The weekly Alaska citizen., 1919-06-09

industry played in providing intuition for the American army in the great war is unfolded in book being pre- pared under the direction of Assistant Secretary Crowell of the war depart ment. who was director of munitions up to the close of hostilities, when he was specially assigned by the Presi. dent to direct the demobilization of material
 Advance pages of two sections of the book. those dealing with the Chemical Welfare material, offensive and defensive. and with the equip. ment for the Signal Corps were made available today, telling for the first time officially and completely not only of the stupendous scope of the pro- jects, but of the difficulties and delays encountered and of the patriotic sup port of the war program given by Am erican business generally.
 The chemical warfare section tells of the original work done by the ord. nance department toward obtaining toxic gases and anti-gas devices for the use of American troops. Subse quently this service became sepa. rate branch of the army under the di- rection of Major W. l.. Sibert.
 Among other secrets disclosed Is the basis of frequent statements that at the time of the signing of the ar- mistice, the United States alone was producing gases for military use at a rate ten times in excess of the best production Germany could obtain. The Germans produced with all their facilities about six tons of mustard gas per day. while the United States was producing more than sixty tons a day and employing methods of produc- ton far more modern and efficient than anything attained by the enemy.
 There were three plants at work on mustard gas, the Edgewood. Md. ar senal which was manufacturing thirty tons day by November II and had turned out I'll tons up to that day; the plant at Hastings. N. Y.. which was to have capacity of fifty tons a day and was ready to operate on No vember II, and the 50-ton plant of the National Aniline and Chemical com. pany at Buffalo, N. Y.. which was 80 percent complete.
 The chemical name of this com pound is dichlorethylsurplide and its popular name of mustard gas comes from it's odor
 Another element of the program was the production of tear gases, not deadly under ordinary circumstances but designed to produce blindness, thus forcing the troops to use masks extensively. impairing their military efficiency The foundation of these gases was bromide, the main supply of which is obtained from subterranean solutions found chiefly in the vicinity of Midland, Mich., where the gover r. ment financed the sinking of IT brine wells under direction Of the Dow Chemical company which were prepared to supply 650,ooo tons year
 The other chief gases are the so. called "killers," the gases 80 deadly as to bring death unless safeguards are provided--chlorine. chlorpicrin and phosgene. The only one of these produced commercially in the United States was chlorine and even with that the supply was utterly made quate to the demand.
 A statistical table shows that 1,48S tons of chlorine in liquid form; 1908 tons chlorpicrin; APO tons of phos' gene and 190 tons of mustard oil were actually shipped overseas from January to November, 1918. Tn ad' dition 3oO,0oO 75.mm shells loaded with chlorpicrin and 150.000 loaded with mustard oil went abroad. the shipments includinng 224,0o0 phospho rus grenades as smoke bombs and IS, 600 phosgene bombs for Livens nor tars. The capacity of filling shells and bombs on the day of the armistice exceeded 4,SoO,00O month. At that time the practice of shipping gase' abroad in bulk to be loaded into pro jectiles on the other side had been abandoned.
 We therefore shipped to Europe in bulk" the report states, 1862 tons of gas or It's equivalent. which gas was largely loaded into shells and used by the United States troops or these of the allies. This quantity was sufficient to load 1,sO0,o00 shells two-thirds of them being of the 75-mnl calibre and the other one-third 1853 nm, the total number being thot tc be at least equal to the total numbe, of gas shell fired by American troops in action.
 Thus while American gas was not actually fired in American shell against the Germans. American gas was used against the enemy and Am erica furnished at least as much gas as she fired.
 S. -Al