The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-06-30

palacelwindorvs and cause the s=rene
gold-s5iclz in waiting to eject him from
the premises.
The idea at the bottom of Herr
Doves bTsllet-proof material is famil-
lar enough. says Harper's Weekly, the
question of nullifying the blow Of a
projectile by the use of yielding sur
faces has always been considered for
the protection Of forts and vessels OF
war. Gen. JacksoR's use of cotton
.bsAes at New Orleans was repeated
several times during the civil war.
A1aN-yh;fe cotton has the demerit of
infia tnnability, iron and stone breast
works have been generally given up
for ca rth or sand, because the latter Of
fer 81 ow and cumulative resistance.
The seHne principle is used by Herr
DOVE, TO arrest the flight of bullet.
Some time ago he brought his inver-
tion IT, the notice OF military men, and
was re, ,oived with as much disdain as
befeN 4 he Brave Little Tailor In the
nursery tale when he met the giant.
The giaA t4MilitarisnIas looked with the
utmost SCI ,rn at the clever tailor, and
TO his claim of conra leship merely an
swered: '-l1n Lumpi Du miserabler
lKerlg' But the tailor took Off his coat
and showed the giant tfat size does not
always count in this world.
From the fihs6 of his present ezDer-
hmsnts Herr Lowe has exhibited per-
feet condolences in the 3mpenetrab bilitv
lof his metallic and cloth shield He
asked to wear "a and hsve soldier fire
at him point blank. The authorities
refused. and compromised on an oak
stand and a plaster bust. The bust
WAS rn;njured. Then the shield was
huag against a livirsg horse The
sni7nsI was quiet at tho time the bull
set struck the shieb1, ard hardly seemed
to know that,anythiOg was happening.
1t was only after these experiments
that Herr DOVE was allowed To show
the courage of his own convictions by
enacting the scene of William Tells
son with difference. He assured the
. norcourse of experts and military men
shat he did not feel the bullets when
they struck.
Doves bullet-proofacloth is made in
part Of q compressed material supposed
TO be hemp. like the p rior invention of
the Austrian engineer Scarnes, in part
of network Of iron wire. The wire,
St is said is embedded in the hempen
felt The material is fully an inch
thick. and does not bend, so that the
term cloth has to be stretched to cover
.t. One merit was particularly noted
during the April experiments. The
bullet does not rebound, and does not
glance if it strikes the surface at an
angle. It sticks in the cloth and quite
fails to indent the inner surface When
the bullet is plucked out il looks all
cracked and crumbIing, like the inside
OF a mushroom.
To utilize this invention a breast
plate of Doves cloth has been sug-
gested, not for constant wear but to
be kept in the soldiers kns psack. and
used in various ways as q shield from
bullets. Another Use is for parapctS
and shields for gunners handling bic
guns in forts or repeating guns on board
ship. 1t is is curious how often n.cd-
ern inventions seem to repeat those
naturally evolved in the remote past.
The Mexicans wore wadded cloth
armor, and so did some of the Indian
armies encountered by the Greeks.
Linen lorioas were used by soldiers in
Roman armies Is substitute forbronze
and iron cuirasses. The main differ
,ence between the arrangement of the
classic loricas materials and those of
Doves shield seems to be that whereas
the ancients fastened metal plates or
rings on hide or linen, DOVE increases
the resisting power Of cloth enormous
1y by pressure. and sandwiches the
notal between layers Of cloth.
In the eternal fight between protec-
TILES and srmor the honors just now
aeem to be with armor.