The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1881-09-17
.-TTT TTTrTr-1 IT
The Demand for Bullet Proof Vestsa
The following letter wasl recently re

O. The following letter was recently re-
ceived at.the. sun Office from Indian
DItD ENH cog q ifhl 'Afh
al have the honor Of addressing you a few
lines in regard to what is commonly, called ~
steel Jacket. a am nm officer of this county
AMI there are so many dcsperadOes to contends
with there hsive been three officers killed here
in the last six weeks that YOU will obge ulel
by letting me know where1I can get such u
jack et-' .r "a sr IN
ia Sa,t repbrtets visited gunsmiths"
shops to learn whether saving apr
paratus was SHOWN to the trade as well
as life-destroyihg appliances. He vis-
tied eight first class shops OF this kind,
and no one in them had ever heard OF
such Steel Jackets made or sold in this
Rcounnys Sonic bullet-proof vests, il
by firm in London, which is now out
of the business Such things are made
now in Paris and might be simportedlt
At two shops, one ON Broadway and
the other on Maiden Lane, twas said
that such jackets had beenH m@lel in
America. In the Broadway estaRiish-
ment the proprietor described a Vest,
that had beet much usedy lie ! sl8d, by
officers in 1.-The slatel war, aThauEdsts'
were made TO order, and were sent Ia
the front . Privates'iieverb ouG htthe.h
because they expensive. Nsval ~
officers especially bought thens not
only Because they We're heavy, but also
because they kept the body as sta az
thopghlit was ip a STRAIT jacket HE,
talOr's work was simply to make
strong poke on each side thatrcdched
to the bottom Of the military jacket I'M
front, and well around on each side,
Solid plates OF steel were slipped into
the pockets. and when the jnCkGtiwas
buttoned the plates met in tfopthrhheN
reached from the collar bone 70 the
groin. The steel plate. was littlcNnore
/ than pyice as thick sahl9ttngnapeuH
| The inventor tested these plates by
I putting them into an 1old Satket, bhtk-
ailing itSsFound n tree, and Enthusiastic at
point blank range 1t was found that
! q twisting balr from a RTE wodVd 80
through them as though slthe y fwere
sheets OF paper, but u pistol PakHeYdh'
! at close rauge, would be stopped and
the plate indentedS J A bayont60rknife
would nlakeinoi imPressio Is This bull
bo1PDds SSS5SES TetShnssFS TA09". i've
II la the Maiden Lane shop it was said
by the proprietor that chain armor
vests had been made BY his firm, al
though none were kept i'm stock, and
| the proprietor did not seem, to be over
| aXious to receive an order for one. 1t
was more bother than it was worth to
make them he said, since inquiry was
made for such wares only three. or four
times in a year. The INQUIRIES always
came from itlfei Southwestern States,
especially from Texas. The, vests were
made, the proprietor said. in this city
by man in the employ OF this firm.
The wprkman's name the proprietor
refused to divulge, saying that the man
was an artist in this and in other ways,
and that it wouldnlb be for the interest
OF the firm tQ make his name public.
s"T'he' Skill Tssiihiret' to make these
vests, 'continued the proprietor, - lay
in the necessity of making q garment
of steel that would. tit the person so
that it could be worn under the clothing
without attracting attention by any
appearance. The manufacture OF a
shirt of this arnior lis begun by linking
four very short steel links into central
Ncfrclet of Steel These four links point
!outward to the fom points of the com
pass. and into the outer ends, are linked
other steel circlets, and so on outward
in every directions BY making the
links longer Or shorter, or by leaving
out one here and there, the garment,
I Which is sleeveless, is nodded to the
artists design.--N. Y. Sun. .aruf