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>> Narrator: FOR ONE TERRIFYING
MOMENT, IT SEEMED A WORLD WAR
WOULD END NOT WITH A ***, BUT
WITH A HISS IN A CLOUD OF
DEADLY GAS.
THEN, THE GAS MASK CAME ALONG,
AND EVERYONE COULD BREATHE A
LITTLE EASIER.
AND YET, THE GENIUS BEHIND THE
MASK WAS MOSTLY IGNORED AND
MISTRUSTED THROUGHOUT HIS
LIFETIME.
TIME TO CLEAR THE AIR ABOUT
GARRETT AUGUSTUS MORGAN AND HIS
MARVELOUS INVENTION.
1915-- THE DARKEST HOUR OF THE
GAS TERROR.
IN APRIL, THE GERMANS LAUNCHED
THE FIRST-EVER CHLORINE GAS
ATTACK.
FOUR MONTHS LATER, THE BRITISH
COUNTERED WITH THEIR OWN
CHLORINE GRENADES.
GAS MASKS WERE QUICKLY DEVELOPED
MADE OF COTTON PADS SOAKED WITH
URINE.
THE AMMONIA CONTENT OF URINE
HELPED TO NEUTRALIZE THE GAS, IF
NOT THE GENERAL REEK OF BATTLE.
YET, ALL THE WHILE, A MAN IN
CLEVELAND, OHIO, WAS SELLING A
MASK THAT PROTECTED THE LUNGS
WITHOUT OFFENDING THE NOSE.
IN 1912, GARRETT AUGUSTUS MORGAN
HAD INVENTED WHAT HE CALLED THE
SAFETY HOOD-- AN AIRTIGHT PIECE
OF HEADGEAR WITH LONG TUBES THAT
DRAPED TO THE GROUND.
IT WORKED ON THE PRINCIPLE THAT
GAS AND SMOKE RISE.
THE SAFETY HOOD TAPPED INTO THE
FRESHER AIR AT GROUND LEVEL.
THE AIR WAS FURTHER SCRUBBED
WITH CHARCOAL FILTERS.
MORGAN HAD SUCH CONFIDENCE IN
HIS INVENTION THAT HE BET HIS
LIFE ON IT, DEMONSTRATING IT
HIMSELF IN ROOMS FULL OF SMOKE
AND TOXIC VAPOR.
>> AND HE WOULD PUT THIS HELMET
ON, THIS MASK, AND NOBODY REALLY
WOULD HAVE SEEN HIM, AND HE'D
WALK INTO A TENT FULL OF FLAMES
OF ALL THESE BAD, BAD CHEMICALS.
AND IT WAS ONLY AFTER HE WOULD
COME OUT AND PEOPLE SAW THAT IT
ACTUALLY WORKED, THEN HE WOULD
TAKE THE HELMET OFF AND REVEAL
HIS TRUE IDENTITY.
>> Narrator: IT WAS THIS
DRAMATIC REVELATION OF HIS
IDENTITY THAT COST THE INVENTOR
MANY SALES, ALL BECAUSE GARRETT
AUGUSTUS MORGAN WAS AFRICAN
AMERICAN.
SOME FIRE DEPARTMENTS, WHO WERE
ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE MASK
ITSELF, CANCELED THEIR ORDERS
WHEN THEY LEARNED MORGAN WAS
BLACK.
ON HIS SOUTHERN SALES CALLS,
MORGAN BROUGHT ALONG A WHITE
MEMBER OF HIS STAFF.
THE WHITE MAN WAS INTRODUCED AS
"GARRETT MORGAN, THE INVENTOR."
MORGAN HIMSELF MASQUERADED AS
"BIG CHIEF MASON," AMERICAN
INDIANS BEING, THEN, MORE
WELCOME THAN BLACKS IN SOUTHERN
SOCIETY.
BUT SALES WERE STILL SLUGGISH,
UNTIL A MAJOR DISASTER
CATAPULTED THE GAS MASK INTO THE
SPOTLIGHT.
JULY 25, 1916-- 170 FEET BENEATH
THE WATERS OF LAKE ERIE, FIVE
MILES OFF THE CLEVELAND
WATERFRONT, WORKERS WERE DIGGING
A TUNNEL FOR A WATER TREATMENT
PLANT WHEN THEY STRUCK A POCKET
OF NATURAL GAS.
THERE WAS A SPARK, A HUGE FLASH
OF LIGHT, THEN SMOKE-FILLED
DARKNESS.
SEVERAL RESCUE TEAMS WERE
DISPATCHED INTO THE TUNNEL.
FEW OF THEM RETURNED.
AS MANY AS 20 MEN WERE SOON
MISSING AND PRUMED DEAD, UNTIL
SOMEONE REMEMBERED GARRETT
MORGAN.
>> AND SAID, "OH, BY THE WAY,
THERE'S A FELL OVER THERE WITH
A GAS MASK HE'S SHOWING OFF TO
EVERYBODY.
MAYBE SOMEBODY SHOULD GO FIND
HIM."
>> Narrator: MORGAN WAS ROUSED
OUT OF BED AT 3:00 A.M.
HE PACKED A NUMBER OF GAS MASKS
TO THE SCENE OF THE ACCIDENT.
BUT BESIDES GARRETT AND HIS
BROTHER, FRANK, ONLY TWO MEN
WOULD GO UNDER THE HOOD.
ONE OF THESE WAS TOM CLANCY,
WHOSE FATHER-IN-LAW WAS AMONG
THOSE TRAPPED IN THE TUNNEL.
THE MEN PLUNGED INTO THE SMOKE-
FILLED UNKNOWN, AND A BREATHLESS
VIGIL BEGAN.
>> WAITING, AND WAITING, AND
WAITING, AND HOPING THAT THIS
MAN, GARRETT MORGAN, AND HIS
INVENTION WOULD NOT FAIL.
>> Narrator: MINUTES LATER,
MORGAN AND COMPANY REAPPEARED,
WITH THE FIRST OF THE MISSING
WORKERS.
ALTHOUGH MANY HAD DIED, TWO HAD
SURVIVED.
THE SPECTACULAR RESCUE GRABBED
NATIONAL HEADLINES.
GARRETT MORGAN'S GAS MASK HAD
COME THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH.
>> PEOPLE WERE CONVINCED THEN
THAT MAYBE HE HAD SOMETHING AND
THEY SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION
TO HIM.
AND HE SAID, "WELL, I WAS TRYING
TO TELL YOU ALL THE TIME, BUT
YOU WOULDN'T PAY ME ANY
ATTENTION."
>> Narrator: YET A LOT OF PEOPLE
STILL DIDN'T GET THE MESSAGE.
IN THE NEWSPAPER, TOM CLANCY WAS
THE HERO OF THE DAY.
GARRETT AND HIS BROTHER, FRANK,
DIDN'T EVEN RATE A MENTION.
IF IT WEREN'T FOR THIS PICTURE,
PEOPLE WOULD HAVE FLAT DENIED
THAT MORGAN WAS THERE AT ALL.
AT LEAST THE GAS MASK GOT THE
RECOGNITION IT DESERVED.
AFTER THE TUNNEL RESCUE, SALES
SKYROCKETED.
AND IN 1917, W
DESIGN WENT WITH THEM.
MORGAN HIMSELF WENT ON TO INVENT
THE FIRST THREE-POSITION STOP
SIGNAL, THE ANCESTOR OF ALL
THOSE TRAFFIC SIGNALS TODAY.
MORGAN KEPT THIS 1913 EXAMPLE OF
THE SAFETY HOOD IN HIS PRIVATE
COLLECTION UNTIL HIS DEATH IN
1964.
1964.