OCR Text |
Show M1T1ISM1 OF M CIS SHELLS Entire Town in France Literally Lit-erally Poisoned by Latest German Invention. HAS UNUSUAL EFFECT Loss of Sight Followed by Swollen Eyelids One of the Results. PARIS, Sept. 22 (Correspondence of the Associated Press. ) Further details have been obtained about the new gas shells which the Hermans are now using, and their effect upon the persons who breathe the fume. Arme ni lores is the first town In the an-, nala of history to have been literally poi- soned to Much a degree that Its civil population pop-ulation has had to he removed lest it Hhould bft entirely destroyed. While heavy .shells wore rained on the houHes, forcing the people to take refuge in the cellars, a multitude of small shells, not powerful enough to smash a pavement pave-ment stone, fell everywhere, in street and courtyard and garden. These shells contain con-tain no gas or powder, but a colorless liquid which fm roads over the ground. Only very slightly volatile, tho liquid leaves tracs for hours after the shell has exploded. It evaporates very slowly, producing a heavy gas which filters downward and reaches the cellars where refuge has been sought. Women Suffer Most. This gas, remarkably tenacious, has , made more victims among women than ; among men, because it penetrates the 1 hair and remains there, while tobacco j smoke has proved an unexpected protec- j tion for man. The odor is described by some as recalling acetylene, by others as resembling mignonette, but the majority say it is like hot mustard. Jt takes some time to produce its effects. Inhabitants of Armentieres who have breathed its emanations in the morning, when walking In the town, have been able to return home without feeling any effect, but five or six hours later they have been obliged to go to bed, and their condition has rapidly become serious. The bronchial tubes are affected first, the eyelids become swollen, and little by little the. sight is lost. All the mucous membranes are attacked and the body seems on fire inside, while burns (which doctors described as of the "second degree") de-gree") cover all the akin. Continuous coughing sets in, with a fever temperature; tempera-ture; the skin becomes dull and sickly and the affliction proves fatal in many cases. Priest Meets Death. A British army medical officer, protected pro-tected by a mask, exposed himself to the gas for a quarter of an hour as an experiment, and was burned all over the body except where the mask protected his head and cm the wrist, where the strap of his watch offered protection. Father Camelot, dean of Saint-Vaajrt at Armentieres, was poisoned, little by little, as he performed his sacred duties. The town since November, 191ti, has been reduced to a single parish and Father Camelot took charge of it, "wishing," as he said, "to remain there as long as a single soul remained." He is the fifth priest of Armentieres to be a victim of the war. The British army medical service Is making every effort to analyze the liquid thus used for producing this gas. Its emanations have an analogy with the tear-producing gas, which blinds for a time, but the effects of the new poison are infinitely more severe. Public Is Warned. French investigation of the liquid tends to show that it is not a new thing, but a mixture of sulphide and chlorine, already al-ready studied and known, but never her fore used in this manner. The proportion of deaths to tho number of people affected af-fected is not high, not one per cent for the northern towns, but the number of people affected may be very great. The public has been advised that if, during an air raid, the smell of mustard essence is noted, to move to the upper stories and to breathe through a compress soaked with a certain solution. Women have been told to wrap their hair in a wet cloth. Sawdust, sand or earth should be thrown on any of tho liquid that may be seen before it has evaporated, the authorities have warned; and finally, if any serious case arises and no doctor is at hand, vomiting should be produced as rapidly as possible and then large quantities quan-tities of milk should be drunk. |