Evening star., 1925-05-03

showed automat TICS InrouSh
L the tellers cage, and demand
ed that he hand over pack
age of bills. The teller pressed a
button with his foot, there was a
hiss of escaping steam, and a ciouu
of gas which rendered them helpless
was discharged in the faces of the
wouldbe robbers.
The story of how this Chicago bank
frustrated the "hold-up' really begins
few miles outside Washington.
There, at Edgewood Arsenal, Md, In
a laboratory established by the Chem
tcal Warfare Service. some 500 Sclen-
tifiC and civilian workers are engaged
in developing commercial uses Tor
warfare gases and chemicals.
The development of mild forms OF
tear gases with which TO combat bank
burglars, disperse mobs and in other
.ways protect public safety is only
one phase of the work of these in
Vestigators. The experiments deal
with practically the whole range of
human commercial endeavor, from
agriculture to naViSation-eVen the
use of gases as therapeutic agents.
HydroCyaniC acid is powerful gas
which is used as Il fumigant for
ships in destroying vernin and dis
case germs. Officials of the Bureau
al Biological. Survey tell a story of the
first use ever made of this substance
ut San Francisco in fumigatinS
ship that had arrived from bubonic
plague infested areas of India. The
gas was pumped into the vessel and
resulted in the demise of several hun
dred bushels of reaches and rats
and two Cinnamon.
Many seamen have lost their lives
since that time on account of care
less use of the gaseous substance
which. in short order, destroys insect,
animal and human life. The Chem
fcal Warfare Service, in an effort to
prevent this unwarra nted loss of hui
man life. has perfected a mild form
Of tear gas which is pumped into the
ship preceding its fumigation with
hydrocyanic acid. and thus serve as a
warning To those on board that the
vessel is about to be fumigated.
If you can gain entrance to the
Arsenal Laboratories through special
permit from the War Department.
you will find in inner compartments
strange looking beings which on clos
er examination will prove to be scien-
lists wearing gas masks of various
sorts and shapes. The work of
handling the deadly gases and chem
icalS is so hazardous that the work
ers on these substances are required
to wear gas masks continually when
making experiments.
You will find also a queer kind of
torture chamber along the outside
walls of which are seated civilian en-
ployes wearing gas masks, the
nozzleS of which are attached to out
lets i'll the walls. Fumes of various
degrees of potency are pumped into
the chamber and are permitted to
escape through the outlets in the
walls for the purpose of testing the
effectiveness of the different kinds of
gas masks.
THESE experiments have yielded
types of gas masks that are eff
fective against any war gas or COM
mercial gas encountered in industry.
There are special canisters for pro-
lection against gases such as carbon
monoXide, ammonia, and hydrocyanic
acid. Poisonous gases and fumes are
a constant menace to workers in such
industries as coal and copper mining,
chemical labora tories, railroad and un-
derwater tunneling. and in freight
ing, and an allpurpose canister. has
been developed which affords protec-
ton against practically all these gases
and fumes.
There are smaller transparent
chambers at the laboratory in which
the more deadly fumes are tested.
These chambers also have outlets to
which may be attached other cham
bers containing animal subjects such
as rats, mice and guinea pigs, and
the various insects which destroy
crops and other property.
Every now and then the deadly sub
stances of warfare chemicals and
gases that are handled in these eX-
periments get in their inSidious work
upon the eXperimenters, but the ele-
ment of personal hazard is considered
as nothing to the end being attained
IN saving the lives of industrial
workers. and in making industry
more efficient.
Some experiments have been made
with the equipment in connection with
the use of toxic materials with which
to combat the so-called marine borer.
This pest is a constant menace to
shipping interests, destroying the sup
ports of docks and other maritime
timber. Toxic materials have been
found in cooperation with the Ma
tional Research Council and with
Government bureaus, that give salts
factory results in this work.
No one can estimate exactly the
millions of dollars worth of food and
property that is annually destroyed
by insect pests, fungous diseases and
weather damage. The cotton crop
alone. in some years, has suffered a
loss from these causes of upward OF
10000. 900 bales of cotton; corn, over
1.5O0,0O0,o0O bushels: wheat, 500,000,-
900 bushels; potatoes, 00,000.0 900
bushels; apples, 163.000,000 bushels;
and f1axseed, Il, ,000 900 bushels.
The losses would be greater were it
not for the unceasing warfare Of
science against the destructive ele-
ments that exact such heavy toll, but
now. with the aid of new chemicals,
gases, and modern apparatus for their
use, science hopes to achieve even
greater progress.
X x
ELEETS of airplanes, as this is writ
ten, are being made ready to
launch periodic attacks throughout
the cotton belt on the cotton boil
weevil. The planes equipped with the
latest warfare apparatus for dis
charging chemicals and poisons, will
spread clouds of death-dealing insecti-
cides through the cotton plants.
In Maryland this Spring, YOU would
have seen a similar use being made Of
airplanes and spraying equipment in
kk"1 " j"