El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-09-01

D
/ flooded the engine cab whenever The
I train passed through q tunnel The
/ mask was sent and the engineer
wrote the war department that Il
I saved him his position. Other en-
/ gineers have since bought masks 1oT
the same purpose
A novel use of an army gas mask
was made recently by New York
/ society woman This sable-clad ma
tron stepped from her limousine into
the New York office Of the chemical
warfare service and demanded gas
mask When asked why she wanted
IL, she explained that she had Just
returned from Palm Beach and opened
her New York house. and that moths
were positively eating up her clothes
and house furnishings. Her Butler,
ordered TO fumi gate. had purchased z
large quantity Of formaldehyde and
three dozen sulphur candles He
sprayed formaldehyde all over the
house, and lighted the three dozen
candles. The fumes soon became so
strong that IL was impossible 10 stay
in the house. and the woman had nur-
ried after a gas mask in order TO
have some one open the windows
Her footman, who had been in the
army. fitted on the mask provided,
and entered the house without being
at all affected by the fumes The
overpoWering strength OF the gases
was shown by the fact that the wom-
ans pets, a monkep, cat and parrot,
were all found dead in the house.
Four Million shipped
The war department had over
$500, 900 gas masks manufactured,
and shipped 100000 overseas a
great many Of these we're used and
worn out. Every soldier who was
sent abroad is entitled to keep his
mask, OF. il he turned 1t in before
leaving the service. he can obtain
another by writing to the office OF
the director Of storage, war depart
ment Washington. D. c As over
100000 Of our soldiers went over
seas. this order disposes Of the great
er part OF the surplus mask supply
Some OF the unused masks and
canisters viii be kept for the army
though the chemicals will not retain
their strength for much more than
a year. even If kept in a dry atmos-
phere. The war department is now
disposing Of the surplus to the pub
lie at the rate OF IS for new mask
81 for a used one, and 81 each FOR
extra canisters-
Sold As Souvenirs.
The hsed masks. which are not in
condition TO afford protection against
gases. are sold as souvenirs To pre-
vent any one from attempting 10 use
them in a poisonous atmosphere the
war department Sits the face pieces
before putting the used masks on sale
About 1900 new masks have so far
been sold. largely 10 firms and manu-
facturers. The war departments rec
ord Of sales shows that wide range
Of industries have purchased new
masks either for experimental pur-
poses or TO be put into immediate use
Among the purchasers are factories
making ink. paper, explosives, cnem-
icals, fertilizer, wooden goods. rubber
flae- - Is ~ Hia-
copper mines, fire departments and
laboratories
The war department demands that
prospective purchasers Of new masks
state the use 10 which the mask is 10
be put. 1t can then inform the buyer
as TO whether the army mask will be
satisfactory.
The mask consists Of a face piece
OF rubber and cloth. containing eye
pieces, and connected by a flexible
rubber tube to a canister supported in
a knapsack hung from the neck The
lime which filter out the poisonous
gas breathed into the tube
Protection Against Gas Masks.
The content Of the canister pro-
tects against the following gases II
the gases do not exceed one or two
percent Of the air: sulphur dioxide,
hydrogen sulphide, chlorine. carbon
bisulphide. nitrogen peroxide, aniline
vapor. beuZyl bromide. benZyl chic
ride, chlorac etone. chlorpicrin. hydro
gen chloride. phosgne. sulphur chic
rides, vylyl bromide. stannic chloride.
titanium tetrachloride. silicon tetra-
chloride, hydrogen cyanide, benzol.
gasoline vapor and carbon tetrachlo-
ride.
The army masks were designed ex-
pressly to protect against gases
scattered in the open air. Therefore
they cannot be relied upon to furnish
protection for any length Of time
against fumes stronger than the two
percent mentioned Other cantsters
could, OF course. be made to protect
against heavier and different fumes
for industries and fire departments.
The war department made some can
listers for combating a single, conceu-
trated gas. but in the main the army
preferred to use a single mask that
would protect against any gas that
the Germans might send over.
Until the armistice was signed. the,
chemical warfare service worked
steadily testing new combinations Of
before the war ended IL had evolved
new mask that was an improvement
over the one in general use. both as TO
the content OF the canister and the
comfort Of the wearer. The army Is
retaining all Of these new style masks
for future use.
The war department. states that the
army gas mask furnishes no protec-
ton against carbon monoxide, as Il
does not supply fresh oxygen to the
Wearer This indicates that the army
mask viii not be widely used in min
ing, as has been prophesied, for car
bon monoxide is the poison contained
in many mine gases and liberated by
fires and explosions. Miners now
use the special oxygen-supplying ap-
psratus for protection against car
bon monoxide-
Valuable to Firemen.
Fire department experiments with
army masks as protection against
smoke have in a number of instances
been pronounced successful. The fire
ed unusual success and plans to equip
all of its firement with the army
masks.
Use Of gas masks for fire fighting
was suggested to the Richmond fire
department when the chiefs son sent
home a mask from France. The de-
partment decided to make smoke tests
and obtained new masks from the war
department Firemen wearing the
masks remained 20 minutes without
Inconvenience in rooms containing
fumes Of sulphur, burning rubber and
tar roofing Men without the masks
were unable to enter the rooms where
the tests were made.
swift Messengers, Is blocks 25 cents
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