The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1916-08-05
Tells Hiw British Forces DOC.
tor the German Troops
with Their Own Medicine.

LONDON, August 6-Beforo the
big squeeze" be gan discussion of
British gas attacks was strictly pro-
hibited but now the taboo has been
lifted, and British "gasman" has been
allowed TO write a graphic account OF
the work of his own special corps
whose business it is, he says, Ito doc
tor the Germans with their own medi-
cine"
Behind our lines" he writes, 1.-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 twilight; but 1-5O yards away, like
a 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. The gasmen stare across the
silent shadows at that white line and
for moment they think Of the choky,
gurgling cough of the men who die
by gas. 1t is not pleasant to die by
gas.
Pile SandbagS.
Connect upm The order comes
down the line from ono bay of the
trench to another and the gasmcn
Immediately get busy. The front rows
of neatly piled sandbags of which fire
step is apparently soldly built are
pulled out and disclose cavity in
which show, black and ominous, the
cowled heads Of n row of iron cylin-
ders, They are sunk in pits well
'bagged up TO protect them from pos
sible crack or puncturc by flying frag-
ment or ricochcttng bullet. Each
cylinder weighs about 1870 pounds and
contains sufficient compressed gas, II
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
and screw-tet, and upon these. with
spannor and key. the gasmcn start
work. Tho cylinders are all connect
cd 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 deadly fumes.
But something IS required to carry
tho gas owe rtO ~ German lines-a
fayorlng bTee2e-and never did sailor
scan the sky more intently than the
gasmen watch their little, inconspic-
uous wind gauges, fixed to the edge
Of trench They must have a wind
Of a certain direction, and they prefer
II Of certain strength. On this oc-
caslon, the direction Is satisfactory
enough. but the breeze shows signs Of
weakness, and occasionally falls to a
mere, almost impcrccptibIo zephyr
Pipes are HWtched.
"When not watching the wind the
gasmen are watching their pipes; re-
peatedly feeling and testing every inch
Of tube and joint; for none know bet
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 pauscs 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 its occupants, be-
gins to peter out,
AT 1880 the gasmGn don their
special resptrators, which in the dim
light, give the wcarers a strange, al
most inhuman appearance, Masked
and goggled, with wicrd. trunk-like
pieces of hose running from the mouth
piece to the box of air-purifying chem
icals strapped to their chests, they
look like some of the unearthly beings
who people the books of II. G. Wells,
Air is Still.
"But MOI a breath disturbs the still
air. The feeble b2reeze has died com
pletely, Hurriedly the order runs
down the line: Camel, and stand by
Behind 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 long
line of viciousIy cracking rifles and
Lewis guns to which the Germans re-
ply.
1.-THE gasmeR move about uneasily
II is not for themselves they fear, but
for those pipes and cylinder heads