ARE GAS MASKS FOR CIVILIANS EFFECTIVE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 55, 20 March 1937, Page 15

ARE GAS MASKS FOR CIVILIANS EFFECTIVE

A "Father of a Family" Writes on the Futility of the Proposedf Masks for Civilians in the Event of an Air Raid

"JN THE DAYS OF OUE YOUTH tho wearing of masks formed one of the fine divensions," says the Northern Daily Telegraph of Blackburn in a homily leader on the new gas mask factOry in the town. "What fttn it was by doftning a flimsy vizor to turn yourself into a nigger or a pantaloan, or a Mephistophelian ogre, and how the elders ministered to, the riotous entertainment by their pretence of mirth or fear. s "And now civilisation, the thing whose praises are so lauded, has swung full eirole. and brought us back again to masks. Given another of those retrograde experiences described as 'getting .off. where you got on.' And set thoughtful minds to the counting of costs and wondering whether the modern mask should be accepted as a symbol of intellectual and creative progress or of spiritual decline. "Certainly, we find little cause for pride that in this vear of grace the children of men should thus be driven to seek scientific protection against ' iaan 's inhumanity. ( "Yet resentment against the working of that depraved mentality so closely allied now with economic nationalism were wasted; and just as we are depressed by facts, so are we fortified by facts. "Gas-masks having been made an essential adjunct of the new life, it is imperative that Britain shall have the very best, and there is comfort in the assurance given by Mr, Geoffrey Hoyd that these of Blackburn manufacture are proof against 'every poison gds known to the Governmenfthat could be used in war,' and that the supply is going to be abundant. "The thirty millions odd to be produced in the next eighteen months should be ample for the aeeds of a population of forty-five million. "Manufacture, of course, is not everything. All the ingenuity and energy will go for nothing unless complemented by effective measures for placLng the articles within easy reach of all for whom they are intended. "Yet all the satisfaotion slips away into the meehes of a gigantic irony. For, mad though it may eeem, devoutly do we wish for on-ce in life that a monumental enterprise with all its attributes of ' skili and endeavQur will be sqheduled at last as labour in vain. This, too, by way of completion, must go down among the ironical contingent, that our Government factory was built for the making of things to wear, after years of idleness it has resumed its avocation, and we are praying that never will its things to wear be worn." A "Father of a Family" has a eritical contribution in Tit-Bits on the f utility of the proposed gas masks for the civilians in the case of an air raid. He writes

-*m- 1 1 - - ■ ■ . . . . - ^ "In a bopklet called Gas Attacks, which has been compiled by a group of doctors in reply to tbe Government handbook, Personal Protection Against Gas — in wMoh we are told that an ef&cient respirator is our best d'efence — we are informed that an effective respirator of the absorbent type costs at present nbout £3 10/-. Cheaper f orma would protect for shorter periods and against lesshigh concentration of gas. It has been suggested that a simple respirator conld be supplied at the eoit of about 2A Sueh a respirator would probably protect against phosgene for a short time, but not against cholopicrin, mustard gas, and the smokes.' "Our own newest gas," ' ' Father of a Family" goes on to say, "has proved the aervice respirators to be ineffective. If pur ehemists are capable of ©volving such a moni strous brew, suroly other countries, and potential enemies, are just as scientifically wellinformed — or, alas, misinformed. . ■ "iWith the rapid development of lethal gases, requiring the continual alteration of

the army mask, will those eivilian masks be worth anything at all when the otder is oompletedl "The known poison gases eonsist of lachrymators, or tear-gasj luiig-ifritants, or choking gasj vesicanta, or. blistering gas, and arsenical smokes, or sneezing gas. "But is it, or. is it not, true— for so we have been scientifically informed— that the masks- that will keep out the teaf-gases and choking gases for a short time are no protection against a vesicant like mustard, Which, when splashed on the skin or satnxat* ed through clothing, quickly causes fatal burnsl "Mustard gas, is is said, will even penetrate rubber suits so. that the wearers must ohanga them frequently, Modern gases have been known to burn through up-to-the-minute masks within thirty seconds, while a mask that will keep ont all known gases will not be a snre guard against arsenical smokes which, if refined sufflciently — in a chemical and not a social sense — will even penetrate the filters of the army respirators." Below are the maia features of the gas masks as described by Mr Geoffrey Lloyd, Under-Seeretary of the State. for the Home Depa#tment: — The filter-coniainers ara being turned out at the factory at the rate of 500,000 a week. In 18 months considerably more than 30,000,000 should be ready. The new masks will: Weigh 11 ounces and be easily and quickly fitted on; Be proof against any gas which, so far as is known, could be used in war; and Give protection for ample time to enable the wearer to escape from concentrations of gas to shelters or gas-proof rooms or unaffected areas. In technique, both as regards the science of filtration and the comfort of the wearer, a great advance has been made with the respirator. Simple as they are in operation, the masks ara really highly eomplicated scientific devices. They are in two separate and distinct parts. The component parts of the containers, whieh include the body and the ends, charcoal, cotton pads, filter .pads, wire gauze, muslin diaphragms and springs, are brought to the factory from various parts of the country and there assembled into complete containers. The other main part of the gas mask is the facepiece, component parts of which are made by varictus contractors in different parts of the country, assembled and then sent to the first regional storage depot at Manchester. Components of the filter aie tested at Blackburn before being put into production. The Air Raid Precautions Department has a staff at the factory for testing. ^ Every assembly operation is subjected. to a test, and at the end of the proeess the complete container is tested.