The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-07-12

Human OVERWHELMINGLY Be-
lIeves Gas Will Be the Biggest and
Most Effective Weapon to Hasten
the End Of the War.
On a table In a large room In which
were several American oficers-until
recently professors of chemistry and
noted scientists connected with promi-
nent American corporations-were
several shells. jars of liquid, small
containers filed with powder and ev-
cry imaginable thing connected with
the business of "killing and safeguard
Ing with and against gas attacks"
For gas has become the big element
of warfare and there Is no telling how
gigantic 1t may be before the war
comes to an end.
To sit with these experts In killing
and listen to their simple statements
about the possibilities Of destruction,
and at the same time to know them
as men of finest sensibilities and hui
name impulses, Is a sort Of grim reve-
lation Of the terribleness of this war
and the appalling transformation that
Is overcoming at least O part of hui
manity. OF course everyone knows
that Germany started the use of gas.
She has specialized In the use Of gases
of most deadly character. She has
perfected methods of spreading these
CHASTITY fumes where soldiers cannot
escape, but must stand or sit and face
death In gas masks. But she has
forced the rest of the world, as q
means of self-protection. to enter up
on this cold, calculating, merciless
work Of human destruction. With
out revealing any information not al
ready known to the Hun, II may be
stated that Germany realizes that If
she insists upon carrying on her war
with gas she will be met with the
spirit of a tooth for a tooth and an
eye for an eye, and Ii Is not unlikely
that 1t may be two for n &c.
Huge Gas pud.
One of the big projectiles on the
desk In the room referred to wa a
gas dud-a shell which did not ex-
plode. 1t was n of 500 which were
hurled simultaneously into the Amer
lean lines. The p~rojectile is 0 inches
In diameter, about Is inches long,
weighs about IS pounds and has a
rather blunt nose. 1t contains about
two gallons of the deadly phosgine gas.
isn't 1t a rather dangerous thing to
keep around as an Office petit" I asked.
"We took the fuse out. It's quite
harmless" was the reply.
THl. 1.l a.. n-1z -
fers. The Germans have a system of
attaching a long string Of these weap-
ons so that they are fired with the
touch of a button. This chorus firing
Is continued for perhaps 10 minutes
and sends a veritable shower Of the
big projectiles into the selected spot
and releases a great quantity of the
deadly gas. IL the range is right and
the wind at all favorable the result
is likely to be serious. The fumes are
shot out with terrific speed over a
small area by the explosion of the
shell.
There were some smaller shells con-
tanning phosgine, a gas used very ex-
tensively, and others filled with q new
gas used by the Germans. This Is
not poisonous but Is calculated to pave
the way for a genuine gas attack. The
little shells contain a quantity Of the
chemical, which is In powdered form
and a surrounding layer of INT which
causes an explosion which suggests
shrapnel and high explosives instead
OF gas. The powder Is widely spread
and is intended to irritate the men,
branes Of the throat and nose Just
enough to cause the person reached by
1t to sneeze. When he begins to do
this the supposition is that he will re-
move. his gas mask and on the theory
that he will do so the apparently harm
less powder shells are followed by a
blast of mustard gas or phosgine.
Working on New Gases.
Suppose" / asked one Of the dis
tinguished experts, "a gas shell should
explode In a city street on a perfectly
still day, how far would the fumes
penetrate and how long would they
take to cover a given areaY'
The expert opened q Jar containing
about a quart Of dark liquid. When
the air touched II q white smoke arose
slowly. The expert blew this softly
into the room and II settled with about
the speed Of a ring Of smoke from a
fragrant cigar.
"That's about the way the gas would
travel If the air were perfectly still.
One shell probably would cover an
area 90 feet In circumference and the
gas would remain for a half hour or
more"
Shells gathered by the Americans
show that the Germans are constantly
working on new gases. This, coupled
with the statements made by German
prisoners. indicate that the German
believes gas will be the biggest weapon