To order images and/or obtain permission to use them commercially, please contact the KSHS Reference Desk at KSHS.reference@ks.gov or 785-272-8681, ext. 117.
For more information see the Copyright and Permission FAQ.
Captain Hughes took this photo (one of four showing smoke screens) of C. W. (Chemical Warfare) demonstration using smoke screens from candles. In actual warfare these candles would have produced a toxic smoke screen, however in this demonstration they would have yielded only smoke. A soldier would walk along lighting the candle or pot with chemicals. The smoke would rise from the candle and spread in the surrounding area. Hughes did not provide a location for this demonstration however there are two possible locations. One could be observed by a crowd in the grandstand at Camp Holabird or perhaps at the first temporary Chemical Warfare School at Edgewood Arsenal, Md. Congress had made the Chemical Warfare Service a permanent part of the Army in 1920, with duties to continue "the investigation, development, manufacture or procurement and supply of all smoke and incendiary materials, all toxic gases, and all gas defense appliances." The date of this demonstration is not mentioned, however Captain Hughes was stationed at Camp Holabird, Maryland only until February 14,1920. James C. Hughes, as part of the 35th Division, left Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and traveled to Hoboken, New Jersey, where he boarded the troop ship "Ceramic" on May 18, 1918. Hughes arrived in Liverpool, England, on June 1, 1918 and then landed at Le Havre, France, on June 9, 1918. Hughes fought in the battles of St. Michael and the Meuse-Argonne. He was at Verdun on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. He took no photos of the actual fighting. He did take many photographs after the war as part of the Army of Occupation until he left France on July 18, 1919. A full biography of James Clark Hughes is available on Kansapedia.
Creator: Hughes, James Clark, 1888-1964
Date: Undated
Item Number: 314986
Call Number: James C. Hughes Collection, negative 379A
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 314986
Collections - Photograph - Hughes, James C.
Military - Facilities - Camps - Camp Holabird, Maryland
Military - Service - Army
Military - Weapons - Chemical Warfare - Candles
Military - Weapons - Chemical Warfare - Chemical Warfare School at Edgewood Arsenal, Md.
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Photograph - Negatives - Nitrate
Thematic Time Period - World War I, 1914 - 1919
Type of Material - Photographs - Format - Negatives, Film - Nitrate
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/314986