Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-10

tire force h the mustard gas plant per
| day, or 100 por cent casualty per month.
| Ii that il the casualty which must be
endured in making the stuff, can one
imagine the casualty Of tho enemy who
receives itY As 10 what the enemy had IN
prospect, Colonel Walker further en-
! lightened me.
WOULD HAVE DESTROYED woRID.
I'VE bad been working for some time"
| he said, ION device whereby mustard
could be transported in large containers
by airplane and released over fortresses
| OF the Mets type, and at last IL was per-
fected, fully GO days before the armistice
was signed Mustard has been found, for
| all-around purposes. to be the most
effective gas used in warfare, because it ad-
vances comparatively easily and also be
cause lt is the most difficult to protect
! against. People used TO think prussio acid
| was terrible. Well, the Germans discard
| ed the use OF pr,lasic acid because it was
! too mild and used mustard gas instead.
| PLANNED TO poMBARD voRTREssEs.
| "Our idea was 10 have containers that
would hold ton of mustard gas carried
over fprtrcsses like Metz and Coblenx
| by plane, and released with q time fuse,
| arranged for explosion aeveral hundred
| feet above the forts Tho mustard gas,
being heavier than air, would then slowly
settle, while il also dispersed. one-ton
containcr would thus be made to account
for perhaps an acre or more OF territory,
and not one living thing, not even a rat,
would live through IL. The planes we're
made and successfully demonstrated, the
containers were made, and we were turn
- "a bf ffa
quantities in September.
! However, there were obstacles be
sides the physical to overcome. The
/, Allied governments were not in favor OF
such wholesale gas attack by air. England
( was the first to accede 20 IT, but France
hesitated because of her fear of reprisafs.
/ Finally. the French Government con-
i sented, but only with the proviso that
the attack would not be made until our
! line had advanced so that there was no
chance OF the gas being blown back into
/ French territory and until the Allied COM
mand was In complete command OF the
! air so as to insure safety from possible re-
! prisals These two conditions could not
! have been met before next spring. 1t
was then that we planned to release the
J one-ton containers over the German cities
which were fortified and so became subject
| to attack under the laws OF war.
COULD HAVE WIPED oCr GERMANY.
ave would have had ready in France
! for such an attack thousands of tons of
/ mustard gas. There is not the slightest
! doubt in my mind that we could have wip-
| ed out any German city we pleased TO
| single out, and probably several Of them,
within few hours of giving the release
! signal.
'Tt was not to be- They capitulatcd,
and | am sure that very big factor IN
! that capitulation was the knowledge they
! certa inly possessed of our gas prepara-
tions What we were doing here was known
| to the German Government. They knew
| that when this plant got into full blast
| their last hope was gone. They knew that
! if they had been able to make gas In even
half the quantity we could produce here,
| they would have swept over all France
| long ago Ii there was any final argument
to help them make up their minds it was
our gas production
eve closed down the day the armistice
| was signed. We had more than 2, 500 tons
waiting on the piers, ready for shipment.
Somehow we had been cheated of our
prey, but We were content. We felt sure
the gas had done it's work even though |
most OF If still lay idle In our dooryard."
SINK STOCK IN THE OCEAN.
Already the Baltimore plant is beng |
disInantled The machinery is being care !
fully taken apart, oiled and wrapped and |
stored away--ready for the next war,
should there ever be one. The parts |
which have come in actual contact with |
the gas are taken by means OF tongs to the |
fields and buried. The gas itself will per- |
haps be taken 10 sea some day land drop |
ped overheard Being heavier than water, |
it will settle to the bottom, and il the fishes |
do not like it, they can move elsewhere; |
the sea is wide There is nothing else TO |
do with the gas. IL ha. no commercial /
value and there is enough of tt. ii properly |
Iihera ted, to kill every human beng on /
the American Contincnt-on both Of |
them.
Out of the 100000 expenditure,
there is one bit of salvage. There is Il
little l5-ton consignment of hrombenzyl-
cyanide. Ahis is an intense laorsmater,
(toar compeller,) which has the effect of
binding people, but only for six or eight
hours. After the temporary blindness, the
afflicted recover their normal eyesiqht. IL
has been suggested that this brombenzyl-
cyanide might be kept in every police
station throughout the country, III little
cans with spraying nozzles, Tor use against
mobs. Ii might be q sort of permanent
insurance against any American eruption
of the Bolshevikii meroiful and almost
painless, but quite effective argument
against lawless force.
Also in the course Of the experimental
work in the laboratory, the chemists there
discovered two new gas combinations, as
yet unknown to anyone In Europe or
Asia, and more effective than phosgene or
mustard gas. They were discovered SO
recently that there was no time to utilize
them in This war They have haaf ett,ak
back . In the safe and locked up--for /