"THE POISON BELT."

Colonist, Volume LX, Issue 14588, 17 December 1917, Page 2

"THE POISON BELT."

A NEW ZEALANDEE'S EXrJKItI.BNCE.

A realistic account of the new poison S^n c) nV mPIO^ ed by tho ««™ans is zinln, 7 «apt> Oscar X Gallie ' a Now. on Jh w f r S? rvhlg in tho artillery ? +i Western front. Writing to his brother Mr G. L. Gallic, of Nowtowri under date 27th-August, he states nnrfl^W PPO *c' yJ0U haVO read <aboufc th« Sions oP ;°h nt7 Of tho iively arfcill^ actions of tho hea-vy guns which the fo of- hS° f thV hi^»g terrain, and so on; but worst of all is his new mustard gas Phosgene and lachrymatory are sweet and pure compared to it He simply wallops us with this new teitor, and it's a case of masks on before • cmc smells it. It'is not so veryTatai! but it is peculiar in that it does not take any immediate effect except when ono gets a good dose of it. About a turnl sickness,, which ultimately turns into pneumonia and eats awaithe lungs. Then, again, it attacks S tho more sensitive tissues. The ev-s may be closed for months and all si-h^ ;S UeV the-Pam being intense^ winle. Tne .inside of tho mouth and the tongue are very sensitive to it aR one night I lay in a little hole under and the nt theZ al hvay ombai'kment ana the Boche shelled il? +v>r. i .ught through with"Sard Vt° fe .there with my musk on aU by WsSf* St" lg Km"S. to hit mi, but " ft rs,o alrs restiiig ™tte -V£&' *A tt e!!;s of "i s^ could soothe skeleton >valls "t ~ or my mouth became raw and pa^a [

i-hat was over three weeks ago and I .-am- still feeling the eiiecte, though .much better. -My. respirator saved m G that night. The gas smells sometimes ■ like, mustard and other tinys o- ar _ he, and is sjckly.und nauseating °but after the lirst two or three smells it appears to neutralise the sense- of smell and then comes the trouble, as one thinks tho air is clear, and may o e t it propei ly without knowing it."