The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-12
HOW AMERICAN INDUSTRY SUPPLIED
 MUNITIONS FOR AMERICAN ARAhY

tie since the masks were not used for many months. At the time the eX- petition sailed, however, the British and French were not thoroughly ac- ouainted with the gas warfare that was developing nor had completed effective protection been worked out. In speaking of the first German gas attack upon Canadian troops at Ypres, the report says chlorine was used and while protection of the troops from 1t later became an easy matter, fit was only lack of faith in their new weapons that prevented the Germans ] from winning the war with it then and there.'
 Had they brought into the fight ing sufficient supply of this chlorine" the report continues, they might have gassed their way to Paris in short order As it was, they brought to the line an almost neglible supply and they themselves were in sufficiently protected to go through their own gas and follow up the at tack. By the time they were able to renew gas warfare the French and British had equipped themselves with
 masks which were sufficient to pro- tect men against chlorine"
 l The report tells of the development l or gas masks from the original gauge
 pads soaked in chemicals to the ''box | respirator" which came into general ! use. The Americans and British en- | ployed doubt protection mask, the 1 face piece being gas tight, but to in sure against leaks, a mouth piece and nose clip being supplied also, insur- | Ing protection even in a, torn mask. l The first order was for 100000 of
 these masks for the American forces l Subsequently, to provide greater 1 comfort for the men, it was decided ! abroad that single protection mask
 would be sufficient, the risk of leaky | masks being regarded as prefera bIe 1 to the discomfort of the double pro- 1 lection type. When this decision was
 received, however, on this side, it was l decided to carry forward experiments | with new types of masks which would 1 give both comfort and security. This | was carried forward to a point where
 a squad of 150 men in the field test ing section almost lived in their gas | masks, working, playing baseball | digging trenches, fighting sham battles l day and night in which actual gas 1 grenades were employed and expos
 ing themselves to the heaviest con-
 centrations of the deadly gases under
 all condttiSns.
 The work of this section," the re-
 port says, "even went so far in the l case of the later designs as to include
 a test where six men worked, played
 and slept in the masks for an entire week, only taking them off for thirty minutes at each meal time and each
 day entering high concentration of
 the most deadly gases without injury to the wearers''
 The chief ingredient of the protec- tion against gases is carbon, which lea1 srNF~l,c Cocoanut shells formed the best sup ply of carbon that could be fouul and the known world was raked by Amer ican representatives to secure what | was needed. In addition enormous quantities of fruit pits and other nut shells were secured and the' national | campaign to increase the supply Of these ingredients met with great sue
 cess. The slogan Eat more Cocoa nut" the report states, increased the 1 consumption in the country more
 than 100 per cent. in a very brief
 period and in October, 1918 the gov
 ernment was obtaining from al
 sources about 150 tons per day o1 cocoanut shells. The fruit canneries
 of the Pacific Coast supplied 100 tons a day in apricot, peach and cherry pits and walnut shells and the cam paign led by the American Red Cross
 to induce the public to contribute
 fruit pits and nut shells was in full
 swing when the armistice was signed
 It is estimated that 4.000 tons Ot
 material was collected by this means Among the masks designed and
 produced were 377,SS1 horse masks
 which were easier of manufacture, as
 g. horse breathes always through his
 nose and is not as liable to gas pois-
 oning as man. Other defensive
 equipment produced in large amounts
 included dug-out blankets to seal the
 doors of underground shelters from :" gas and oiled clothing, under clothing and gloves to protect from mustard
 oil. There were shipped also 45,90l
 special signal horns to give warning
 of gas and more than 50,000 fans tC blow the vapor out of trenches ant dugouts.