Arizona republican., 1918-10-26
HOW TIE GAS MASK
 |S MADE AND WORKS.

has been made sufficiently clear In the beginning there was a good deal of popular misconception; the idea was quite prevalent that the mask operated by process of physical exclusion, keeping ost the noXious vapors much as divers helmet keeps out the Wa ter or as a sealed jar excludes the air. Under the flood of light thrown upon the matter by dailies, weeklies and monthlies Of all classes, however, it is now generally understood that the mask is really a chemical machine, which filters out the foreign sub stances from the air. allowing the lat ter free passage. There is no place ip trench warfare for individual oxygen tanks. Accordingly the gas mask is not a respirator providing an artificial atmosphere for the wearer to breathe; 1t is sieve making the poisoned air about him fit for his use.
 There are various substances which possess in greater or less degree this power of absorbing gases-the pla- tinum sponge employed in the manu- fracture of sulfuric acid is an example raised to the nth power. But not all fthem can be induced to omit from their sphere Of influence air, the com monest of all gaseous media, and the one which must receive free passage through the gas mask. Carbon, how ever, and in particular carbon in the | form of charcoal. meets the situation nicely. It does not absorb air, and it | does absorb other gases freely. But charcoal occurs in various forms according to the particular vegetable ! source from which it is manufactured; vegetable source from which it is | manufactured; and the various forms possess varying degrees of gas ab- sorptivity. After exhaustive tests, the chemists find that first rank must be given charcoal produced from peach given to thepits of apricots, prunes, plums, olive and cherries, date seeds, and the shells of brazil nuts, hickory nuts, Walnuts and butternuts. What tomorrow may bring forth in gas mask manufacture no man can say for the last thing that chemist would think Of doing would be sitting down with his hands crossed, in confidence that the final word had been written in any of his chapters; but today we make our gas masks with charcoal from the sources mentioned.
 For every soldier in the fight there has to be a gas mask Four million soldiers does not mean four million gas masks, because all the four mil lion are not destined for actual fight Ing, and because those who are so destined are not all fighting at once. But every mask takes seven pounds of seeds and shells, and a million masks I-a reasonable minimum-meanS seven million pounds of the raw materials. Thlrty-five hundred tons of fruit pits and nut shells is a great quantity; it Is quantity that cannot be obtained save by the cooperation of every con sumer of nuts and fruit It is for this reason that the government has ap- pealed to all of us to save these items out of the garbage pail and turn them over to the Red Cross agent who will collect them. Other shells and pits would constitute adulteratiOn, and So must not be mingled with the ones enumerated. Especial emphasis might well be placed upon this clause as it applies to cocoanut shells; for these are being conserved, too, for gas mask manufacture. The charcoal from them IS available, but it is different from that from the other sources, and re- quires different treatment; so the CO., coanut shells must be kept separate. l The process of manufacturing the gas masks would make a most inter- estin gstory, but during the continu- ance of the war it is of course a story which cannot be told. However, it is clear enough that the pits and shells must be collected, and burned into charcoal in furnaces of a standard type; and the enemy will hardly get much aid or comfort from the knowl- edge that before the unit containing the charcoal is allowed to go into q mask, it is subjected to a severe pre-. liminary test, to determine whether it. charcoal screen is of sufficient density But beyond this. the story cannot gC , far.
 We may, however. still say a worC ; about the inspection of the finished masks This is done by q speciall, , selected force, will not be tested agail until some American soldier puts 1t or | Tn the face of a gas attack. every et fort is made to keep the inspector ? Keyed up to concert pitch. Sometime
 this may even be carried to extremes
 we learn on good authority of on, , serious minded inspeCtress who Wor , ried so conscientiously lest a defective
 mask be passed by her to cause th
 death of one of OUT boys in khaki. tha Q she lost five pounds a week for an in s credible period, and had finally to giv l up the work to someone whose men f tai processes were less intimately con 7 nected with physical reactions w i, are also told that as an inducement t F the inspectors to do good work eac1 of them is from time to time sent int
 a gas chamber protected by q mas selected at random from those whicl
 he has passed himself.
 All salvage departments of the Re,
 Cross are being urged to save and col
 lect the fruit pits and nut shells name,
 above, forwarding them to the war de
 pertinent,
 The salvage and shop department o the Central Arizona Chapter Mrs. |
 II. Chalmers, chairman. has. throug
 the courtesy of the city authorities
 placed on four of the prominent cor
 ners of Phoenix. barrels for the col
 lection of these materials for the man
 ufacture of the greatly needed char
 coal.
 All pits must be well washed an
 dried before being placed in the bar
 rels. Peanut and almond shells can
 not be used
 Every citizen of Phoenix is strongl
 urged to respond to this appeal froI
 the government to assist in saving tn lives of our men at the front. -----O---