agency of warfare needed to be explored to it's very end. And so the word was given to go ahead and the official wheels turned swiftly in bringing to- gether all sorts of gas, fresh and pow erful, from the nearby fighting | fronts.
 Prepare for Test.
 
 gases were not easily obtained. But these were at last secured and the American military attache was the first and only one to be granted these exceptional facilities With these l preliminaries arranged, Colonel Cos l by found himself in the presence of l long lines of bottles, ranged in shelves, much as in a, chemists shop. Surgeons and white-garbed attendants and chemical experts were about, with pestle and mortar, vacuum pumps and air-tight jars, making ex- periments and tests of gases and anti dotes. Near by hung a line of gas masks, with gaping eye-holes, used to counteract the poisonous fumes. The large bottles contained the various forms of liquid gas, direct from the front, and in varying degrees of strength. Most of them showed a volatile yellowish liquid which on be- 1 ing exposed to the air gave off l deadly gases which have wrought l such havoc. There were three dis tinct groups of these gases: first,
 those bursting into flame and com | mon1y known as liquid flame; sec l ond, the tear-producing gasses, which | do not kill or permanently maim, but ] which so blind a column of On-rush- 1 ing troops that they become helpless | and are brought to a halt; and third, 1 the actual poison gas which suffocates ] and kills with ten times the horror l of a bullet or shell. This last, it is l the belief of military experts, Is a 1 barbarism of warfare which must be ultimately banned by the universal
 sentiment of civilization. But they
 are equally of the belief that the les 1 ser forms of gas-which do not kill l but merely interrupt the forward | progress of an attack-are a perman-
 ent element of defensive military | strategy which must be taken into
 consideration in future warfare.
 The Analysis of the Gas.
 This is the least deadly" explained
 the chief chemist, as he presented one 1 of the bottles containing the inf1am- 1 matory gas. He drew the glass stop
 per very cautiously, and Colonel Cosby
 took a slight whiff of the gas. It
 was not overpowering or violent In
 it's effect-only pungent odor of
 ether. Now the second class of gases
 were reached-the tear-produ cing
 gases-and these too were tested in
 the same way. These, also, were not
 overpowering, but gave the same
 sharp odor of ether and perceptible
 effect. on the eyes. Colonel Cosby was
 beginning to think the gases were not
 so very bad after all.
 They had now reached the poison
 gas-the deadly gas which clutches l and kills. The chemist paused.
 You will not try this," he said ap-
 pealingly.
 Yes all of them,'' said the colonel
 positively. recalling the rather agree
 able pungent odor of the other gases
 Then we must be very cautious" 1 said the chemist. Place yourself
 about a foot away from the bottle. | I will raise the glass stopper the l slightest possible fraction of an inch