SOME DETAILS REGARDING THE GAS HORROR
WARSAW,
_June 8_.
Ever since my return from the southern armies last week I have spent
practically my entire time in the study and investigation of the newest
phase of frightfulness as practised by the German authorities. Ten
months of war and an earlier experience in Manchuria of what misery it
represents even when conducted in the most humane way have not tended
to make me over-sensitive to the sights and sufferings which are the
inevitable accompaniment of the conflict between modern armies; but
what I have seen in the last week has impressed me more deeply than the
sum total of all the other horrors which I have seen in this and other
campaigns combined. The effects of the new war methods involve hideous
suffering and are of no military value whatsoever (if results on this
front are typical); while they reduce war to a barbarity and cruelty
which could not be justified from any point of view, even were the
results obtained for the cause of the user a thousandfold greater than
they have proved to be.
I found on my return from the south the whole of Warsaw in a fever
of riotous indignation against the Germans and the German people as
the result of the arrival of the first block of gas victims brought
in from the Bzura front. I have already described the attack made on
the Russian position, its absolute failure, and the result it had of
increasing the morale of the Russian troops. I must now try to convey
to the reader an idea of the effects which I have personally witnessed
and ascertained by first hand investigation of the whole subject. The
investigation has taken me from the Warsaw hospitals, down through the
various army, corps, division and regimental head-quarters, to the
advance trenches on which the attack was actually made. I have talked
with every one possible, from generals to privates, and from surgeons
to the nurses, and to the victims themselves, and feel, therefore, that
I can write with a fair degree of authority.
The gas itself, I was told at the front, was almost pure chloral
fumes; but in the hospitals here they informed me that there were
indications of the presence of a small trace of bromine, though it has
proved somewhat difficult to make an exact analysis. The effect of
the gas when inhaled is to cause an immediate and extremely painful
irritation of the lungs and the bronchial tubes, which causes instantly
acute suffering. The gas, on reaching the lungs, and coming in contact
with the blood, at once causes congestion, and clots begin to form
not only in the lungs themselves but in the blood-vessels and larger
arteries, while the blood itself becomes so thick that it is with
great difficulty that the heart is able to force it through the veins.
The first effects, then, are those of strangulation, pains throughout
the body where clots are forming, and the additional misery of the
irritation which the acid gases cause to all the mucous membranes to
which it is exposed. Some of the fatal cases were examined by the
surgeons on the post-mortem table, and it was found that the lungs were
so choked with coagulated blood that, as one doctor at the front told
me, they resembled huge slabs of raw liver rather than lungs at all.
The heart was badly strained from the endeavour to exert its functions
against such obstacles, and death had resulted from strangulation.
Though the unfortunates who succumbed suffered hideously, their lot
was an easy one compared to the lot of the miserable wretches who
lingered on and died later. One might almost say that even those that
are recovering have suffered so excruciatingly as to make life dear
at the price. Those who could be treated promptly have for the most
part struggled back to life. Time only will show whether they recover
entirely, but from evidence obtained, I am inclined to believe many
of them will be restored to a moderate condition of good health after
their lungs are healed. The first treatment employed by the Russians
when their patients come to the hospitals, is to strip them of all
clothing, give them a hot bath and put them into clean garments. This
is done for the protection of the nurses as well as of the victims,
for it was found that many of the helpers were overcome by the residue
of the fumes left in the clothing, so deadly was the nature of the
chemical compound used.
Even after these cases were brought to Warsaw and put into clean linen
pyjamas and immaculate beds, the gas still given out from their lungs
as they exhaled so poisoned the air in the hospital that some of the
women nurses were affected with severe headaches and with nausea. From
this it may be gathered that the potency of the chloral compound is
extremely deadly. The incredible part is, that out of the thousands
affected, hardly a thousand died in the trenches, and of the 1,300
to 1,500 brought to Warsaw, only 2 per cent. have died to date. It
is probably true that the Russian moujik soldier is the hardiest
individual in Europe; add to this the consideration that for ten months
none of them have been touching alcohol, which is probably one reason
for their astonishing vitality in fighting this deadly poison and
struggling back to life.
[Illustration: Respirator drill in the trenches.]
[Illustration: Austrians leaving Przemysl.]
After the victims are washed, every effort is made to relieve the
congestion. Mustard plasters are applied to the feet, while camphor
injections are given hypodermically, and caffeine or, in desperate
cases, digitalis is given to help the heart keep up its task against
the heavy odds. Next blood is drawn from the patient and quantities of
salt and water injected in the veins to take its place and to dilute
what remains. In the severer cases I am told that the blood even from
the arteries barely flows, and comes out a deep purple and almost as
viscous as molasses. In the far-gone cases it refuses to flow at all.
The victims that die quickly are spared the worst effects, but those
that linger on and finally succumb suffer a torture which the days of
the Inquisition can hardly parallel. Many of them have in their efforts
to breathe swallowed quantities of the gas, and in these cases, which
seem to be common, post-mortems disclose the fact that great patches
in their stomachs and in their intestines have been eaten almost raw
by the action of the acid in the gas. These men then die not only of
strangulation, which, in itself, is a slow torture, but in their last
moments their internal organs are slowly being eaten away by the acids
which they have taken into their stomachs. Several of the doctors have
told me that in these instances the men go violently mad from sheer
agony, and that many of them must be held in their beds by force to
prevent them from leaping out of the windows or running amok in the
hospitals. It is hard to still them with sufficient morphine to deaden
the pain without giving an overdose, with the result that many of the
poor fellows probably suffer until their last gasp.
This then is the physical effect which is produced on the victims of
Germany’s latest device to win the war. I have been in many of the
hospitals, and I have never in my life been more deeply moved than by
the pathetic spectacle of these magnificent specimens of manhood lying
on their beds writhing in pain or gasping for breath, each struggle
being a torture. The Russians endure suffering with a stoicism that is
heartbreaking to observe, and I think it would surely touch even the
most cynical German chemist were he to see his victims, purple in the
face, lips frothed with red from bleeding lungs, with head thrown back
and teeth clenched to keep back the groans of anguish, as they struggle
against the subtle poison that has been taken into their system. One
poor fellow said to the nurse as she sat by his bed and held his hand,
“Oh, if the German Kaiser could but suffer the pain that I do he would
never inflict this torture upon us. Surely there must be a horrible
place prepared for him in the hereafter.”
The effect upon the troops at the front who have seen the sufferings
of their fellows or who have had a touch of it themselves, has been
quite extraordinary. Some of the more cynical say that the German idea
involved this suffering as a part of their campaign of frightfulness,
their belief being that it would strike panic to the hearts of all the
soldiers that beheld it and result in the utter demoralization of the
Russian Army. If this be true the German psychologists never made a
more stupid blunder, for in this single night’s work they have built up
for themselves in the heart of every Russian moujik a personal hatred
and detestation that has spread like wildfire in all parts of the army
and has made the Russian troops infinitely fiercer both in attack and
in defence than at any other period in the war. Not a soldier or
officer with whom I have talked has shown the smallest sign of fear for
the future, and all are praying for an opportunity to exact a vengeance.
Unfortunately in the next attacks in which this just fury will be in
evidence, it will be the unfortunate German soldier who must pay the
price at the point of the bayonet, while the cold-blooded wretches
who worked it all out will go scot free from the retribution which
the Russians intend to administer with cold steel and the butt end of
their muskets. In the meantime the Russians have taken steps which will
in all probability render future attacks practically innocuous. Every
soldier is receiving a respirator, a small mask soaked in some chemical
preparation and done up in an air-tight packet ready for use. The
preparation, it is believed, will keep out the fumes for at least an
hour. It is highly improbable that any such period will elapse before
the gases are dissipated by the wind; but in any event extra quantities
of the solution will be kept in the trenches to enable the soldiers to
freshen their masks if the gases are not cleared up within an hour.
In addition to this, open ditches will be dug in the trenches and
filled with water, which will promptly suck up the gas that would
otherwise linger on indefinitely. It is also proposed to strew straw
in front of the positions and to sprinkle it with water before an
attack with the gases in order to take up as much of the poison as
possible before it reaches the trenches at all. When one remembers
that though the first attack came without any preparations being made
to meet it, and was an absolutely new experience to the Russians, it
yet failed overwhelmingly, I think one need feel no anxiety as to the
results which will follow the next attack when every preparation has
been made by the Russians to receive it.
I have dwelt at some length on the subject of the poisoned gases,
but as there is available evidence to indicate that the Germans are
planning to make this an important feature of their campaign, it seems
worth while to bring before the attention of the outside world all of
the consequences which the use of this practice involve. I hear now
from excellent sources that the Germans are equipping a large plant at
Plonsk for the express purpose of making poison gases on a large scale.
In what I have written before I have only mentioned the bearing of the
gas on strictly military operations, but there is another consideration
to be noticed in this new practice, and that is the effect which it
has, and will have increasingly, upon the unfortunate peasant and
civil population whose miserable fate it is to live behind the lines.
I am not aware of the nature and potency of the gas used in the West,
but I read recently in the paper that it was so deadly that its effects
were observable a full mile from the line of battle. Over here they
were noticeable 25 miles from the line, and individuals were overcome
as far away as 14 versts from the positions. The General commanding the
-- Siberian Corps told me that the sentry before his gate fell to the
ground from inhaling the poisoned air, though his head-quarters is more
than 10 miles away from the point where the Germans turned loose their
fiendish invention. The General commanding the --th Division of this
same Siberian Corps, against whom the attack was made, told me that
the gases reached his head-quarters exactly 1½ hours after it passed
the positions which he told me were between 5 and 6 versts from the
house in which he lived. In the morning the fumes lay like a mist on
the grass, and later in the day they were felt with sufficient potency
to cause nausea and headaches at Grodisk, 30 versts from the trenches.
Everywhere I was told of the suffering and panic among the peasants,
who came staggering in from every direction to the Russian Red Cross
stations and head-quarters. These, of course, were not as severely
stricken as the troops in the front lines, and as far as I know none
of them have died, but hundreds were being cared for by the Russian
authorities, and among these I am told were many women and children.
[Illustration: Siberians returning from the trenches.]
In fact it is but logical to expect the greatest suffering in the
future to be among children, for the gas hangs very low, and where a
six foot man might keep his nose clear of the fumes, a child of two or
three years old would be almost sure to perish. The live stock suffered
more or less, but there seems to have been a great difference in the
effects of the gases upon different kinds of animals. Horses were
driven almost frantic, cows felt it much less, and pigs are said not to
have been bothered appreciably. In its effects on plants and flowers
one notices a great range of results among different varieties. Pansies
were slightly wilted, snapdragons absolutely, while certain little blue
flowers whose name I do not know were scarcely affected at all. Some
of the tips of the grasses were coloured brown, while leaves on some
trees were completely destitute of any colour at all. I cannot explain
the varying effects. I have in my pocket a leaf two-thirds of which is
as white as a piece of writing paper while the remaining third is as
green as grass. On the same tree some leaves were killed and others not
affected at all. The effects also vary greatly in different parts of
the country. From what I could observe the gas had flowed to all the
low places where it hung for hours. In the woods it is said to have
drifted about with bad effects that lasted for several days.
What I have described above is the first effect on the country, but if
the Germans are to continue this practice for the rest of the summer I
think there must be effects which in the end will result in far more
injury to the peasants who are not prepared, than to the soldiers
who are taught how to combat the gases. In the first place it seems
extremely probable that this gas flowing to the low places will almost
invariably settle in the lakes, marshes and all bodies of still water
within 20 to 30 versts of the line. I am not sufficiently well grounded
in chemistry to speak authoritatively, but it seems not improbable that
the effect of this will be gradually to transform every small body of
water in this vicinity into a diluted solution of hydrochloric acid, a
solution which will become more and more concentrated with every wave
of gas that passes over the country-side. If this be the case Poland
may perhaps see huge numbers of its horses, cows and other live stock
slowly poisoned by chloral while the inhabitants may experience a
similar fate. With wet weather and moist soil will come a period when
the chloral will go into the earth in large quantities. I do not know
what effect this will have on the future of the crops, but I imagine
that it will not help the harvest this year, while its deleterious
effects may extend over many to come. In other words it seems as though
the Germans in order to inflict a possible military damage on the
Russians are planning a campaign, the terrible effects of which will
fall for the most part not on the soldiers at all but on the harmless
non-combatants who live in the rear of the lines. This practice is as
absolutely unjustifiable as that of setting floating mines loose at sea
on the possible chance of sinking an enemy ship, the probability being
ten to one that the victim will prove an innocent one.
We are now facing over here, and I suppose in the West as well, a
campaign of poisoned air, the effect of which upon the military
situation will be neutralized by reprisals; but at the same time this
campaign is going to increase the suffering and misery of the soldiers
a hundred per cent., and in its ultimate results bring more misery to
the populations in the various regions near the lines than has ever
been experienced in any previous war. It must be reasonably clear to
the Germans by now that their scheme to terrorize has failed, and
that their aim of inflicting vast damage has fallen to the ground.
When reprisals come, as they must if Germany continues this inhuman
policy, she will, without having gained anything whatsoever from
her experiment, cause needlessly the deaths of thousands of her
own soldiers, as well as suffering and devastation among the rural
classes. It does seem as though, when the German policy is so clearly
unfruitful, it should be possible through the medium of some neutral
country to reach an agreement providing for the entire discontinuance
on all fronts of this horrible practice. Certainly, when there are
so many thousands of innocents who must suffer by its continuance,
it would be well worth the while of the authorities in the different
countries to consider the possibility mentioned before resorting to the
use of this deadly weapon, which often proves as dangerous to the users
as to the enemy against whom it is directed.
THE BZURA FRONT IN JUNE