DISCOVERY OF POISON CAS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19846, 15 January 1920, Page 4

DISCOVERY OF POISON CAS.

It is not generally known that the idea of poison gas in warfare was the result of accident. It appears some years ago a disastrous fire followed' a chemical explosion at Grieshcim, near rank-tor i-on-the-Main, in Germany and almost immediately the whole building was in flames. Fire engines carao galloping up, but as-they approached tho men were seen to fall from their seats. Spectators nmninf alter them dropped as if shot, and meanwhile tho blaze increased, involving fresh buildings, and even crossing the river into the village of Schwaiiheim-

, The reason for this extraordinary condition of affairs was that the sudden mixture of vats of different chemicals under intense heat had' filled the air with a gas of so terribly poisonous a nature that those- who came within its deadly influence were suffocated at once. Fifty-one dead, and three times that number injured, was the result of that terrible fire- This method! of destruction appealed to the German war lords, who pigeon-holed the idea, and brought it into actual operation' soon after tho war started.