=Supplies for Gas Troops.= Colonel Crawford was at once put in Charge of all supplies for the Gas Service, including the location and construction of separate depots for that Service. Prior to this the General Staff had decided to have chemical supplies stored in depots separate from those of other supplies on account of the poisonous nature of the gases which might prove very annoying if leakage occurred near any other class of supplies. Colonel Crawford took hold of this work with zeal and energy and so conducted it as to relieve the Chief of the Gas Service of all anxiety in that matter. As before stated, on the 10th of September a requisition for a very large quantity of offensive supplies for gas troops was submitted to the General Staff for approval. Inasmuch as this involved approximately 50,000 gas cylinders, 50,000 Liven’s drums, with at least 20,000 Liven’s projectors and a large number of Stokes’ mortars and bombs, there was considerable difficulty in getting it approved. Finally Colonel Malone of the Training Section, who took an active interest in the Chemical Warfare Service, got it approved. Then began the difficulty of getting the order placed and of trying to expedite the filling of the order on time. These difficulties were never overcome until after the entire purchase of supplies was, as previously related, taken care of by the Gas Service. =First Inter-allied Gas Conference.= The first inter-allied gas conference was held in Paris on September 16th, and consisted of American, British, French, Italian, and Belgian delegates. The conference busied itself mainly with questions of the medical treatment of gassed cases and of defense against gas. =Mustard Gas.= The principal topic under consideration at this conference was the effects of the new mustard gas first used at Ypres against the British on the nights of the 11th and 12th of July, 1917. The British suffered nearly 20,000 casualties from this gas during the first six weeks of its use, and were so worried over it that the start of the attacks carried out later in the fall of 1917 against Ypres were delayed several days. The casualties were particularly heavy because the smell of the gas was entirely new and not unpleasant and because of the delayed action of the gas, whereby men got no indication of its seriousness until 4 to 8 hours after exposure. For these reasons men simply took shelter from the bombardment without putting on masks or taking other precautions. As a result of the Paris conference a long cable was sent to the United States asking among other things that immediate report be made on the possibilities of producing ethylene chlorhydrin, one of the essentials in the manufacture of mustard gas by the only method then known.