The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1921-05-12
one DlgnifIed Way to Do It.

government, certain percentage of
his pay when he was On active duty
as commander in chief, No army Of
licer or naval officer looks ON retired
pay as a pension, There are those
who think that II something must be
done for our eX-presidenrs, this might
be the means employed to do it, Not
long ago the daughter of former
president of the United States died in
a semi-charitable institution
Poison Gas a Live Topic.
one of the most striking official
social gatherings of recent record
in washington was the diner Of
the present and former officers of
the chemical warfare service and their
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 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
ical 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
I,r
representatives in congress- by high
officers of the army and navy and
by 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 it exists in time Of peace.
He presided at the dinner, and in the
course OF his opening remarks ne
touched ON the developing uses of gas
for service in the peace life Of the
nation. Ii is now being used to avert
the dangers of buboniC plague through
the use of guS as an eXtermlnatOr OF
rodents of various kinds which are
plague carriers; it 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 Il means Of routing armed
bandits who have been run to cover.
Must Be Ready for Future Wars.
Full cognizance was taken by the
members of congress who spoke, and
by others of the fact that the world
hopes that some means eventually can
be taken to avert all war so that 1t
may never again be necessary to use
any means of Oifense or defense
against an enemy in the field, but 10
speaker was hopeful enough even to
insnuate that such hope is to be full
filled. 1t also is admitted by the most
trustful of all those who hope for
peace, that if war does come, some
nation certainly will use gas which
is now recognized as the most poten-
tial element for overcoming foe that
the world knows.
tinuing the chemical warfare service,
ana of making it a separate Branch of
the service in order that it might work
its way to efficiency effectively and
individually, is that even if an agree
ment shall be entered into among the
nations of the world not to use gas,
every nation Of the world must be pre-
pared to defend itself with gas and
10 use It Extensively if some other un-
ton breaks the agrecmeut-and it can
bc said definitely that the lessons OF
the last war made men believe that
the nation which thinks IT can win a
victory by the use of gas will not
hesitate for moment TO bring 1t into
the lines as weapon.
DR.. w. d, Bancroft Of Cornell uni.
versity, who did such high service
along chemical lines for the United
States government during the war; said
at the dinner that If the Germans
when they made up their minds TO
break the agreement not to use gas,
and did use it, 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 to 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
nowerful gas ever known, one which
is capable Of destroying large forces
or men concentrated within n given
hun Of course somewhat limited area.
Brig. Gen. William Mitchell, assistant
chief Of the air forces of the UnteC
States. said that bombing squadron'
Of airplanes making only one visit
week over New York city could, by The
use of gus bombs, make the place ab
soutely uninhabitable, even In u
hooks and corners.
The possibilities Of the use Of gas
therefore, are such that If any nation
of the world engaged IN war uses Il
to it's full bent and other nations arc
not prepared 70 pprotecr themselves
against its use aud with 1t 70 rake
counter offensives, the enemy could
work lis will on any Foe which coul,
be brought into the field against hAu
simiinr tnbunar Yet glass IL soId not
TO have been employed Ia tue domes
tic architecture Of ts4pce before tbs
'Iro,tts tnntff canturvs. md Ito Intro,I,tc