New-York tribune., 1918-09-08
With Cobb and Matty Gas
sing Over There There
Should Be Action
By Louis Lee Arms


1t is probable we Shall hear much
III the future of our Chemical Warfare
Service. 1t is the branch OF our mill
tary activity which demands an eye
for an eye from the Hun-~for it was
Germany, it will be remembered, that
introduced the inefabe uso Of poison
gas. If IN boxing match one con-
sclenceless contender conceals horse
shoe in his glove it is probably best
to pay him in kind. Words cannot
overcome the laws Of physics or BIZ
ology.
There is an uncommonly modest
major with an office ut 10 West Forty
fourth Street, who since July Is has
been recruiting officers for this branch
so successful has he been that the
roster of tho officers who are to be,
or have been. sent overseas might be
tictionally utilized for modern
Knights Of the Round Table.
I'VE got most of the men we went
aiter,' said the major. much as a col
lege senior and moving spirit in fra
ternlty lie might speak. The major,
ind we are pledged not to mention his
name, then produced a list of officers
that have been recently jnducted into
service. One glance at it was sufi-
cient to prove that from now on the
activities Of the Chemical Warfare
Service in faraway France will be
closely followed by professional and
amateur sport fans.
Captains in Service
For Tyrus Raymond Cobb. the
Georgia Peach, and Ole Chris Mathew
son, the greatest of all Giants, are
captains in the service, and they are
but two of the two dozen nationally
known athletes who have been gath.
cred into this adolcsccnt unit. Percy
Haughton. Harvard's famous football
coach and until recently president of
the Boston Braves, is o major in this
service, and so is Branch Hickey. Uni
versity of Michigan ex-baseball coach; ;
eX-manaGer of the st. Louis Browns and
the present president Of the st. Louis
Cardinals. Lawrence Waterbury, in
ternationai poloist, is another but
these are five only Of names that sport
dom will quickly recognize. Water
oury is a lieutenant.
All OF these men will go into the
lines TO fight, for there is no hint OF
swivel chair" luxury in the offensive
and defensive branches of this service
and these are the ends with which the
non-chemists, such as Cobb, Mathew
son, ct al, will be Identified They
VIII go to school in France, and school
will be conducted in the shadows of
the trenches, where big guns constant.
ly roar. Completing their courses they
Will become staff officers, and their
actual work of tending Off gas attacks
and planning chemical onslaughts will
begin.
1t is work primarily that calls for 8
capacity for lively leadership and
strategic ingenuity Gas attacks are
influenced largely by meteorological
conditions and may be valuable coe
IN the general scheme for giant at.
tack. This unit throws up smoke
screens, which timed perfectly with
artillery barrage, enables troops to ad.
vance as perfectly concealed as the
human mind has yet devised.
But vt viii be very much up to Tyrus
raymond Cobb. Christy Mathewson anc
others to pick the weak spot in The
enemys defensive, and having preache
ard practised this in an ath letic sense
over number OF years, these men ars
deemed to be potentially valuable eas
experts
Must Be on Alert
Extensively and defensively the,
must be on the alert, Extensively te