The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-12-18

they can from the outside also to
One useful realization that viii
come to the impatient from such a
procedure Is pretty sure to be that
large amount Of the heated emo
ton we spend in attacking the God
of War must be vast amusement
to his majesty. He must see how
often in our despair and loathing we
have overlooked really vulnerable
points in his armament He's a
beast. but he's a beast who knows
his business. II we're ever to put an
end to him we must control our emo
tons and use our brains sufficiently
to understand that business Unless
we do this We are very apt simply
to play into his hands. l believe we
are in danger of doing that very
thing in our attitude toward chemical
warfare. or as we call il, poison
gas" We are spending time and
emotion protesting against it without
knowing what It means. I have done
so myself. taking 1t for granted there
was nothing to be said for it. But 1
think I have been wrong.
Gas Thought Terrorizes.
The other day here in Washington
j sat with a group OF the really great
chemists OF the country-men OF
science-in whom the passion for
pure knowledge is so strong that they
give their lives to research from which
rarely indeed do they reap a material
reward in any proportion to the value
or their discoveries. Into the CONVEX
sation Of this group l strolled with
the easy assurance OF one who knows
nothing.
Il would prefer death from shot
and shell any day to death by gas"
said
And why?" they asked.
The very thought OF gas terrifies
me" I replied. THE torture Of SUI
location. the blindness. the burnt
body they must be beyond en-
durance"
Then very gently the chemists told
me a few things did not know.
Your chances OF life after gass-
ing. they said, ARE twelve times
as good after having been hit bv a
bullet. bomb, shrapnel or shell.
Twenty-Five per cent OF the bows
We lost in the great war were
killed by these latter weapons
Only 2 per cent of our gas casual
ties died. And very few Of these
died on the battlefield
Moreover. your sufferings from
gas are not. as you imagine, any
thing like that which comes from
losing leg, an arm: from having
your head laid open or from being
disem boweled. The treatment that
has been developed from gas cas-.
ualties both on the field and in the
hospital relieves suffering more
promptly and more completely
than in the case Of any other kind
of serious wound
"Blindr Rentted for Duty.
But it so often leaves you
blind" NO" they said, you're
wrong You'vs seen sargeants pic.
ture OF the poor fellows blinded al
Ypres by mustard gas. You can not
forget it. But remember that II
per cent OF the blinded men n,
painted were At for duty in three
months. II they had been laid
low by shot and shell many a one
OF them would have been perma
nently blinded. and most Of then
would have had shattered limbs
Gas leaves no cripples. 1t does not
blind High explosives do both"
But IL causes tuberculosis"
The chemical warfare service:
Of England, France, Germany anC
the United States have been care
fully studying the relation OF tu'
berculosis and gas. Their conclu-
sion now after three years expert
-spce Is that OF our own surgeon
general: Tuberculosis did not &C.
cur any more frequently among the
soldiers who had been gassed thar
among those who had not been "
But how can you explain thai
awful, sweeping devastation in
April Of 1857
TT was awful. It came before
We had devised protection. Gas
was an outlaw Of war, made so BY
The Hague convention OF 1907
Germany had signed that conven'
ton, but she broke faith at Ypres
That hrst cloud Of poison gas came
without warming; we had no de-
f.nse. 1t left hundreds of soldiers
dead and dying on a field which had
10 be abandoned. That horror still
sticks in the minds Of the world
They forget the defense we pre-
pared; a defense that in our own
army reduced the death rate TO
per cent, although gas caused p
per cent of osr casualties.
Masks BANNED Deadliness.
There was more OF this. L have
rarely been more astounded. !
pride mySel1 on hdNlHB SUNNI OoSio
Of fact for my assertions. even for
! my prejudices. But here 1 had
. evidently rested myself on terri
b BILE Impression received in the ear
" months of the war. overlooking
entirely the fact that the chlorine
cloud that wrought such havoc In
s 1915 would have left an army fur
nished with modern respirators un-
hurt in 1918.
. The fact about chemical warfare
4. seems TO be that it is at once the
. most effective weapon of attack
and defense ever devised by man
and at the same time IT is the most
humane-ironical as IL is to use
that word with the Internal busi-
ness of war. There seems to be no
end to the applications of gas It's
strategic value has only been hint
ed at For instance. mustard gas
can be so used that a territory can
he made impossible for days, and
this without loss of life. With a
tear gas properly used whole
army could be routed in an hour
and the ground held. while in a few
hours the vanquished would be as
fresh as ever. And think of what
an improvement tear gas would be
, over clubs for crowds and mobs,
p In the hands OF the arr service
chemical warfare is capable of an
. endless variety Of applications. 1t