some five miles from the fighting-line, the hothouses belonging to M. Cordonnier suffered not a little from the effects of such gases during the month of April, and this was especially noticed in the case of grape-vines, which were already in a fair stage of growth. Here the leaves were not reddened, but covered with white or discolored spots, and afterward they turned brown and fell off." Few of the gases killed instantly. Many attacked the lungs, which gradually filled with liquids and so drowned a man from the inside. Those that attacked the eyes usually had no lasting effect. In a few days or weeks, generally, a man's eyes were as good as Other gases, like mustard, actually burned the body wherever they touched. The burns were very painful, like all acid or chemical burns. Several gases were delayed in their effects, and usually exercise made them was called the gas alarm. The second important element was the adjustment of respirators, and the third was drill when wearing the respirator. A gasmask was not a comfortable thing to wear. The small eye-pieces which were inserted in the fabric of the mask made it hard to see. The nose was clipped shut so that breathing could take place only through the mouth, and the air, in being drawn in through the box or the respirator, had to be sucked with enough force to overcome the resistance offered by the chemicals in the box or can. Therefore the wearing of the respirator required forced breathing at all times, and was in itself exercise. To carry on any active operations such as firing artillery, marching, digging, or carrying supplies while wearing respirators, was very difficult, and there had to be frequent stops made for rest. This was one of the reasons why gas was such an effective weapon. It forced men to put on their respirators and thereby slow down operations. It was In general, chemical warfare was hornecessary to teach men what they could rible in its effects. Toward the end of do while wearing the respirator. If the war most of the shells fired on either ignorant they would undertake too side were gas-shells, and the limit was much, become so exhausted from lack the ability of each country to produce of air as to tear off the mask to enable the gas and fill the shell. them to breathe more easily, and would immediately become casualties. Therefore all soldiers had to learn by experience how much they could exercise while wearing the respirator. THE EFFECTS OF GAS The last and most distressing part of gas warfare was the effect which the gases had on those who were subjected to them. The following story of what happened to trees and plants gives an idea of what happened to the human body when attacked by poisonous chemicals: "In the Champagne region, certain varieties of pine-trees were burned or reddened. . . . At Bailleul, situated ever. worse. Had the war gone into 1919 the United States would have used the vast quantity of gas which was made here, and the Germans would have regretted their introduction of this inhuman method of warfare. The prevailing winds blew toward Germany, and most of the raw materials for gas manufacture lay outside of Germany. The gas-mask developed in the United States was the best in the world. The Americans made from cocoanut shells, peach and apricot pits, and similar materials, a charcoal that absorbed more gas more quickly than any other, and as a result the American mask was the best that had been made up to the end of the war. CANARIES AS GAS-DETECTORS How These Little Pets Are Used in the Most Dangerous Kind of Warfare WITH ITH almost every company of engineers in the trenches could be found a most valuable assistant, a canary. Not, as you might suppose, to wile away the hours when the men were back of the lines, but to perform a necessary service as a gas-detector. Coal-miners were the first to make use of the canary to detect the presence of gas in the tunnels, for the little birds feel the effect of the gas before human beings, and they indicate the peril in time for the miners to take the necessary precautions to save themselves. Here is what an Englishman writes to the Providence Journal about their work for the cause. JUST ASK THE TUNNELERS! “Ask the tunnelers of the Royal Engineers—those human moles whose greatest joy in life is 'blowing the Boche'and they will tell you that the canary has been an invaluable ally in underground warfare. "The trench canary does not flutter in a gilded cage or sing in the scanty sunshine of La Belle France. You will have to climb down a mine-shaft or two and scramble through tiny, dark galleries to make his acquaintance. "He is usually to be found in a small wooden cage ensconced with several others of his tribe in a cozy dugout far beyond the reach of the heaviest howitzers. "One does not hear much singing in the trench canaries' dugout. They are most of them too busy recovering from gas attacks. "It is not cruelty. The canary is just 'doing his bit,' the same as every one else. BOBBIE, THE CANARY HERO "Bobbie is the veteran of the canaries in one part of the line. If he were a man he would have many medal ribbons 'up.' He is 'some' bird, is Bobbie! He has been gassed seven times. 666 'Surely the gas doesn't come so far underground as this?' you question. "We don't mean the chlorin which they squirt out of cylinders on the surface,' says an engineer officer, who is willing to explain to you. 'That's a picnic in these days of gas-masks! Besides, you can see it coming rolling along before the wind, and it gives you lots of time. Our gas, known technically as carbon monoxid, is invisible and has no smell. If you happen to get into it for a few seconds onlyit's all up.' 666 "But if you can't smell it and can't see it, how do you know it's there?' You "That's where the canary comes in,' says the officer. 'When a mine is exploded, whether by Fritz or ourselves, gas is given off. It may find its way into our galleries or it may not. have your anti-gas apparatus all ready, and grab Bobbie's cage or that of any other canary in whom you have confidence. You keep the cage well in front of you and high up, and push on, watching Bobbie as you would a rival for a lady's affections. Bobbie knows what to do you can trust him. He sniffs like a dog on a strange scent. If there's gas, down goes the canary flat on his back, toes up in the air." WHEN THE NATIONS SING National and Patriotic Songs-When They Were Written and Who Wrote Them "THE NATIONAL ANTHEMS BAN HE STAR-SPANGLED NER," the national anthem of the United States, was written by Francis Scott Key, son of John Ross Key, an officer in the Revolutionary army. In 1814 the British, after burning Washington, advanced toward Baltimore and met, on the way, a body of American soldiers. After fierce fighting the British captured a number of their opponents, and took them, prisoners, to their fleet, which was then making ready to attack Fort McHenry. Among those captured was a friend of Mr. Key's, and he started out in a sail-boat to beg for his release. He reached the admiral's flagship when the bombardment began, and was forced to remain there during all of the shelling, which lasted twenty-five hours. At last, seeing our flag still flying, in a burst of patriotic inspiration he wrote on the back of an envelope the words of "The Star-Spangled Banner." It was published soon after in the Baltimore Patriot, and won instant popularity. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER From a painting by Peale Francis Scott Key Author of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early Oh, say, does the Star-Spangled Banner yet light wave What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's O'er the land of the free and the home of last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous night O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. the brave? On the shore dimly seen, through the mist of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? |