Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-09-17
GUN TO WOUND,
NOT TO kill

equipped with a new type of rifle.
possessing a considerably longer bar
rel than the present mode and a
slightly decreased bore. With this
weapon il will be possible to dis
charge a bullet with very high yelo-
city and penetrating power.
Ninety.nine people out of a hun
dred will jump to the conclusion that
this weapon has been designed in or
der to increase the wholesale slaugh-
ter and carnage that Is generally sup
posed to be the Inevitable outcome OF
modern warfare. As a matter OF fact,
| this is quite q mistaken idea.
Modern weapons of war are rapidly
developing into very humane instru-
ments as compared with those of a
few years ago. This tendency is not
due to any humanitarian reason, hut
solely because it is not policy to Gre
ate wholesale slaughter In present
day warfare
Experts have discovered that to
wound an enemy is far better than
killing him. A number of wounded
soldiers entails responsibility on the
side that they represent, which is a
severe handicap in a strenuous war
campaign. Ambulance corps and field
hospitals have to be maintained. and
in big campaigns where casualties
are large the burden of taking care
of the wounded is no small matter.
That is one great reason why mod
ern weapons tend to put man tenn
lporarily out of action and not to kin
him. The terrific speed of a bullet
discharged from a modern high-pow-
er rifle, sends it. In nine cases out of
ten, right through a man, 1t puts
him out, but seldom. kills him.
Hieh-Speed Bullets.
i The wounds made by high.speed
bullets, though severe, heal very
rapidly. What is more, the modern
bullet seldom poisons a wound, as
was the case with the old type of
shot.
j Owing to the heat developed by the
high-power used in the discharge the
bullet is rendered sterile or antisep-
tic, and very seldom causes compliea-
i lions by blood poisoning. A proof
that this is the case is supplied by
the recent Balkan war.
Z
Turks stated that out of nearly 700
wounded soldiers Sohly two needed
serious operations for their hurts. 20
only required plaster bandages, while
the remainder healed their wounds
in two weeks. largely by means of the
first aid packets, which formed part
Of their kit.
i Recent wars have also shown that
wholesale carnage is most undesir-
able as regards the disposal of the
dead. In strenuous campaign there
is little time to inter those who have
fallen, and the victorious side often
h has many bodies Of the enemies to
Il dispose Of Cemeteries cannot be
placed anywhere. as they must be wen
y clear Of towns.sor rivers, from q san
4 itary point Of view
Disposlng Of corpses.
j In the Russo-Japapese var the
Japanese we're SO handicapped by
their own dead and those of the Rus
slams left behind that eventually
they employed vehicles fitted up as
crematories which travelled about
with the army. BY this means the
4 serious problem of disposing of the
dead was to large extent solved by
cremating them.
4 This tendency to Disable rather
than to kill is to be found in several
directions.
i The shell which most people con-
! slider a .weapon of terrific death-deal-
ing properties really wounds more
often than kills. This type of shot
| in the first place is meant to iemol-
ish Qualifications, ehtrenchments and
houses. 1t certainly may kill while
carrying out its mission, but more
| often its flying pieces cause flesh
wounds, Serious, but not fatal.
i In the same way airship bombs
land shells, though at first sight seri-
Gus, death-dealing factors, will prove
useful more for wrecking property
than taking human life.
i To start with, aerial craft en-
gagged In dropping bombs win have
to stay at a high altitude to elude the
sharp-shooters on earth. Thus a fall
Ing bomb from great height will not
be difficult to avoid. It's fall will be
gagged with more or less accuracy,
certainly with sufficient correctness
to enable those underneath to run
clear of the spot it is falling toward
ALI things considered, modern war.
| fare is tending to become far less an
affair entailing Wholesale slaughter
not because We are becoming more
humane, but merely because recent
conflicts have proved it is policy to
wound and not to kill.-New York
Press.
| The German Commercial Treaty AS