The herald., 1897-10-03
RISKED LIFE
Zeglen a Target for Sol
diers' Rifles
TO PROVE HIS INVENTION
A SHIELD MADE OF SILK DIPPED
IN CHEMICALS
TO PROVE HIS INVENTION
Declares That Suits Constructed From
His Cloth Will Resist Bullets Of
the Largest Caiber

ment counts for anything, 1t has been
conclusively proved that Casimir Zeg-
len, a resident of this city, has invente j
q combination of cloth and chemicals
which will successfully resist the impact
Of bullets of the largest caliber. So
great has the faith Of the inventor been
in the invulnera bility of his invention
that on more than one occasion he has
himself faced bullets from that most
powerful Of modern rifles, the Kraeg-
Jorgensen. He has never even received
so much as bruise from a bullet al
though the shot fired at him would or
dinarily have pierced a man through
and through.
Officers Of the regular army. officers
Of militia and others to whom the small
cot details Of the rife and its accom-
plishments are an open book, have wit
messed the trials in which this human
target" has been the central figure, and
they all unite in saying that while pre-
vious efforts in the line of bullet-proof
cloth have not been practically success
full, in this instance there can be no
doubt of success. Col. Stanislaus Sar-
necki, representing the Austrian gov
ernment, has also been q witness Of the
experiments, and Is an enthusiast over
the invention. He says he believes the
government of Europe will take the
matter up as soon as they appreciate
what has really been accomplished.
Zeglen himself is something of char
acter, outside Of the genius he has dis
played. He Is what is known as Res
urrectionist Father" and has long been
Z resident Of the monastery Of that or
der located here. In the quiet that al
ways accompanies a life Of this nature
his busy brain has been studying way
to lessen the danger which comes to hu-
manity through firearms in the hands
of those who seek human life. He is an
enthusiast in this regard and genuine
humanitarian. In appearance he gives
one exactly the impression Of his real
character. Clearly student. his abil-
jty is apparent even to the most careless
Of observers, and his kindly face and
gentle manners always win friends.
His experiences leading up to the COM
pletion Of the invention and his ideasre-
garding it are best told by himself So
the signed statement covering these
points will be Of more than ordinary in
terest:
"It was my principal idea from the
first, as it is today to set at naught the
destructive force Of the bullet and to re-
move forever the danger of so many
individuals losing their lives through
these deadly missiles. I do not know
when the idea Of bullet proof cloth first
came to me. You know such things are
inspirations, and it is not for any human
being to say how or just when they came.
do distinctly remember, though. that
1t was on the 5th of December, 1S93 that
I really began work on what promises to
become a creation Of great usefulness to
the world.
ITO be sure did not have any def
mite idea as to just what I was to do to
bring about the results which I sought,
but realized, Of course, that experiment
and experiment only would teach me the
facts which I must know before could
hope for success 1 had many ideas as
to the execution of my plans, and was
often disappointed in the utter futility
Of them, as shown by repeated trials.
Undiscouraged, 1 proceeded with my
work, and in the year 1895, by continuous
labor and many tests, 1 learned that it
was a positive fact that silk dipped in
a certain chemical compound known
only to myself possessed in certain de-
gree the property of resisting success
fully the shock of a bullet.
"At first I discovered that the
cloth 30 prepared would prevent
the bullet from penetrating, but
would not prevent it from inf1ict-
ing a painful bruise. To be sure, it was
a great comfort to feel that 1 had ac-
complished that much, but I was re-
solved to achieve, if it were an earthly
possibility, the object which 1 had so
long sought to gain. tried combination
after combination, and what was my
JOY when I realized that gradually was
reaching the desired point. had some
silk woven in peculiar manner, and a t
last with the aid of this weave and new
chemical combination l constructed the
bullet proof cloth as it exists today, so
far as resisting bullets is concerned.
"After a efw experiments it became
plain to me that the cloth was too thick
and not sufficiently elastic to be utilized
as material for suits of armor to be worn
in connection with that clothing with
which a man generally attires himself,
or the uniform of the soldier. Besides,
as it was then, it was necessary to man
ufacture it by hand, and that would
never do if I wanted to make the armor
suits in large quantities.
For time I continued experiments,
and then reached a point where could
not only manufacture the cloth by ma
chinery, but so reduced the thickn SIS
without lessenng the capacity for re-
sistance that 1t could be made into suits
=
greatest caliber, provided they came
from revolvers. In order to resist a
rifle bullet the cloth must be of twice the
thickness of which have spoken. Here
is where l do not feel that have quite
accomplished what l conceive to be my
mission, for the cloth in double thick
ness loses its elasticity, and is there
fore. unfit to be made into suits, al
though admirably adapted for a shield
and other military purposes
Il, myself, have proved that in dou-
BILE thickness 1t will resist a rifle ball.
because I have on several occasions
donned a plate of this cloth seventeen
inches long, twelve inches wide and
three-fourths Of an inch thick and per-
mitted soldiers of the regular army.
armed with Kraeg-Jorgensen rifles. to
fire at me from distance Of 800 yards
have never been even bruised by the
bullets.
ION one occasion at distances of sn Inn