Ensign Hugh J. Adams (1889-1919):
Doughboys Used Gas Protector Developed Here

"Doughboys Used Gas Protector Developed Here. Pittsburgh Scientists Discovered Means to Defeat Fumes by Hun Army. Mask Good for War Only." Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph, 25 January 1919.

It was in Pittsburgh that the American gas mask, like many other war accessories which proved such an adequate protection to the doughboy, had its inception. Under the direction of A. C. Fieldner, chief chemist of the local station of the United States Bureau of Mines, experiments in gas mask construction were begun in April, 1917.

Although gas warfare in Europe had been in progress for two years, practically nothing was known in this country of defense methods. Added to a problem which was absolutely new was the handicap of inadequate laboratory facilities. The Bureau of Mines was then located at the old Arsenal, and the use of noxious gases for testing purposes was decidedly dangerous to occupants of the laboratory.

The first task was to discover substances with absorbent qualities which would take up the gas. This matter, difficult in itself, was aggravated by the fact that nearly all the gases used in chemical warfare have so limited an industrial or scientific use that even the most comprehensive volumes contained very meager information concerning them. The two substances which were known to possess the greatest absorbent powers were soda-lime and charcoal. But even of these two substances there were scores of different grades.

Tested Gas with Paper.
Mr. Fieldner fitted up a small glass testing tube about six inches long, the length of the average canister contained in gas masks, and from one to two inches in diameter. This was filled with the absorbent and the gas was passed through it. Papers were placed over the end of the tube containing chemicals upon which the gas would react when it passed through the absorbent. The gas used was mixed with air in the maximum proportion in which it would be found on the battlefield, a concentration of one-tenth of 1 per cent. The gas was timed, and in its progress through the tube different combinations of the absorbent were used until a compound was found which offered the highest resistance. As soon as a more successful mixture was found it was substituted.

The testing work continued in Pittsburgh until September. During that time the first 20,000 masks shipped abroad were tested at the local laboratory. In September the headquarters were moved to Washington, and later the work was taken from the Bureau of Mines and placed under the charge of the Chemical Warfare Service. Mr. Fieldner was placed in charge of the work and commissioned major.

The first gas masks made afforded protection against gas from 10 to 18 hours, but in the last model the combination of soda lime and charcoal used in the same sized canister would stand from 40 to 50 hours of continuous gas. This was sufficient to last the average soldier about six months of active service. In fact, the mechanism of the masks usually wore out before the absorbent had been exhausted.

Name It "Tissot."
The mask, as it was constructed at the time the armistice was signed was called a Tissot type mask. It has a canvas head piece held closely to the head by means of an elastic border with an airtight tube running from the chin of the mask to the canister, containing the absorbent, which was carried in a knapsack hung about the soldier's neck a few inches below his chin. The breath is taken through the tube and exhaled through a small rubber sack which closes automatically as soon as the air is expelled. All the materials used in its construction are of the best possible quality.

Maj. Fieldner had completed charge of the chemical portion of the work, but the mechanical research work was under the direction of W. E. Gibbs. of the bureau of mines, and later under H. H. Clark.

While the work was being done in Pittsburgh, masks were tested by actual use in the gas chamber of the bureau of mines which had been used for testing safety appliances for mine gases. The first man to test the masks was Dr. Yandell Henderson of Yale University Medical School, who has been consulting physiologist with the bureau of mines for a number of years. Dr. Henderson insisted on being the first man [to] enter the chamber in which [waited] one-tenth of 1 per cent concentration of [chlorine.] He donned the mask, and removed part of his clothing and entered the room. The mask protected his face and respiratory organs perfectly, but the next day he appeared at the laboratory with his hair very sadly bleached and stated that the clothing he wore during the test was completely ruined.

Maj. Fieldner has now been mustered out of the service, and is again connected with the Bureau of Mines. He is devoting his time to research work and to the use of gas masks in the industries. The masks as now constructed would be adequate for the needs of copper smelters, where sulphur fumes are given off, quick silver manufactories that emit mercury vapor, and chemical and bleaching industries, where chlorine fumes are given off.

The local chemist feels that there is much need for public education in regard to the poisoning fumes of the various industries. He calls attention to the many soldiers who are familiar with the military gas mask and have been taught that it affords absolute protection against poison gases. When he re-enters the industrial field they feel that their military gas masks are ample protection against all the fumes which they will encounter.

Maj. Fieldner says that the public should be reminded that these masks were designed only for military purposes and are sufficient for the gases of the battlefield. There are, however, gases in industry against which the masks are useless. They are of no service against ammonia fumes. The carbon monoxide which is prevalent around blast furnaces, gas [producers] and coal mines can be [combatted] only by the oxygen breathing apparatus. The chemical research department of the local station of the United State Bureau of Mines [expects] to specialize on the development of protective devices for the industrial gases of the Pittsburgh [section].

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