The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-05-01
TANK MAN Is OVERCOME
Crowds From Hills Safely
Watch Mimic Battle in Van
COrtlandt Park.

rife grenade and a soldier inside a tank
was knocked out by gasolene fumes
which he couldn't help inhaling in his
steel prison. Another lieutenant was
sprayed by molten metal from an in
cendiary dart he had just dropped to
the ground from q wooden tower. A few
drops fell on the palm OF his left hand
and burned through the skin and the
back of his coat was ruined None OF
these accidents had serious results but
they suggested to the spectators the
ever present danger to which the men
at the front were exposed from other
sources than the enemy.
The tanks. male and female, giants
and whippets. hid themselves behind
wall of smoke as they advanced toward
trenches where soldiers were frantically
bombarding them with shells from three
and four-inch mortars. A Handley-
Page bombing airplane stopped the bat
tie for a while by skimming 80 close to
the meadow that the artillerymen sus-
pended their operations. The tanks also
paused. but lunged forward again when
the plane scared away.
Hunts for His Wound.
At closer range infantrymen in the
trenches stuck srenades in their rifles
posed to be advancing behind the tanks
1t was a scrap of one of these grenades
that hit the pilot OF the tank Rear Cat,
Lieut.. Joseph Brown. in the back of the
head. He waited until his charger
reached the parapet OF the trench and
the defenders of the ditch we're putatlve-
~ annihilated before feeling OF his head
to find out II there was much of a cut,
which there wasn't Then from the
hatch on the top of the same tank
emerged two soldiers CARRYING 4 com
rade. Private William H. Waite of the
301st Heavy Tank Battalion. the gaso-
lene victim. Stretcher bearers scurried
into action and carried Waite TO an
emergency dressing station, where he
was quickly revived.
The Lieutenant, who proved that
thermite. O combination Of metals, the
secret of whose instantaneous melting
by a tremendous heat produced by gases
was discovered by the Germans ten
years ago. but not brought under con-
troll until the Americans learned the
trick in the last weeks OF the war. will
burn friend as well as enemy was Wat
son of the Chemical Warfare Division.
This division put on its show i'll an adj
Joining enclosure after the sham battle.
Watson climbed an observation tower
TO drop an incendiary thermite dart de-
vised for the burning OF buildings and
ammunition dumps by airmen. He had
TO lean over the side OF the tower to let
It fall The dart landed on its side and
with scarcely a premonitory Whit OF
smoke exploded. White hot metal
spouted from the ground in a lur.d
fountain OF glowing sparks. Watson had
scrambled to the far side OF his plat.
form and ducked, so that most OF the
devil drops that reached him descended
on his coat and rolled or. leaving
charred black spots and streaks In the
cloth. He climbed down the tower
shaking his left hand as If It was burned
which 1t was. But as thermite burns
are only an incident in the life OF a
Chemical Warfare man. Lieut. Watson
laughed at the idea OF surgical treat
ment, and few moments later was w
on hill releasing from a Owens con
tainer cascade of oils. which not only
blazed but sent UP more smoke than q
thousand roundhouses could supply.
Human Volcano Gets busy.
Meanwhile, the human volcano was
performing in the chemical warfare en-.
closure. This contributor TO the demon.
stration was Private Carl Otto. on his
back was n knapsack, consisting of two
steel cylinders. From the cylinders a
pipe ran around Private Otto's body
Whenever he felt like II Otto turned
a little faucet in the pipe. whereupor
two loving affinities. ammonia and sill.
con tetrachloide. boiled together from
the pipe in the form OF great cloud Oh
smoke as white as shaving lather No.
body in front OF Otto could see him OF
anything around him; he was making
side lines When the spirit moved hin
he gave the faucet a twist, the vino
blew the smoke away and there was on,
friend otto walking around with tive
cylinders on, his back, whereupon h
again yelled himself in n cloud, as did
the gods on high Olympus
He made enough smoke. when he wa,
at II, to have screened whole com
pany of infantrymen as they went ovel
/ the top. which was exactly the purpos,
on the invention. This kind OF smok.
screen was devised by the Chemica
Warfare Division just about the tim.
, the war ended. so the crowd at Var
Cortlandt Park is seeing its first publI
exhibition
Otto and his hand volcano. Watson
and his ther7rite. the laying OF rocl
Lodges by flaming oils, the tanks throw
ing out their own smoke screens. ant
/ all the other marvels of the arm,
chemists and also OF the Ordnance De
partment were photographed by movi,
men swinging hve hundred feet in til.
| air in The basket of an Observable,
! balloon. which itself is a veteran o
the war, on account OF having Dough
100000 worth OF Victory notes al ,
park booth Miss Marie Wells was ais,
! allowed to take a balloon ride. Will
her were Mrs. w. G. Lynch Of River
dale. who sold her the notes, and Mrs
Edith NJ. Bates.
When the official show ended IN,
spectators were admitted inside thu
I wire fences of the chemical show en-
| closure and army officers told them jus
what everything meant 1t was ais,
| permissible to stick ones head insid
IA canvas hut Labelled tear gas" o
'sncezlng gas and ascertain that tn
huts We're indeed full OF a weak bu
! effective solution Of those atrocities.
! The battle and chemical show will b
repeated this afternoon, beginning a
2:30 o'clock, with army fireworks TO
night An array OF tanks and big guns
all camounased. is still on exhibition
! the guns including four S-inch hoWitzer
! used in France fifteen months an
within 500 yards Of the German line
on the day of the armisticc.
Junior scouts TO Hear Gov. smith