Evening star., 1937-10-24
British Fit Masks to Young
For Safety Against Gas War
Tests Are Made to Determine Earliest
Age at Which Infant Can Year
q RespiratOr.
BY JOSEPH DRISCOLL.

BY JOSEPH DRISCOLL.
LONDON, October %. - Death
stands at attention, obedient, expect
ant, ready to serve. ready to sheer
away the peoples or men. ready If
called on to pulverize without hope
Of repair what is left of civilization"
So speaks Winston Churchill, chief
prophet of the doom that awaits
Britain in the next war if she is not
fully prepared against the new menace
Of the air, and not even Mr.. Churchill
can say the government is anything
but thorough in its preparations
against wholesale gas attacks upon
the populace.
Having made substantial progress
towards manufacturing 100000 gas
masks which are to be kept in store
houses and distributed free at the
outbreak of war, the home Office anti
gas experts this week got around to
the problem of protecting babies (as
we'll as adults from mustard gas,
chlorine, phosgine. lewisite and tear
gas. A nursery home for infants just
outside London was the scene of
strange tests, as government agents
fitted masks on babies only . few
weeks or months old. The experts
sought to determine the earliest age
at which child can wear the smallest
type of respirator now available, or
whether an entirely new type must be
devised for small children.
Mask Trials at Schools.
Other gas mask trials for boys In
their early teens are proceeding at
preparatory schools throughout the
country. At Eton. for instance, the
schoolboys added respirators to their
stylist ensembles Of silk hats, cutaway
coats and striped trousers. The re-
sultant picture, of these young aristo-
Gratis with their features concealed
by plebian false-faces of rubber and
canvas, was quite funny, except for
the tragic implications Of their re-
hearsal.
All over the country the govern
ment is methodically instilling the
fear Of gas warfare into the citi1enry.
This fear serves the purpose of spur
ring enlistment for the hundreds of
thousands of ambulance workers,
nurses and voluntary fire wardens who
are deemed necessary.
In front of the Chelsea Town Hall
the other day this correspondent came
across a curious sight. Parked on the
sidewalk to attract attention was
huge motor truck, such As used in
American streets for sprinkling dusty
streets. This one was filled with
chemicals and sign on the truck
proclaimed its mission, Gas Contain
nation" Around the truck were lined
up its crew of half dozen men, en-
veloped from head to foot in gas
masks. rubber boots, rubber gloves and
overall suits of yellow "rainproof" ma
terial. The vision was horribly Well
sian. l
Incendiary Bombs Shown.
Inside the town hall there was q
more complete, more horrible DEM
onstration of what modern warfare
means. One saw shiny, nickel CYL
inder about the size Of q small loaf
of French bread. This was an in
cendiary bomb. A war plane could
drop 1000 Of these on homes, of1ces
and power plants. One inspected gas
masks of various sizes and was in
vited to try them on. Segments Of
brick walls were on view to demon
strate how easily chrapnel could pene-
trate thin jerry-built walls. Beauti-
full nurses were on hand to show visi-
tors through the sample gasproof
rooms.
To keep the gas out one must paste
cellophane against the inside Of the
window panes, making the glass shat
terproof. One must tack blankets
tightly over all doors and windows.
The equipment recommended for gas
proof rooms include books, cards, chill
dren's toys, radios, gramophones,
canned food, chairs and matches
Presumably the British Broadcasting
Company will make use Of air raid
periods to radio first-aid instructions
and cheerful music.
Unlike Paris and other continental
capitals, London has not gone in for
large bombproof shelters. Since Lon
don experts expect to get only five or
10 minutes warning Of an impending
air raid, the authorities figured house.
hold and ONCE workers would not
have sufficient time to run to . CEN
tral bombproof and had better re-
main where they were.
Valencia Surpasses London.
Prof. j. B. S. Haldane, the scientist,
who has recently returned from Spain,
reports that when it comes to bomb
proof shelters Valencia is much bet
ter of than London. In Valencia he
found shelters for most Of the 500, 900
inhabitants. -.
Prof. Haldane offers some consola-
ton by exploding the myth Of new
death-dealing gasAS.
I'VE hear about terrible new gases,