Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1918-07-18
The Poison Gas Brigade

The Poison Gas Brigade
By Edward Earle Purinton
Director of the Independent Efficiency
Service.
Germany has attacked us. The
invaders ars hsre. The strife ON
American So: has commenced.
In ever city of the unitad States, a
powerful battalion Fisherman or Ger
manized troops now stand ready to
hurl their weapons at us. These
troops wear no uniforms. They bear
no arms. They ara never seen to-
gether in public. They fight from
ambush. They are all snipers. And
they hit US in the brain or heart,
where no physician can dress the
wound.
Without doubt there are several
hundred thousand Of them in the
United States. ard .hav are gaining
new recruits every day They are a
secret osder; We do not know them
by sight; we do not know how, when
or where they will sneak up On us
and find us least prepared.
Moreover-and here is one OF the
worst aspects of the situation-we
seldom know wher they have hit us.
because their weapon shoots into our
veins the slow poison of a treacherous
thought, or hopeless fealing, or selfish
inclination; and the effect Of such poi
son is to sap our energy. weaken our
character, raralyze our will. before we
realize the fact OF orr moral deger-
eration.
The weapon of these German troops
is the tongue. Their ammunition is
the poise :, gas OF gossip They hur!
this gas IN such q way as to cloud
our eyes, unsattle our nerves, choke
our patriotic feeling, rend us with
doubt, cripple us with fear and put
us out of action. The human tongue
is the only weapon Of evil that never
breaks, never stops, nc.er lacks fuel
or ammunition, never loses point and
punch. never can be destroyed. Furth-
ermore it is always concealed. II
shoots broadside and then retreats
before you can send volley back.
Thu way to kncek man out is te
hit him unawares at his weakes'
roint. The strengph of the Kaiser
is his knowledge and use OF the hid
den lowers OF the mind; the weak
ness 81 the American people is tnen
ignorance and neglect OF the hidder
powers CT the mind; whenever ths
Kaiser aims lying tongue at ou7
hearts he batters our weakness
his strength, and he knows it.
The greatest forces of life are tn,
least visible. You cannot see tn,
wind that blows your house down
You carnot see the gravitation tina
holds the world together. You cal
mot see the human will that produce
duces a Washington or a Lincoln
You can not see the energy wit
which You do the work OF tn
day. You cannot see the public opin
ion that makes or breaks men, no
the Loyalty that forms the invisibl
backbone ef industrial organization
You cannot see the spirit of the hat
that has made the kaiser look and ac
Ike the devil, and you cannot see tn
spirit of love that brought forth til
Christian religion. Effects can b
seen-primary causes and forces ca,
rot. The big German gun that bon
bsrded Par.s could not do milliont
part of the damage done every da
by millions of traacherous words thu
the Kaiscr.s scents here shoot fort
on all sides. Merely because the gu
cor'd be seen. everybody marvels at
while hera million deadlier guns ,
sneech hit the mark and we nev'
notice!
The worst enemy civilians meet
.,,a Poison Gas Brivadc. We mn
--e4a-. ov-selve. fror, the r,ent
r--s -,e--, ~-w.-ea - ~. ~-s ~ n,
ne;ghborhood as effectively as our Sc