El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-11-02
BY
Frank G. Carpenter
Copyright. 1918, By
Frank G. Carpenter
American UdS Troops are DIeHCLHLS HuHS
With New and Terrible Forms of Poison S%E
Germany Having Hague by Employing Allied
Germany Destructive Gases


, gas containers OF one kind or another. The
| truth IS there is TO such thing as a gas
shell-that IS. a shell which contains gas.
As the shell goes forth from the gun it
contains a liquid or solid which IS atom
lied or turned TO a gas only when 1t ex-
plodes. The shell Is usually OF steel with
this stuff inside It II has a time fuse
on the end like that OF a shrapnel. ana
this Is so gagged that It Will burst just
over the enemy, and the liquid will 80
forth in a mist or gas so fine that the
particles cannot be seen
It will TN the air with this terrible
stuff and It may sprinkle the ground so
that one lying down would be poisoned
by the gas getting into his clothes. Some
such shells are fired from mortars. and Of
the larger ones each may contain as
much as six pounds Of material During
a great engagement these shells are sent
forth SO that the gas may oeluge an army,
and II there were no masks 1t would be
destroyed In one OF the German attacks
on the western front 600 OF these
and It IS estimated that each shell con
tanned about five pounds Of chemicals.
After that the Germans sent forth clouds
OF smoke soaked with gas against which
the soldiers had to use extension filters.
Chemists Seek Worse Gases.
The chemists Of both armies are con-
stantly experimenting to discover new
gases and combinations OF gases which
will be even more destructive than those
we have now.
Gas has been used In warfare as long
as 900 B. c.. when the Spartans saturated
wood with pitch and sulphur and burnt It
under the walls OF the cities which they
attacked It was used later. but for sew
erals hundred years Il has not been en-
ployed, and The Hague convention Gefi-
nitely ruled against IT. The Germans were
a part Of that convention but neverJhe-
less on April %. 1915. they liberated
great clouds Of gas against the Canadian
troops near Ypres.
The destruction and Generalization
II WnzuNfar n rrfF
q week England had plans for gas war
fare in retaliation and today we have
gases said TO be superior to anything the
Germans have been able to make.
First Gas, Drifting Chlorine.
The first gas attack was Of the drift
gas type. It consisted OF a chlorine gas
sent out IN large quantities from the
enemyis trenches and when the wind was
blowing toward the trenches OF the al
lies This gas IS rather heavy. It Is
green IN color. and under big pressure Il
turns TO a liquid This liquid was stored
In cylinders and forced through pipes that
had been secretly laid down in No Mans
Land The cylinders lay in the trenches
OF the Germans. and the mouths OF the
pipes faced the trenches Of the allies
This method OF fighting has since
been replaced by the gas shell and the
hand grenade. and the chlorine gas first
used has been largely improved upon as
by deeomposing q solution OF table salt
through the electric current. and It Is not
easy to make In large quantities. Many
OF the gases are compounds OF II and other
chemicals Clorine gas irritates the mem
branes OF the air passages with dIsas-
trous results.
Even worse than chlorine are certain l
other gases which affect the eve and
nose. some Of them are so powerful that |
one atom OF gas when mixed with a
million atoms OF air viii blind the eyes
Of the victim for some time, and others !
will so affect the nose that the fighter |
feels as though he must throw of his
mask
There are also gases which burn when
they touch your skin. and some which /
work slowly and imperceptlbily. the man
dying days after he has taken IN the gas, |
and not realizing at the time OF the at 1
tack that he has been gassed- This Is |
so OF gases o. methyl sulphate. Some /
times the enemy sends forth clouds OF /
sneeze gases IN order to force our SOL I
diers to remove their gas masks. He then I
follows this by other poisonous gases to 1
XII them while they are sneezing-
Our Combinations More Deadly.
It would take much space TO describe 1
any one Of these terrible gases and how
It IS made Our scientists have repro !
and have created new combinations which 4
are even more deadly. As to our new 1
combinations. I am not permitted to
write.
Take. for instance. mustard gas. which
was first used BY the Germans In an at
tack on Armsntieres IN August OF last
year It was sent forth In shells In the
form OF a colorless liquid that spread /
over the ground. where for hours traces
Of It remained after the shells had ex-
ploded- The liquid evaporated slowly.
producing a heavy gas which filtered
downward and made its way into the eel
lars where the people had taken refuge.
It had fewer victims among the men than
among the women. because II penetrated
their long hair and remained there. The
gas was investigated by the French. and
found 70 Be = mixture OF sulphur and
chloride.
How II Affects Men.
When the liquid mustard gas comes
into contact with the skin it causes ter
ribls burns, and when II Is breathed IN
Il seems TO set the lungs on fire and IN
flame the eyes II has but little odor. \
and often its effect IS not felt until sew
erai hours after II Is inhaled. This Is
due to the fact that the poisonous ele-
ments are evolved only when mixed /
with moisture The man gassed may not /
feel Il until several hours after the at
tack but at that time he gets the stomach 1
ache and has a fit OF severe vomiting.
This Is followed by Inflammation OF the /
eyes. They become sensitive 10 the light. 4
he Involuntary weeps and his eyelids /