CIVIL DEFENCE AGAINST WAR GASES

Abstract

WAR has always been horrible. Axe and sword, lance and dagger gave way to gunpowder, though it did not entirely displace cold steel even ir the Crimean war ; to-day we depend largely on high explosives. During the War of 1914-18 there befell a new horror—chemical warfare, the use of poison gases—which shocked the world. When peace came, the nations solemnly renounced the vise of gas at a Geneva conference, a pledge which has so far been kept—nor is there any reason why it should be broken. None the less, the defence against chemical warfare has to be ready. Thus everyone in Great Britain has a gas mask and knows how to use it and care for it. In addition, a highly organized and welltrained gas service has been brought into being, ready to function when required, though hopeful that enough of civilization remains to spare the world this particular horror.