El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-10-06
THINK BULLETS
Do NOT RETURN
Queer Belief of Soldiers Dis
sipated by Explanation
of Air Currents.

landau. Eng. Oct ct is believed
among the troops Jhal D1l-lt9 ~ ~ -
vertically upwards al alrcIeLl ~, Sl "
scerd as bullets the intense ana pro
fo--ed friction Of their flight 10 the
limit Of the trajectory ana lne So
cement descent Of what IS -eIl o. llle--'
coupleteIv dissip2ting them INTO N@po--
rTbousands Of bullets have recently oeen
80 81 aircraft but none has Deen
positively known TO descend g..
roth the advent Of aircraft JUST
What hapuened to bullets Wheh III Gu
7,erDendicularly into the air was a mat
p. ~ -,-1Teiy, academic interest; it has
NV becoma a question of vital practi-
cal importance
Experiments Made
Very few ballistic Investigators l.etNS
ever troubled to eNpeLllIel.-lt v - - -, -
ticaIlv fired bullets me llIsl LtL- ~
do So was Benjamin Robins, the II -
er of the Modern Art OF GunheIS, ~
in a book published IN li+- pLaCsu. ~ ~
record his experience IN TINS III ~ -
With a smOOthbOre- As A-atteI "a
Fscr Robins did not fire truly Neru-
Ca1lv. possibly because he was aLIdtu
mat the returning bullets might cause
him considerable personal lncolFe 81
fence Instead, he fired at an ausIe
vo-1evbat out Of the perpendicular ana
n windward. He claims 10 nave re-
covered the falling bullets, and as
rood as intimated that the ulslaillCS
Trbfch the bullets did not IAN our o.
the vertical was ~
effect Of wind upon them -
Coming to more recent Ilmes' We
have the experiments OF Dr. r. w
Mann an American rifle enlnu slasl-
Mann's leisure is spent en- ~ Al nv,
RECOMMENDATION. and his book, me
P-11ef's Flight From Powder 10 TAR
-" IS devoted to an account OF many
years labor in the field OF sIlall inns
ballistfcs. The problem OF Ihs yer =
ca1Iv fired bullets was tackled Oy
Mann Int he soon gave up the eN-
pertinent in disgust as being oeEo-u %
results. On a perfectly calm oay ne
took a boat into the center OF a al =
lake, and, fixing rlIle INTO q u -
vertical position, he fired INTO me 80
hoping to be able to put on record lne
return Of the bullets and the times
taken in their flight Although ne II 81
several rounds Of ammunition IN ms
way he regrettuliy aoIllllteo - ~
was unable TO either hear or see any u
the returning bullets fal INTO the
placid waters Of the lake. "a
SDeakinsr theoretically. bullet 1lreo
from a smoothbore gun held truly per
Dendfcular and on a perfectly sun oas
should return TO the point from Whlcn
II left the earth Practically TINS Is
never the case. Indeed, the safest posi-
ton for the firer 10 remain IN IS IN al
probability the firing point
Really Do Come Down
Balloon observations. particularly
those made at LindenBurg, show Inal
in the upper atmosphere the wind may
blow with a force three or four times
that at which il blows in proximity 70
the earth. Again. il has been found
time after time, that on an apparently
= calm dav the wind in the upper strata
IS blowing with considerable force,
Here. then. we have an explanation OF
the soldiers belief that the bullet never
returns. When towards the higher part
OF its flight the bullet is progressing
at a very small speed and is, therefore e,
easily carried away by the force o.
even a light wind
That the bullet descends is, Of course
unouestiOna'ble, and it does so with
very little alterations in its initial
shane and weight. Due 10 the spin
given it by the rifling. it in all proba-
bility returns as 1t assembled, that IS
with its point Uppermost. II returns
q velocity Of between 400 feet and 500
feet per second, capable OF giving
knockout blow to any combatant