Public Education on War Gases OTTO EISENSCHIML The Scientific Oil Compounding Company, Chicago, Illinois
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OW IS the time for all of us to decide whether or not we want to take the subject of civilian gas defense seriously. I am not pleading the case one way or the other. Every man must decide for himself. If a person feels that he wants to remain uninformed and take the consequent risks, I offer no objection. But if he wishes to inform himself, he had better do so a t once and thoroughly. Likewise, each community must make its own decision. If i t considers a gas attack impossible, or so highly improbable that it may be dismissed as visionary, let i t junk that part of its defense setup which pertains to gases; but if danger from this source is conceded, and a defense prepared, i t should he prepared 100 per cent. Any middle-of-the-road policy is absurd. If a man owns a 25,000-dollar house and believes it immune from fire, he should carry no insurance. If he believes a risk exists, he should carry a policy for 25,000 dollars. To insure the house for, say, 200 dollars would be farcical; yet that is exactly what we, the overwhelming majority of people and communities of the United States, are doing now in regard to gas defense. Let us be frank about this. Our average citizen is unprepared to protect himself in case of a gas attack; although self-help is what he must depend on principally, he is totally uninformed on the subject. This state of unpreparedness must be known to our enemies, and may induce them to attack us. Even if the damage done by such an attack were negligible, the ensuing panic might disorganize our war production and would certainly hit a sharp blow to our civilian morale. Preparations to protect. our civilian population against a possible gas attack so far have been concentrated on the establishment of control centers, appointment of gas reconnaissance agents, training of decontamination squads, and other efforts to organize a competent headquarters st&. Contrariwise, the education of the general public has been unorganized and haphazard. But a staff without an educated public back of it cannot function any more than an army staff without well-trained soldiers. A city may provide stop lights, speed limits, and other precautionary measures for its atizens against the risks of automobile traffic, but unless the public knows what these risks are, the value of such safety measures remains doubtful. Protection against poison gases, like protection against traffic risks, is largely a matter of quick and intelligent self-help, and self-help must be based on knowledge and training. If you don't jump out of the way when a reckless driver bears down on you, you go either to the hospital or to the morgue, stop lights and speed limits notwithstanding.
The means a t our disposal to disseminateiinformation regarding war gases consist of the printed word, moving pictures, radio, and lectures. All these methods have been used, none too successfully. I shall discuss each in turn. THE PRINTED WORD
Most magazines have published articles on poison gases during the last 18 months. Some were sensational, others helpful. One of the best that has come to my attention, written by Leonard Milliman, appeared in Collier's on September 26, 1942; the others ranged all the way from good to bad. Most of them contained mere encyclopedic information on the gases of the last war. I recall few cases where the writer's scientific or military background appeared impressive. Publication of these articles has vitiated the usefulness of this field for further educational efforts. Magazines can hardly be expected to exploit the same subject twice in short succession, and therefore cannot keep the topic up to date. Admittedly, even the best articles on implements of war become obsolete in a short time, for war itself is in a constant state of flux. Today no one would accept as correct any information on airplanes issued a year ago, even if it had come from the highest authority. Their design, weight, speed, and bomb loads have changed. The situation in regard to gases is not much different. After lecturing on this subject for 18 months, I now wish I had my early audiences back, so as to re-educate them. To rejuvenate the magazine or newspaper field, a new approach will have to be found. It must deal with fundamentals, not with developments likely to change overnight. Emphasis should be on simplicity and claxity, not on brilliancy. An article will be successful if the reader feels that, after having digested it, he has a fair chance to come through a gas attack unharmed. Anything tending to obscure this goal should be taboo, and technical terms are out. When people are bitten by a snake, they don't care much about the Latin name of the reptile, its habitat, and its sex life. What they want to know is how to survive. MOVING PICTURES
Several films have been released to illustrate defense against gas attacks. They are all good as far as they go; nevertheless I think they are liable to do harm as well as good. The films produced by the Signal Corps of our Army, for instance, are undoubtedly faultless, but not applicable to civilians. One picture, which I have seen frequently, shows marching troops being attacked by low-flying planes. The
soldiers scatter and put on their gas masks. Ciz
