Colonel Bradley Dewey Officer in Charge Lieut. Col. A. L. Besse Asst. Officer in Charge Major M. L. Emerson Administration Section Major H. P. Schuit Comptrolling Section Mr. R. Skemp Procurement Section Major C. R. Johnson Technical Director Capt. K. Atterbury Field Testing Section Major J. C. Woodruff Chemical Manufacturing and Development Mr. R. R. Richardson Manager, Gas Defense Plant Capt. H. P. Scott Officer in Charge, Hero Manufacturing Co. Major L. W. Cottman Engineering Branch Major T. L. Wheeler Chemical Development Major I. W. Wilson Astoria Branch Capt. W. E. Brophy San Francisco Branch Lt. E. J. Noble Cleveland Branch Lt. L. Merrill Springfield Branch EDGEWOOD ARSENAL The Ordnance Department, in making plans for a shell filling plant, thought to interest existing chemical firms in the manufacture of the required toxic materials. As plans developed, however, difficulties arose in carrying out this program. The manufacture of such material at private plants necessitated its shipment to the filling plant at Edgewood. The transportation of large quantities of highly toxic gases seemed attended with great danger. The Director General of Railroads ruled that all such shipments must be made by special train, a very expensive method of transportation. Still more serious objections were encountered in the attempt to enlist the co-operation of existing firms. They recognized that the manufacture of such material would be attended by very great danger; that the work would be limited to the duration of the war; and that the processes involved, as well as the plants necessary for carrying out their processes, would have little post-war value. Moreover, such firms as had the personnel and equipment were already over-worked. With a few exceptions (notably the American Synthetic Color Company, the Oldbury Electro-Chemical Co., Zinsser & Co., and the Dow Chemical Company) they were unwilling to undertake work of this character on any terms whatever. Early in December, 1917, therefore, it was decided to erect, on the site of the shell filling plant, such chemical plants as would be necessary to furnish the toxic materials required for filling the shell. The Arsenal is situated in an isolated district, twenty miles east of Baltimore, Maryland, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and comprises 3,400 acres. Since the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad runs on one side of the tract, while on another is the Bush River, only a few miles from its mouth in Chesapeake Bay, the tract was ideally situated for shipping. This site was referred to, at first, as “Gunpowder Reservation,” but on May 4, 1918, the name was officially changed to “Edgewood Arsenal.” [Illustration: FIG. 6.—Edgewood Arsenal.