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Show JL EI s?; n How the Germans Introduced Poisons of Various B Kinds In the Present Conflict After Assuring 9 the Hague That They Would Cany On I War In a Humane Manner Only. jfl Copyright, 1D1S, Tho International Syndicate. V mil OLD SATING "there Is noth-W noth-W lag new under the sun." applies 1 ft aptly to tho majority of the r weapons used In tho present i war. It Is especially applicable to the I cse of Lncondlary apparatus for all I these hellish devices for causing the ' suffering and torturo of one's fellow ' man are merely tho ovolutlon of tho r caldrons of burning material used In battles as Car back as 200 B. C. From ; that time to the present day man has been trying out now Inventions along these lines until today we have tho ' incendiary bomb, the liquid flro spray, tho phosphor shrapnel and the various ; fcinds of poison gas, all of which cause ' death, somo instant, and others after long suffering. ! Early History. r in the early days the incendiary ap-i ap-i pararus was used on ships as well as on land and one historian gives a graphic description of tho effect of "sea flro" in the year 6GS A, D., when the Arabs, still in tho height of their conquering enthusiasm, began to beleaguer be-leaguer Constantinople by land and sea, when an architect named Kal-llnlko9 Kal-llnlko9 fied from Hellopolis in Syria to tho Imperial City and imparted tho secret of "sea fire." Its uso spread terror and destruction among the Moslem fleet and was the principal ; cause of tho siege being eventually raised after seven years. I In A D 716 to 718. tho Arabs again appeared before Constantinople and wore once more defeated by "sea flro." Tho Russian Naval forces wero slmilarily defeated In 941 and 104S. This "sea flro" was discharged from siphons and Its mode of preparation was a close secret Chemists of today, to-day, however, claim that it was composed com-posed of naptha, quick lime and sulphur. sul-phur. The Moors mado continual uso of incendiary missiles from the years 1240 to 12G0. At the siege of Wels-senburg, Wels-senburg, In 1460, stono balls covered with an incendiary composition were in vogue. During tho middle ages it was tho custim of soldiers to attach burning substances to swallows and other birds ffeo that when they flew to tho house tops thoy would rct tho roofs on fire. They even smeared cats and dogs with pitch and after setting them on flro chased the poor tortured animals into enemy's lines. Cauldrons of melted lead and boiling oil were poured from housetops on tho besiegers heads. In tho ninth century tho lancers rodo into battle with burning pikes and during tho fifteenth century cross bowmen used Incendiary arrows. Naptha flames wero used In 1758. In 1S60 tho Chinese used "flro arrows" against tho French. During tho war of 1870 tho French at one time decided decid-ed to uso petrol flro pumps in battle with tho Germans but later tho Idea was abandoned whether on account of Inferior apparatus or because "'of the inhumanity of tho weapon is not recorded. re-corded. From tlmo to tlmo tho shells used gavo out an ill smelling gas but H seldom caused serious results. Germany's "Civilize!" "Weapon. It remained for Germany to perfect tho most terrible of all weapons of war In the shape of poison gas, phosphor phos-phor shrapnel and flamo projectors. Although in 1909 tho Kaiser's delegates dele-gates made vigorous avowals as to their country's decision to carry on warfaro by humane methods only It Is well known that tho German military mili-tary men wore engaged in experiments experi-ments as to the best means availablo for tho uso of poison gas and various other ways of poisoning their enemies. How well they succeeded Is shown by the hundreds of men who havo gono to their death after the most excruciating excru-ciating tortures. This Is Germany's Idea of "civilized, warfaro" and tho Allies havo been forced to retaliate by tho same methods and "fight the dovll with his own weapons." During tho early part of the war ono heard of Jets of gasolino being pumped into tho tho Allies trenches from tlmo to time by the Germans and of curious bombs being tossed across "No Man's Land" by Fritz, but tho real "civilized" weapon mado Its appearance ono day at Tprcs, when the men in tho Allies' trenches saw heavy clouds of vapor arising from the German front. The wind was blowing In tho direction of tho Allies, so it came slowly on and finally they breathed It, In a short-time' short-time' they wore nearly all dead and the Huns advanced over tho dead and dying Canadians, English and French but they gained little as they feared tho wind would change and they wero compolled to return, but poison gas had become a weapon of tho war. Again and again It has boon used with more or less effect. 1 Gas Masks. Naturally all the combatants at once sot about to And a way to escapo Its deadly fumes and a gas mask was Invented In-vented which now, forms a part of overy soldier's equipment. They con be placed in a wallet and slung over the man's shouldor. Alarm bolls and even automobllo horns are set up In the trenches and at the very first sign of gas vapors tho alarm is sounded and tho men put on their masks. In every army thoro are careless men and tho deaths which occur from gas today takes Its toll from this class, who cither forget their masks or do not keep them in proper order. QkQno of tho first bits of training given our men in France was in the uso of theso masks. Gas chambers are set up and tho men put on the protectors and go Into tho chamber for the test. Drills in putting on the masks aro hold daily and somo of tho Americans already hold tho record for tho proper adjustment ad-justment In a short time. Occasionally Occasional-ly the Huns spring a now kind of gas and the Allies havo to bo continually on tho alert. Gorman frlghtfulncss la practiced to such an extent that tie school children of the French villages near tho Gorman front had to bo. taught how to adjust tho masks as on ono or two occasions gas vapors havo boon opened up on the civilian population. Frequontly while the gas attacks aro being mado the wind changes and tho Germans get a dose of their own medicine and In order to escape this they too wear masks. Recently several of theso wero found on captured Germans. Owing to tho scarcity of rubber in that country the flexible parts wore mado of leather, otherwise they woro similar to those used by tho Allies. Various Kinds Of Gas. Tho gas used Is of various kinds but all produce tho same result In tho ( end death. Tho most Inexpensive Inexpen-sive kind ls found In the employment of sulphur dloxldo. This ls a highly poisonous asphyxiating gas produced by burning sulphur with any suitablo combustlblo agent at hand. It ls, when pure, transparent and colorless with a pungent odor and causes groat Irritation to the eyes, lung3 anl air passages, setting up bronchitis in an acuto form, owing to its corroslvo properties, and destroying everything within its reach. Troops engaged In tho projection of this gas upon a largo scalo are usually provided with smoko helmets. Chlorin, which has a suffocating odor, ls also used. Bromin too a heavy dark reddish brown liquid plays Its part. It derives Its namo from tho Greek term "bad odor," and ls known to tho soldiers as "stink gas." It gives off a reddish brown vapor, tho smell and asphyxiating effect of which aro similar to those of Chlorin. Its contact with tho skin produces painful sores. It also Irritates tho covering of tho oyo to suoh an extent as to causo cancer., A certain kind of this gas Is known to the men as "mustard" or "tear gas," on account of its making tho eyes water. Thero ls still another typo of gas which renders a man unconscious for a tlmo and when ho recovers ho feels little ill effect whllo in a reclining position, but tho Instant ho tries to sit up ho Ii falls back dead. For many years Ger- ' many has controllcal almost the world's market for both Chlorin and Bromin owing to tho huge supplies obtainable from tho Starssfurt potash deposits and had a hugo supply on hand at the outbreak of hostilities. Apparatus Used. The apparatus used by the Germans In throwing out tho gas ls an Ingenious affair consisting of a drum and a gas cylinder attached by means of a tube. There ls a closeablo orifice in the drum ur reservoir tnrough which the Liquid fuel is added, tho substanco reqirircd for the generation of poisonous poison-ous gas. A cock mounted on the drums upper cover at tho end of the tubo connecting tho cylinder controls tho supply of liquid or gas under pressure pres-sure which Is used to expel with force tho poisonous mixture. Near tho bottom bot-tom of tho drum there is another cock Joined to a long plp0 or hose which may be carried underground by means of a tunnol or over the ground surface as near as possible to tho trenches. Tho mixture liberated by tho opening of tho cock ls forced from tho drum through tho pipe at a pressure pres-sure capablo of carrying It, under fay orablo conditions, a considerable distance dis-tance in tho form of poison gas, Ignition Igni-tion having taken placo by means of an Inflammable liquid contained in a small recoptaclo near tho nozzle at the end of the tube. Various Ignition devices are omploycd, according to tho longth of the tube and whether it is underground or otherwise. A number num-ber of photographs of a gas attack have been mado from aeroplanes and tho effect Is rather curious as ono can traco row after row of tho machines sending forth tho "humane" weapon of German warfare. Other Uses Of Poison. Germany seems to have a fondness for using poison in war for asldo from poison gas her men hurl poison grenades gren-ades a grenade which, Instead of being filled with the ordinary explosives explo-sives Is charged with Chlorin nltric-peroxlde nltric-peroxlde and other gas. Tho tubo of their poison gas machine has a special spe-cial nozzle, which can be used for charging grenades In the field. It has 'also beon proven that much of their shrapnol ls poisoned by tho use of white phospor a poison so deadly In its effect that slnco 1907 its use on matches has boon forbidden In Ger many. Its results aro difficult to traco for a wounded soldier poisoned by a i phosphorized bullot or fragment may depart on lcavo apparently well only J to suffer later with jaundice, kidnoy and liver disorders which causo his death after much suffering. Many of tho German shells when exploding ' omit a peculiar whlto smoke, which ' according to a noted English chemist ' is caused by tho union of tho phos- ' phoric and phosphorus acids with tho oxygen of the air. Tho luminous Shells tCO contain fhn OTmn, f it-,- poison. The surgeons declaro that their work in curing wounds ls great- ly hampered by tho German deviltry ' i in treating their explosives with some- ' thing which poisons the wound and leaves an acrid smell. Tho machines used for projecting liquid flro are not unliko flro cxtln- r guishcrs and are usually worked by - two men. The liquid Is set on flro d as it leaves the tube. It cannot be used to any great distance but when shot into a trench the men havo no ' escape. A number of German flro sprays have been captured and some ! may bo turned against them by the 1 Allies. As tho gas kill3 animals as well as ' men many of tho soldiers havo pro- vided gas masks for their horses. The I effect of a man and his mount dono up In the ghostly affairs present tho 1 effect of tho Klu Klux Klan out for a ! H raid. And now tho men of our own army ! H are forced to take up the gas and t flame fighting and a call has been ! H issued for expert mechanics and ) chomlcal workers to Join this section I or the engineer corps. Already a I 1 number of soldiers aro in training Ii earning how to "strafo" sheets of H liquid Are that will burn and blind ' H tho enemy and make way for power- i ful attacks. Thoy are also studying a fl how to loosen clouds of poison vapors ' and waft them across "No Man's k Land" to tho enemies trenches, In short to flght the Germans as they are fighting us. Tho details of the work are at present kept a secret and no ; photographs of the appartus to bo : used are permitted at the present ; time. Our chemists and Inventors havo not been asleep and our men ( will bo fully equipped to meet the ! Hun on common ground and flght him with the weapon of his own choosing, y barbarous though it may be. i i |