New-York tribune., 1918-10-06
War Department Says Our
Protection Against Huns
Methods Stands Test
Speed Is n Essential
Men Are Not in Danger II
They Follow Orders as
Quickly as Expected

WASHINGTON, Oct 5.-The War
Department authorizes the following
statement:
German forces opposed to the
steady advance of the American line
on the Lorraine front have brought
into play every method of defence con-
sfdered effective in modern warfare
They are making a particularly heavy
use of poison gas. Pershing's men
have been INCREASINGLY bombarded with
mustard shells and every effort has
been made to drcncE the American ad-
vanced positions with deadly fumes
It is a remarkable tribute to the chemi-
cal warfare work in the United States
that these efforts to block the progress
of the offensive have proved utterly
futile
"The American attacking forces are
protected against gas by masks which
actual field tests prove give twenty
times the protection afforded by Ger
man gas masks. There is not. as a
matter of fact, a single case on record
of an American soldier falling victim
to gas attack when protected by the
mask that is now being manufactured
in the United States on vast guam
tity basis. This fact has been so
thoroughly established by repeated ex-
periences that military authorities
place the blame for gas poisoning on
the carelessness of the victim A
great many officers in the United
States army insist that in most cases
the who OoccoN chOnlH bo
court martialed, not decorated.
Americans All Experts
fortunately, every American soldier
pert. He has been trained to adjust
his land preservers with almost
incredible speed. The mask is put on
with just five motions of the arms and
hands. The man who fails to accom-
pllsh the feat within time limit of six
seconds is left behind when his unit
goes to the front.
Recently, in a practice drill, one
company of American fighting men set
time the order to don masks was given
to the final adjustment by the slowest
man.
1T Is an interesting fact that Ameri-
can gas masks stand up under tests
that German masks cannot meet. Ger
man masks will not give protection
against high concentration of gas.
Jhls was demonstrated recently when
the British assembled a sufficiently
large battery of projectors to put
seventy tons of phosgene gas into the
ar at once, with consequences quite
well known to the German General
STAN. There is no concentration of gas
that American masks will not defv
Ihls has been proved, not only on the
battlefield, but in the experimental
stations IN this country, where de-
termned attempts to break down the
resistance of United States army
masks by heavy gas concentrations
were absolutely unsuccessful.
Call United States Masks Best
"The American gas mask was do
veloped by actual manufacture. The
proper authorities obtained complete
information about the French and
British masks, and full data as to tho
efficiency they demonstrated under
German gas attacks. Armed with this
knowledge, an order for the making of
several thousand masks was placed in
this country. Members of the force of
o0O officers and 1000 enlisted men who
are responsible for the production of
tnls modern weapon of defence showed
the courage OF their convictions bv
volunteering tor experiments. They
oonned the masks and exposed them
serves TO actual gas attacks. From
: .line 70 1lme' American ingenuity and
inventive genius suggested improve-
ments In the original methods. AS q
result, the officers of our Allies ara
unanimous in the frank admission thai
the American mask is the best on tlo
western front" ''''