New Britain herald., 1916-08-05
'GASMAN' WRITES
 0F FRENCH LIFE
Tells How Germans Are Given
 Own Medicine

British "gasman" has been allowed to write a 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 a blaze of glory. A glance over the parapet shows the green and scarlet of the poppied No- Mans land already merging into the gray mists of twilight; but 150 yards away, like a trown 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 a moment they think of the choky, gurgling cough of the men who die by gas. It is not pleasant to die by gas.
 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 f1re-step is apparently sol idly built are pulled out and disclose a cavity in which show black and ominous, the cowled heads of row of
 
 well 'bagged up to protect them from possible crack or puncture by flying fragment or cicochetting mullet. Each cylinder weighs about 130 pounds and contains sufficient compressed gas, If it could be used without waste, to put an entire company out of action.
 "On top of the cylinders lies a, tan gle of flexible connecting. pipes, three and four way joints, spigots and screw Jets, and upon these, with spanner and key, the gasmen start work. The cNlinders are all connected up in se- ries, and nothing remains but to throw the jets over the top Of the Iarapet 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 lid sailor scan the sky more intently than the gasmen watch their little, incon- spicuous wind gauges, fixed to the edge of a trench. They must have a wind of certain direction, and they prefer it of a certain strength. On this occasion, the direction is Satis- factory enough, but the breeze SHOWS signs of weakness, and occasionally falls to a mere, almost impercept1hle zephyr.
 "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 off, cer passes down the line, casting rapid though keen glances as he goes
 onir connecting pipes And in every bay he pauses and whispers 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 it's deadly work among it's occupants, begins to peter out.
 "At ten-ffty the gasmen don their special respirators, which in the dim light, give the wearers a strange, al most inhuman appearance. Masked and goggled, with weird, trunk-lile pieces of hose running from the mouthpiece to the box of air-purify- ing chemicals strapped to their chests, they look like some of the un- earthly beings who people the books of MT. H. 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. Behind their masks the gasmen 2rNnt 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 viciously cracking rifles and Lewis guns to which the Germans reply.
 "The gasmen move about uneasily. It is not for themselves they fear, but for those pipes and cylinder heads ly- ing bare and exposed to the hail of flying agments. Well they know the danger of bursts and of trenches filled with gas and no wind to move it. But they cannot bag up without orders, and so they detail one of their num- Der in each bay to watch the cylinders while the rest gather behind the tra- verse, as being a slightly safer spot
 ''When day breaks fair wind Is blowing, straight towards the German trenches. But of course, it Is now broad daylight, and the gas will be visible as soon as it leaves the pipes. The gasmen know what to expect They know that as soon as the green ish-gray clouds appear outside their parapet there will be running mes sengers and hurried telephoning in the German lines. They know that with in a few minutes the word will have reached the German big guns at the back, and that every piece capable of hattening out a parapet and burying them mangled and brOlen among their own cylinders will be cOncentrat- 1 ed upon the front line trench In which l they stand.
 '"rimel Over the top the jet-pipes l are flung and then, simultaneously 1 along almost two miles of trench there 1 arises a sibilant hiss, of some mon l strous and venomOus snake suddenly l arOued from sumber. Now the gas- l