Warfare Research in the Bureau of Mines

As a first move these men marked out various lines of research based on reports from Europe to the Army and Navy. The most urgent task was the design of a gas mask for the Army. Other projects included study of the physiological effect of toxic compounds and the proper medical treatment for casualties, work on the preparation and properties of gases already in use on the battlefield, and the discovery of new toxic agents. 

George A. Burrell to the Director, Bu of Mines, 2 May 17, sub Gases in Warfare. War Gas Investigations, Bu of Mines. 

Up to 30 June 1917 the Bureau of Mines paid the cost of chemical warfare research from its own appropriations. It engaged 16 men for physiological investigations on gases and masks, 20 to develop masks, 5 to work on munitions, 4 to prepare toxic agents and smoke, and several as supervisors and clerks. After June the Army and Navy provided funds. 

The War and Navy Departments in June allotted the Subcommittee on Noxious Gases 175,000 to convert American University classrooms into laboratories and to hire more chemists. Several weeks later, on 21 July the trustees granted the government free use of the university. 

Throughout the summer of 1917 contractors worked at the university, converting rooms into offices and laboratories. Temporary buildings, large and small, were erected to serve as workshops and as houses for workers and as shelters for animals. The War Department converted a section of the grounds into Camp Leach, where officers and enlisted men could learn the technique of chemical warfare. 

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