The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-07-07
ENEMY BLINDED
BY HIS0WN GAS
New Weapon So Subtle in Ef-
fects 1t Does Inventors
Greater Injury.
Special Correspondence to rux srs.


LONDON. June 22.-Gefman ingenuity
in producing gas with which to over
whslm the enemy has not always worked
out as intended or wholly to the ad-
vantage Of those employing It. In the
recent offensive the intensive gas shell
bombardment with which the German
precedes his attacks has had occasionally
unforeseen after effects upon the Ger
mans themselves.
For the purpose of the offensive the
enemy employs a shell containing a
double purpose chemical. affecting first
the eyes and thsn the skin. 1t Is a
modification Of the normal tear gas"
shell. and tho usual distinctive !odor Ia
very much reduced. SO that the gas is
not 80 easy to detect. Men who suffer
from its effects are temporarily blinded,
and close contact with the fumes pro-
duces an unpleasant skin irritation.
For the average case eight or ten days
hospital treatment u necessary. but tho
gss 10 neither fatal nor does II inlict
permanent injuries. for our men are not
exposed to II long So much for our
side Of the question.
We" " weapon TWO E08e0s
From the German point Of view the
weapon has proved decidedly double
edged. This was especially the case
on the Somme during the last offensive
The chemical was so concentrated that
1t was markedly less volatile than the
usual gas shell content, and wherever
a shell exploded a considerable proper
ton Of the charge impregnated the sur
rounding ground. The fumes suspended
In the air dispersed fairly rapidly. blu,
the actual site OF the explosion remained
r'rulertly poisonous In the usual way
the spot where a gas shell has burs,
Is dangerous for forty EIGHT hours or 80
but this conc sntrated chemical remained
active for a much longer period.
The result was decidedly comic, fol-
1t was evidently one Of the many little
things that the 'Grosser General Stab
omitted in its calculations. The German
artillery lathered the Allied positions
with Eas shells In the most lavish man
ner. Every redoubt. support line. ruined
! village and road centre was plasteret
with the stun. The great assault wa,
launched and the allied line yielded
ground. The Germans moved up and
occupied it. Their bomba rdment had
been miles deep their advance was ir
| proportion.
Poisoned BY Their Own Gas.
Thousands OF German troops poured
up into the gas infected area, sat dowr
for cover in virulently poisoned shell
holes. billeted themselves in abandoned
hutments sprayed with their own gas
| and only began to notice the effect about
six hours later! During the action oul
men had been exposed to the fumes fol
| taA hut ha
and in their ignorance literally STEPPED
| themselves in It.
Exhausted men lay down in the dusk
on dew wet ground where the stun had
burst; they woke later to find the venom
actually corroding their bodies through
their clothes. Forward machine CUR
units dug emplacements in innocent
looking shell holes. Two hours later thu
men were wandering about blind anc
screaming in their pain and terror.
| A day or two Of wet weather seemed
to clear the infected areas: new troop
were marched up. the remnants OF thu
old divisions withdrawn and the terror
! OF their own gas hushed up and forgot
ten. Then came the blasting sun drying
up the clay and loan. heating the earth
surface inches deep. The latent poison
awoke again and for no apparent reason
shelters and dueouts that had been SAT,
and habitabie for days became deadl,
as puff adders. The unusupecting troop
were overwhelmed.
The Germans are sorry that they evel
started gas: still sorrier that they i'm
proved II. But one can feel no pity fol
| thom. The erect on their morale Il
bad, for no man can tell now what ter
ror Of their own sowing turks In tn
ground that they occupy at the cost o.
| thousa nds of lives.