Evening star., 1918-11-03
GEN. sIpERT. DIRECTOR FRANK
CARPENTER,

ised or turned to a gas only when It
steel with this stun inside 1t. 1t has
a time fuse on the end like that of a
ehrapnel. and this is SO gauged that
It will burst Just when over tho en-
envy. and the LIQUID will 20 forth in a
mist or gas 50 fine that the n,, particles art les
with this terrible stun and 1t 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
ing a great engagement these shells
are sent forth SO that the gas may
deluge an army. and IL there were no
masks 1t would be destroyed. In one
of the German attacks on the west
ern front 100000 of these shells were
fred every day for four days. and it
is estimated that each shell contained
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 fl
ters.
The chemists of both armies are
constantly 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 ago as
400 BE, when the Spartans satu-
rated wood with pitch and sulphur and
burnt it under the walls of the cities
later. but for several hundred years it
has not been employed, and The
Hague convention definitely ruled
against 1t. The Germans We're a part
of that convention, but nevertheless
on April %. 1915. they liberated great
nf tvs M. To-
troops near Ypres. The destruction
and Generalization which resulted
were terrible, but within a week Eng
land had plans for gas warfare in re-
ta!iation and today we have gases
said to be superior to anything the
Germans % have been able to make.
The first gas attack was Of the drift
gas type. 1t consisted Of a chlorine gas
sent out in large quantities from the
enemy's trenches and when the wind
was blowing toward the trenches Of the
allies. This gas is rather heavy. 1t is
It 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
This method Of fighting has since
been replaced by the gas shell and the
hand grenade. and the chlorine gas first
rsed has been largely improved upon
as n destructive weapon. Chlorine is
formed by decomposing solution Of
table salt through the electric current,
and IT Is not easy to make in large
compounds Of 1t and other Chemicals.
Chlorine gas trritates the membranes
or the air passages with disastrous re-
suits.
Il u
Even worse than chlorine are certain
other gases which affect the eye and
nose. Some Of them are SO powerful
that one atom Of gas when mixed with
million atoms of air will blind the
eyes Of the victim for sorne 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 wnen they touch your skin.
and some which work slowly and i'm
perceptibly the man dying days after
ne has taken In the gas. and not real
has been 'ns sasea Ths Is stack 81 that he
Of methyl sulphate. Sometimes the
enemy sends forth clouds of sneexe
gases In order to force our soldiers Ia
remove their gas masks. He then fol-
lows this BY other poisonous gases to
kill them while they are sneezins,
1t would take much space to descriha
any one OF these terrible gases and how
duced all those made by the Germans
and have created new combinations ns
which are even more deadly; As to oiiS