The Dermott news., 1919-08-28

l Germany broke its pledge when It
 used gus against the British forces
 at Ypres in April. 1915. The view
 which congress has taken of the mat ter apparently is that when a country
 has broken pledge there Is no in-
 surance that It will not do the same thing again. and therefore legislation
 has been passed and approved which | will continue the chemical warfare
 service for defensive purposes for hn-
 other year, and this means almost un-
 Questionably that It will be made a
 separate unit of the regular army
 when organization of the regulars
 shall be completed next winter. Nature of Gas Warfare. There seems to be some mlsunder-
 standing throughout the United l States about the nature of gas war i fare Gas Is not as deadly n weapon
 as other approved weapons of war. i but If an enemy is unprepared to
 meet gas attacks he will be put out of l the conflict until preparation can be
 made, and in the intervening time the
 country which has gas, and which
 Is using 1t Is certain to win Its vic 1 tory unless preparation can be made l quickly.
 British, French and American au- thorities say that with the develop ment of gas warfare to its present i condition it will be impossible to pre- ! pare quickly against an attack of the
 enemy who is fully equipped with the
 modern offensive gas appliances. The
 reason the British were able to pre- pare in 1915 Is that the first gases used were not as effective as those
 which later were manufactured. With
 gus as It Is today the army which i has II can defeat out of hand any other army which may confront it, no
 matter what it's slze-at least so runs the opinion of military experts in ] Washington.
 l Congress, it seems. came to the con. i cluSion before il sanctioned the con i t,nuation of the chemical warfare i service that If any line of chemical i industry Is probed lt will be found i that t has a war application as well
 as peace application.
 1 The action of congress makes it l clear that it believes that the chem l ical warfare service will >go hand Tn 1 hand with the efforts to develop n nitrate supply for this country. to de- ] velap the dyeStuff and acetylene in i duStries against hurtful foreign conn petition.
 Bird Protection Shows Results. l Washington officials connected with 1 the biological survey of the depart l ment of agriculture, of which F.. W.
 Nelson k the chief. are faithfully at
 work these days in carrying out the provisions of the treaty with Canada which gives the United States power to protect migratory birds. pr. F.. K. Fisher and pr F. s. Palmer with oth- CT officials are doing commanding work
 The effect of the prosecution of of lenders against the laws regulating shooting Ia already evident. Strong support from genuine sportsmen has come for that provision of the law which prevents spring shooting and which gives the migratory birds secur- ity during the season of mating and nesting. The whole country now Is In sympathy apparently with the laws which protect the song and insectivor. eus birds of the land
 A French scientist has stated that six months after the disappearance Of bird life from this planet of ours man would have to prepare to follow in the trail of disappearance. The French mans findings have been borne out by other scientists declaring that insect life would increase so rapidly If Its nat ural enemies. the birds. were all killed. the green things on the earth would be dead h short order and that therefore m cattle could live and man being de prived of both vegetables and animal food woald go the way of annihilation ly starvation.
 Washington Swarms With Birds.
 All of hich in why is apropos of the extraordinary abuudance Gf song. hlrd life in the capital of the United states in this late summer season of lqra. No shooting is allowed in the District of Columbia at any time of the year The result Is that birds literally walk over the feet of people who sit in any one of the parks with which this cltg ahoundS
 Of course domestic pigeons are not wild birds. bat they are not ordinarily as tame as chickens. Tn parts of Washington the domestic pigeons will light on the heads of persons sitting ia the parks In the expectation of be-
 ng fed They are seldom disappolnt- ed
 ! What fs true of the domestic pigeon Is almost true of the hlackbird. Lnown generally as the purple arackle. These i glossy fellows will eat from the hand l Robins do not care for bread crumbs and therefore they do not beslege tho park visitors as do the other birds. but 1 they pay no attention to passershy and
 will pull worms from the sod uncon