AMERICAN GAS
MASKS WERE
BEST MADE
WASHINGTON, May 26 (by Asso
ciated Press).—An official narrative
of the part American industry played
in providing munitions for the Amer
ican army in the great war is unfolded
in a book being prepared under the
direction of Assistant Secretary Cro
well of the war department, who was
director of munitions up to the close
of hostilities, when he was specially
assigned by the President to direct
the demobilization of material.
Advance pages of two sections of
the book, those dealing with the chem
ical warfare material, offensive and
defensive, and with the equipment for
the signal corps were made available
today, telling for the first time offi
cially and completely not only of the
stupendous scope of the projects, but
of the difficulties and delays encount
ered and of the patriotic support of
the war program given by American
business Generally.
The chemical warfare section tells
of the original work done by the ord
nance department toward obtaining
toxic gases and anti-gas devices for
the use of American troops. Subse
quently this service became a separ
ate branch of the army under the di
rection of Major General W. L. Sibert.
Among other secrets disclosed is the
basis of frequent statements that at
the time of the signing of the armis
tice, the United States alone was pro
ducing gases for military use at a rate
ten times in excess of the best pro
duction Germany could obtain. The
Germans produced with all their facili
ties about six tons of mustard gas per
day, while the United States was pro
ducing more than 60 tons a day and
employing methods of production far
more modern and efficient than any
thing attained by the enemy.
There were three plants at work on
mustard gas, the Edgewood, Md., ar
senal which was manufacturing 30
tons a day by November 11 and had
turned out 711 tons up to that day;
the plant at Hastings, N. Y., which
was to have a capacity of 50 tons a
day and was ready to operate on No
vember 11, and the 50-ton plant of the
National Ainline and Chemical Com
pany, at Buffalo, N. Y., which was 80
per cent complete.
The chemical name of this com
pound is dichlorethylsurplide and its
popular name of mustard gas comes
from its odor.
Another element of the program
was the production of tear gases, not
deadly under ordinary circumstances
but designed to produce blindness,
thus forcing the troops under ordinary
circumstances to use masks extensive
ly, impairing their military efficiency.
The foundation of these gases was
bromine the main supply of which is
obtained front subterranean solutions
found chiefly in the vicinity of Mid
land, Mich., where the government
financed the sinking of 17 brine wells
under the direction of the Dow Chemi
cal Company, which were prepared to
supply 650,000 tons a year.
The other chief gases are the so
called “killers” the gases so deadly
as to bring death unless safeguards
are provided, chlorine and chlorpicrin
and phosgene. The only one of these
ll ..........„..
produced commercially in the United 1
States was chlorine and even with f
that the supply was utterly inade- I
quate to the demand. , i
A statistical table shows that 1,488 1
tons of chlorine in liquir form; 1,903 i
tons of chlorpicrin; 420 tons of phos- l
gene and 190 tons of mustard gas i
were actually shipped overseas from
January to November, 1918. In addi
tion 300.000 75-mm shells loaded with
chlorpicrin and 150,000 loaded with
mustard gas went abroad, the ship
ments including 224,000 phosporus
grenades as smoke bombs and 18,600
phosgene bombs for Livens mortars.
The capacity for filling shells and
bombs on the day of the armistice ex
ceeded 4,800,000 a month. At that
time the practice of shipping gases
abroad in bulk to be loaded Into pro
jectiles on the other side had been
abandoned.
‘‘We therefore shipped to Europe in
bulk," the report states, “3,662 tons of
gas or its equivalent, which gas was
largely loaded into shells and used by
the United States trooops or those of
the allies. This quantity was sufficient
to load 1,600,000 shells, two thirds of
them being of the 75-mm calibre and
the other one third 155-mm, the total
number being thought to be at least
equal to the total number of gas shell
fired by American troops in action.
“Thus while American gas was not
actually fired in American shell
against the Germans, American gas
was used against the enemy and
America furnished at least as much
gas as she fired.
. __Ainnrwl 1 Q
Ill (tuuiuuu W tu.u " --*- '
600 Livens drums loaded with phos
gene. These contained 279 tons of
gas, and some of them were fired at
the enemy.” A table of casualties at
the Edgewood arsenal shows that
while only 4 men lost their lives from
gas at this plant, 925 were injured,
the bulk of them, 674, in mustard gas
accidents.
Taking up the defensive side of gas
warfare material, the report shows
that the American troops had ‘‘the
best and most protective gas masks
the world had seen; and they brought
these with them by the millions.” A
total of 5,250,000 masks was produced
of which 4,000,000 were sent overseas
and the report states that these masks
“gave 20 times the protection afforded
by the best German gas masks.”
“No American soldier was ever
gassed due to the failure of an Ameri
can gas masks,” the report says, “and
such gas casualties as did occur were
due to the fact that the masks were
not quickly enough utilized when the
gas ,was thrown over, or because the
soldier was unaware of the presence
of gas.”
The original order from the depart
ment was for 25,000 masks to go with
Pershing’s first expedition and the re
port tells in detail of the frantic ef
forts necessary to procure them, ef
forts which actually counted for little
since the masks were not used for
many months. At the time the ex
pedition sailed, the British and French
were not thorouoghly acquainted with
the gas warfare that was developing
nor had completed effective protection
been worked out. In speaking of the
first German gas attack upon Canad
ian troops at Ypres, the report says
chlorine was used and while protec
tion of the troops from it later became
an easy matter, “it was only lack of
faith in their new weapons that pre
vented the Germans from winning the
war with it then and there.”
“Had they brought into the fighting
a sufficient supply of this chlorine,”
the report continues, “they might
lave gassed their way to Paris In
hort order. As It was, they brought
o the line an almost negllble supply
ind they themselves were lnsufficient
y protected to go through their own
;as and follow up the attack. By the
ime they were able to renew gas war
are the French and British had equip
jed themselves with masks which
vere sufficient to protect men against
ihlorine.”
The report tells of the development
>f gas masks from the original gauze
pads soaked in chemicals to the "box
respirator” which came into general
jse. The Americans and British em
ployed a double protection masks, the
face piece being gas tight but, to in
sure against leaks, a mouth piece and
pose clip being supplied also, insuring
protection even in a torn masU&The
first order was for 1,100,000 flj
ppaska for the American forci
Subsequently, to provide a
for the men, it was decided
that a single protection mas
be sufficient, the risk of leakj
being regarded as preferable
discomfort of the double pro
type. When this decision was receiv
ed, however, on this side, it was de
cided to carry forward experiments
with new types of masks which would
give more comfort and security. This
was carried forward to a point where
a squad of 150 men in the field testing
section almost lived in their gas
masks, working, playing baseball
digging trenches, fighting sham bat
ties day and night in which actual gas
grenades were employed and expos
ing themselves to the heaviest concen
trations of the deadly gases under al
conditions.
"The work of this section," the re
port says, “even went so far in the
case of the later designs as to includt
a test where six men worked, playec
and slept in the masks for an entire
week, only taking them off for thirtj
minutes at each meal time, and eacl
day entering high concentration ol
the most deadly gases without injurj
to the wearers.”
The chief ingredient of the protec
tion against gases is carbon, whicl
absorbs the gas instantaneously. Co
coanut shells formed the best supplj
of carbon that could be found and the
known world was raked by American
representatives to secure what was
needed. In addition enormous quan
tities of fruit pits and other nut shells
were secured and the national cam
paign to increase the supply of these
ingredients met with great success.
The slogan "Eat More Cocoanut,” the
report states, increased the consump
tion in the country more than 100 per
cent in a very brief period and in
October, 1918 the government was
obtaining from all sources 150 tons
per day of cocoanut shells. The fruit
canneries of the Pacific coaBt sup
plied 100 tons a day in apricot, peach
and cherry pits and walnut shells and
the campaign led by the American Red
Cross to induce the public to contri
bute fruit pits and nut shells was In
full swing when the armistice was
signed. It is estimated that 4,000 tons
of material was collected by this
means.
Among the masks designed and pro
duced were 377,881 horse masks which
were easier of manufacture, as a horse
breathes always through his nose and
is not liable to gas poisoning as man.
Other defensive equipment produced
in large amounts included dug-out
blankets to seal the doors of under
ground shelters from gas and oiled
clothing, under clothing and gloves to
protect from mustard oil. There were
shipped also 45,906 special signal
horns to give warning of gas and more
than 50,000 fans to blow the vapor
out of trenches and dugouts.
r~ =
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