New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1921-05-13

90 "iN PiuNN' 'h,it' "hS
they are eligible for retirement.
If this were done the presiden
would receive, as retired pay from tn,
government, a certain percentage o
his pay when he was on active dut.
us commander in chief. No army OF
icer or naval officer looks on retire.
pay as Il pension. There are thos
who think that if something must b.
done for our eX~-presidentS, this nigh
be the means employed to do it,. No
long ago the daughter of a forme
president of the United States died il
Il se~mi-charitable institution.
Poison Gas a Live Topic.
one of the most striking official
social gatherings of recent recort
in washington was the diner OF
the present and former officers OF
the chemical warfare service and theil
guests, which has just been held IN
Washington. 1t was expected that the
affair would be a small one, but inter
est in the event was so great that ii
was necessary to secure a large hall
TO accommodate the officers and their
many guests.
There is congressional interest, of
course, in all branches of the armed
services Of the country, but the inter
est that has been shown in the chem
zeal warfare service, the newest of the
offensive and defensive branches of
the army, seemingly surpasses every
thing in the interest line that has been
known before. The dinner just held
was attended by many senators and
representatives In congress, by high
officers of the army and navy, and
by a score or SO of the most famous
chemists in the United States.
Brig. Gen. Amos. A. Fries, who was
the chief of the gas service In the
American eXpeditionary forces, Is to-
day the chief of the chemical warfare
service as ii exists in time of peace.
He presided at the dinner, and in the
course Of his opening remarks he
touched on the developing uses OF gas
for service In the peace life Of the
nation. 1t is now being used to avert
the dangers of bubonic plague through
the use of gas as an exterminator of
rodents of various kinds which are
plague carriers; 1t is of use for pro-
lection of vaults and safes from bur-
glars, and it rapidly is coming into
use in the police departments of the
country as n means of routing armed
lnnlI,. ,.l,n ba,-n lanp M tn CAVIAR
Must Be Ready for Future Wars.
Full cognlzance was taken by the
members of congress who spoke, and
by others of the fact hat the world
hopes that some meal eventually can
be taken to avert all war so that 1t
may never again be necessary to use
any means of offense or defense
against an enemy In the field, but no
speaker was hopeful enough eve to
lnsinuate that such a hope is to be full
filed. 1t also is admitted by the most
trustful of all those who hope for
peace, that II n war does come, some
nation certainly will use gas, which
is now recognized as the most poten-
tial element for overcoming u foe that
the world knows.
The reasoning of congress In con-
tinuing the chemical warfare service,
and of making il a separate branch of
the service In order that IL might work
It's way to efficiency effectively and
individually, is that ven II an agree
shall be entered into among the
nations of the world not to use gas,
every nation of the world must be pre-
pared 10 defend itself with gas and
TO use It extensively If some other ma
ton breaks the agreement-and II can
be said definitely that the lessons of
the last wal made men believe that
the nation which thinks II can win a
by the use of gas, VIII not
hesitate for a moment to bring II Into
the lines as a weapon.
DIR. w. ID. Bancroft Of Cornell uni
verslty, who did such high service
along chemical lines for the United
States government during the war, said
ut the dinner that If the Germans
when they made up their minds 10
break the agreement not TO use gas,
and did use II, had realized fully its
offensive power and had brought into
the service the kind Of gas which they
later used, they could have gone
straight 10 the sea after their first gas
offensive against the English at Ypres
In April, 1915.
We Have the Most Deadly Gas.
No secret has been made of the fact
that the United States chemical war
fare service has developed the most
powerful gas ever known. M which
is capable Of destroying large forces
n men concentrated within a given
but Of course somewhat limited area.
Brig. Gen. William Mitchell, assistant
chief Of the air forces Of the United
States. said that bombing ~squadrons
Of airplanes making only one visit a
week over New York city could. by the
use of gas bombs, make the place abb
u~ninhabitable, W in its
hooks and orner
The possibilities of the use of gas,
therefore, are such that IL any nation
Df the world engaged in war uses II
10 its full bent. and other nations are
not prepared to protect themselves
Its use and with II to make
offensives, the enemy could
work his VIA on any foe which could
De brought into the field against him.