Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1918-09-27
Peach Stones for Gas Msss

been asked verv freauentiy "heh
the children come rome from school
and state that tbeir room is contest
ing against tb< others for the great
est number Of peach stones collected
for their Uncle Sam, and when the
department stores establish booths
for receiving contributions of the
stones. And the queries aren't very
well satisfied by the hazy replies
that peach stones are used IN gas
masks. Il should think the boys
would rather have the whole peach
inside their face than only the stone
outside it."
AS matter Of fact. gas masks are
now using peach stones. but not as
such, says the American Chemical
Society. They are used as the raw
material for making the best grade
of absorbent charcoal ever produced;
and the charcoal is used in the res
pirators for absorbing the deadly
gases in the inspired air.
How does charcoal act? In the first
place, it is exceedingly porous. 1t is
produced, as We all know, by roast
ing wood, dried blood. or other or
ga mic material, and this roasting ce-
composes the material into two parts.
| one Of them gaseous. which passes
| off from the retorts, and one Of them
solid. which remains behind as char
| coal. Every minute cell Of the wood
! and every part Of a cell gave up some
Of the gas during the operation and
thus left minute pores all through
the material. Thus the wood charcoal
that we know is very bulky for its
weight and contains innumerable
! fine pores Now this highly porous
charcoal has a remarkable property
of absorbing certain kinds of sub
stances For example. a basketful Of
it dumped into privy vault removes
all the bad smelling gases; enormous
quantities Of charcoal are used IN
clarifying and decoloring beet and
can juices in sugar manufacture;
most drugs have to be bone-blacked
Lefore a white product can be OBJ
tanned; and we have all taken char
coal tablets for the purpose Of re-
maving distressing gases arising
from digestive disorders.
The application of charcoal to the
gas mask, then, is obvious. The con-
terminated air passes through Il layer
Of highly active carbon before 1t
reaches the mouth. and the poisonous
material is absorbed. 1t is apparent
that the more active the charcoal is,
the more the absorbing power can
| be packed into the small box on the
front of the mask. Now, all charcoal
from all sources is not equally active.
Hence, before charcoal was used sue
cessfully in masks a very active
form had to be produced. And 1t
was found that the hard, dense. COM
pact substance Of nut shells and
fruit stones formed the most con-
densed and actively absorbing char
coal. The pores of the charred mate
rial are infinitely fine and numerous
and hence a given volume of the
carbon will do far more work than
the same volume Of other kinds of
charcoal.
Perhaps some other very dense
plant materials, such as ebony and
lignum vitae, would also make good
carbon; but for obvious reasons
products like nut shells and fruit
stones are preferred. Can Uncle Sam
collect enough of such materials for
what he needs, remembering that the
charcoal in the masks becomes in
| active and has to be renewed.
1t is believed that lie can if
people are careful enough N saw
ing this new object of salvage.
Suppose it takes two dozen stones
to make enough carbon for a mask;
there are very few people in this
country who do not eat that many
peaches, or their equivalent in plums
and nuts. in a year. If these stones