The Washington herald., 1918-08-14
MANUFACTURE
/. OF GAS MASKS
BBEST IN U. S.
Rubber Industry Devotes
Resources to Their
Perfection.
BY FREDERICK NJ. KERRY
Washtnsfon Herald STAFF Corresrsondent

NS@ANnfeAaee1@
Cleveland. Ohio. Aug. 1s.-Gas mask
protection for American boys at the
front is the most complete and eff
Client in the allied armies. The gas
mask being turned out by our plants
is the finest so far devised, and Of
fers practically complete protection
against any gas the Huns have 30 far
invented.
1t is the sixth type in the evolution
of the mask, but even now expert
ments are being made that will still
further improve II.
I have been permitted to watch the
complete operation OF manufacture OF
our masks in one of the plants Of the
United States Rubber Company here.
A large percentage Of all our rubber
manufacturing industry has now been
turned into the production of parts
for masks. The breathing hose. the
mouthpiece, the "fiooder valve" and
the sockets for the eyepieces are all
made Of rubber, and they must be
perfect The slightest leak may be
fatal
The highly perfected mask in its
present form has been developed from
a pocket handkerchief. The first real
attempt at providing wholesale pro-
lection was the use Of gauze bandage
strips dipped In "hypo"-the chemical
used for fixing Photographic prints.
American Mask ExceIs.
Then the British devised a mask
with canister containing the
chemicals. a breathing arrangement
h1y ha NTH tho CaniatRr
and a pincer arrangement to close
the nose. This was the first mask
the United States troops used.
Our Army is now making a mask
which is the superior OF anything
so far devised. 1t uses the same
canister, but the materials instead
of being in layers are mixed: the
nose is left entirely open, but the
breathing is through the mouth.
From the time the crude rubber
comes into the factory to the time
when the completed parts are
shipped to the big assembling plant
on Long Island. inspection is con-
slant. The slightest defect results
in rejection OF the part
Island. inspection is constant. The
tion OF the part. ....
The first order placed by our War
Department was with the B. f.
Goodrich Company. at Akron. short
ly after war was declared. This
order called for 10000 masks to
be produced in ten days. The
manufacturers were furnished with
a sample British mask and told to
do their best. This order was fol-
lowed at once by a second order for
$40. 900 masks. Other orders fol-
lowed.
Improve on Hose.
The hose connecting the chemical
canister with the breathing apparatus
must have great fiexibility; in addi-
ton It must be perfectly impervious,
and II must be reinforced on the put
side with a stocking net to stand
wear. Our manufacturers produced a
concentric circle hose OF great fiexi-
bility.
The "fiooder valve" was another
problem worked out by our rubber
manufacturers. 1t is a small. fiat
valve. made so that when the wearer
exhales, 1t permits the air to pass
out, but when inhalation begins It
doesn't permit a particle of the gas
charged atmosphere to enter the
mask.
American women are doing much
of the work of making gas masks.
The gas mask industry is an eS-
ample of how peaceful manufactur-
ing industries have been turned into
war work plants and have produced
better product than German scien-
lists who had years to prepare their
diabolical devices OF warfare.