POISON GAS SAMPLES FOR SALE IN HAMBURG.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18639, 17 December 1928, Page 16

POISON GAS SAMPLES FOR SALE IN HAMBURG.

AMAZING PAMPHLET ISSUED BY FACTORY. (United Preee Aaan. —By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) BERLIN, December 14. “ Because we cannot abolish war,” says a pamphlet published in Hamburg, “ it is the duty of the nation’s leaders and of every officer, soldier and educated person to become familar with modern war methods, which in these days means chemical warfare.” The pamphlet is distributed gratis, in order to push the sale of small sample boxes of the deadliest war poison gases, “ for instructional purposes,” from the works of Hugo Stolzenburg, where the great poison gas disaster occurred. The pamphlet argues that the peace movement is futile. The world is arming, therefore there will be wars, therefore gas warfare, perhaps also bacteriological warware. It is necessary “to destroy the. illusions created by the multiplicity of peace pacts.” According to a newspaper a dynamite factory is being constructed in a huge underground chamber of reinforced concrete near Cologne, in order to store the existing stock of twelve tons of phosgene gas. The pamphlet points out that a soldier ignorant of gas war endangers the security of his country. It gives a list of the twelve principal gases, grouped according to the marks used on German gas shells in the war. It explains the subject in popular language, because “ scientific literature is such solid reading. The sample boxes . resemble toy chemical outfits, which are a favourite Christmas gift for schoolboys. They comprise sixty test tubes of twelve gases, sixty cartridges and a pistol. A book of instructions tells how to discharge the pistol in a sealed room. Experimenters must use gas masks, but only irritants should thus be tried. It is recommended that the deadlier gases should be tried on animals, preferabljr cats. A doctor should be present, because medical personnel must become familiar with the proper treatment in peace time as a preparation for war. Besides, as the explosion in Hamburg showed, accidents may happen in peace time. Finally, the Stoltzenburg factory issues first-aid outfits for the treatment of gas poisoning--Australian Press Association.