n every direction. One fell on the roadway about
twenty feet away from me. Two men who were standing under cover of the
broken wall of the windmill crumpled up like green leaves in a forest
fire. They were done for. They were giving us a double "curtain of
fire" as well as the death dealing gasses.

A piece of the same shell struck Lieutenant Shoenberger, my signalling
officer, who stood close beside me, and he fell. He said never a word,
but in a trice had his knife out, cut off his puttee and looked at his
ankle. The bone was broken. Before I could give him a hand he had his
first aid bandage out and tied up the wound himself. I offered to send
a man with him to the dressing station a quarter of a mile back, but
he said he would crawl down on his hands and knees all right and that
every man would be needed in the trenches. He was quite cool and
collected and did not show any sign of fear. I felt very sorry for
him.

Nearly a century ago Admiral Lord Cochrane, a man of wonderful
scientific knowledge, advanced a project to the British Government for
a terrible and unseen agent which could be used against an enemy, and
which was so destructive and powerful it would render their armies
helpless. That secret was asphyxiating gas. His plan was on the field
of battle when the wind was favorable to build large fires with tar
and damp straw behind which an attack could be prepared. Then sulphur
was to be thrown on these burning piles so as to produce gas, which
blowing over the enemy would render them helpless. This would not
produce a poisonous gas. It would only be an asphyxiating gas that
would knock a man out for a while. Still the British had refused to
use this secret.

In 1913 German scientists at the German Headquarters Staff had
experimented with sulphur, chlorine and bromine fumes. They reported
on sulphur gas: "This gas thus produced acts as an irritant on the
lungs and eyes, and thence it is adapted to render the enemy incapable
of resistance, but is not poisonous, and in that way its use in war is
not contrary to international right." They had in view Article 23 of
the rules of conducting hostilities promulgated by the second Hague
Conference to which they had subscribed, which specifically prohibits
"the use of poisons and poisonous arms" and "the use of arms,
projectiles and material destined to produce useless suffering." The
Germans could have used sulphur gas just as well as chlorine gas, but
sulphur was