Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1915-10-15

t1le for, even if the defense is not penetrated
the resultant shock is as serious as pulle'
wound. 1t is therefore this glancing surlace
which should be studied if armour is to nave any
place in modern warfare and metal or nlsn
temper and light in weight should be employed.
1t is unthinkable that such defenses will ever Dc.
officially recognized for, If issued on a large
scale, they would greatly impede the mobility OF
troops already carrying more dead weight tnan
did the soldier of the sixteenth century in his
suit of half-armor. If such contrivances are pur-
chased privately an exhaustive test should be in
sisted upon, and proof should be recorded by
some responsible body, it was in the days OF
Charles !, when the Armorers company OF Lon
don were ordered to carry out such tests and
stamp all armor that satisfied the conditions
with their mark. If these defenses are care
lessy made of Indifferent material they will as
suredly be far more Of a danger than protec
tion
It is impossible to criticize the modern produc
lions without seeing them in actual use IN the
trenches but it would that the pistol
shield with crossed bars is in direct opposition
to the theory that the "glancing surface" is of
Importance, for here, wherever the bullet strikes
1t will deliver the full force of its blow and Will
not fly off at tangent as it would from henry
Wits pistol shield which is preserved in the
Tower The plain skull-cap seems to fulfill the
required conditions, except that it should be
provided with a brim curying outward like the
chapel de fer of the sixteenth century. The
French helmet appears to provide some lOdg-
ments for the bullet in the straight brim and
high comb but again it should be noted that 1t is
impossible to criticize practically until the de-
tense is seen in action.
Besides the ordinary body armor of the late
seventeenth century in the Tower collection
there are a few interesting specimens of siege
implements which were the precursors of modern
contrivances The chevaux de frise of the days
of Wellington are a series of sergeants pixies
Joined by horizontal rods, and so arranged that
they can be stretched across road or the breach
in wall as protection against cavalry-an an
ticipation of the present barbed wire entangle-
ment The sappers mantels of leather and iron
have continued in use from the time OF the Ro-
mans up to today, and the weghty trappings
that were used in the middle of the seventeenth
century show that then armor was serious
" used in the trench work Several of the eight
eenth century muskets in the Tower OF London
have brass cups fixed to the barrel or butt from
which grenades were thrown necessary precau-
ton when the fuse used was the slow match.
Step by step we can trace the evolution of mill
tary invention, and it is peculiarly interesting
to find that today in the light of all scien-
tifc knowledge and experience suddenly
forced back to make use of appliances of four
hundred years ago which we had but recently
stigmatized as relics of barbarsm.
The facts show that from the stone age onward
worn At the present day. to be sure. it appears
less for service than uniform of the body
guard of royalty And you recall that corselet
park. or in Potsdam. indeed in Republican