Norwich bulletin., 1919-05-17
THE RESPONSE OF. AMERICAN INDUSTRY

An official narrative of the part American industry played in provld- ing munitions for the American army in the great war is unfolded in d book being prepared under the d. rection of Assistant Secretary Grow ell of the War department, who was director of munitions up to the close of hostilities, when he Was specially assigned by the president to direct dcmobiiiZation of material
 Advance pages of two sections of the book-those dealing with chem ical warfare, offensive and defensive, and with the equipment for the sig nal corps tell for the Erst time of
 ficially and completely not only of the stupendous scope of the projects but of the difficulties and delays en- countered and of the patriotic sup
 port of the war program given by
 American business generally.
 The chemical warfare section tells
 of the original work done by the
 ordnance department toward obtain
 ing toxic gases and anti gas devices
 for the use of American troops. Sub,
 sequently this service became a tsepa-
 rate branch of the army under the
 direction of Maj. Gen. W. l.. Sibert.
 Among other secrets disclosed is
 the basis of frequent statements that
 at the time of the signing of the armistice 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 pro- duction far more modern and eff cient than anything attained by the enemy.
 There were three plants at work on mustard gas-the Edgewood, Md, arsenal, which was manufacturing 1 thirty tons day by November Il and had turned out I'll tons up to 1 that day; the plant at Hastings. X. Y, which was to have a capacity of fifty 1 tons a day and was ready. to operate | on November il, and the flfty-ton plant of the National Aniline and Chemical company at Buffalo, N. Y. which was 80 per cent. complete. The
 chemical name of this compound is 1 dichlorethyslsulpf and it's popular
 name of mustard gas comes from its 1 odor.
 Another element of the program
 was the production of tear gases, moi deadly under ordinary circumstances but designed to produce blindness
 thus forcing the troops to use masks
 extensively impairing their military 1 efficiency. The foundation of thest 1 gases was bromine, the main suppl! i Of which is obtained from subterran can solutions found chiefly in tho T vicinity of Midland. Mich, where tht government financed the sinking O l>,-;r fhn :! rection of the Dow Chemical com ! pany, which were prepared to suppl. $50 900 tons a year.
 The other chief gases are the st called "killers"-the gases so deadl, as to bring death unless safeguard J, are provided-chlorine and chloro picrin and phosgene. The only one o :i these produced commercially in tn United States was chlorine, and evel
 with that the supply was utterly in adequate to the demand. A statistical table shows that l AS tons Of chlorine in liquid form. 1,9e tons of chloropicrin,f 420 tons o phosgene and 190 tons of mustard ot were actually shipped overseas fror January to November, 191& II
 addition soo,ooo 75-mm shells loade l with chloropicrin and 15000 loaded with mustard oil went abroad the shipments including 224,0o0 phos [ phorous grenades as smoke bomb r and 1S,s00 phosgene bombs for Liv ems mortars. The capacity for fillin shells and bombs on the day of tn ] armistice exceeded 4.S00,0 900 a nontl ! At that time the practice of ship 3 ping gases abroad in bulk, to be load > ! cd into proiectiles on the other sid' ; had been abandoned.
 We therefore shipped to Euror