The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1915-02-23
DAMAGE FROM DUMDUM
bullets NO GREATER

are frequently made in the press Of
today
1t is not my object to enter into this
controversy, but to show that wounds
of like severity to those of explosive
or dumdum bullets can be and are con.
stantly duplicated.
In about 1906 the governments com
menced TO adopt for use in the reduced
caliber rifles the so-called bullet s.,
| Spitz, or pointed bullet. The bullet
adopted by the United States services
in that year has pointed instead of
an ogival head; it is but LOS inches in
length; 3038 in diameter; weight $50
grains. Like it's predecessor it is COM
posed of lead core inclosed in cup
, ronickel steel jacket. Twenty-three
aimed shots have been fired in one
| minute when the rifle is used as a
! single loader, and 40 shots i'm the same
time from the hip, without aim, usuing
magazine re. The bullet penetrates
1926 inches of thoroughly seasoned
oak against the grain at 80 feet from
the muzzle The gun is sighted for
1850 yards.
The pointed bullet is very popular
with tacticians because it has a fiatter
trajectory and greater danger space.
When aiming at man standing at 700
yards the bullet never rises from this
distance above the average height of a
mounted soldier, so that the interven-
ing distance-700 yards-is continuous
i danger space. This confers great ad-
vantage over the bullet of the Spring
field rife which we discarded in 1892,
whose danger space for the 700-yard
range was but 200 yards-100 yards in
front of the muzzle and 100 yards in
front of the target.
But the pointed bullet is great
disappointment to military surgeons.
BY pointing and shortening it, the
center of gravity of the bullet is placed
near its base, SO much so that it has
very little balance. The least resist
ance will often cause it to turn. In ex-
periments on dead bodies it was found
the resistance in the hip joint, the
chest and abdominal wall was sufti-
cient to make the bullet keyhole in
blotting paper Immediately behind
the target. On hitting resistant struc-
lures like the head and thigh bone it
caused exaggerated explosive effects.
This bullet was first used in active
Balkan war, and the surgeons report
that it is very deadly in head and bo-
dy wounds.
Gunshot Wounds from Pistol and Re-
volvers-To summorize present con-
ditions it may be stated that:
1. Bullets which are permitted to
be used by the comfy of nations and
The Hague Conference are capable of
infiicting wounds very destructive to
tissues like hard bones which offer
great resistance. Flesh wounds from
these bullets heal rapidly under mod
ern treatment.
2. Explosive bullets with soft nose.
and those in which the jacket has been
filled to give dumdum effects, are pro-
hibited by The Hague Conference of
1899. They also are very destructive
when colliding with resistent bone but
the damage which they infiict is no
greater than that accomplished by the
old-time lead bullet. or the regulation
bullets from the military rifle, pistol
and revolvers.
3. There is very little if any differ
ence between the bone injury from the
Spitz, or pointed bullet, and that from
a bullet that has been tampered with
to give it dumdum effects. The frag
mentation of bone substance in ranges
up to $50 yards is extreme in either
case. 1t is often difficult to determine
by dissection or X-ray evidence the
kind of projectile that has caused the
injury.
4. Full jacketed, partially jacketed
Cuiuuuil, anu all DuilelS IudJ are uSeu
to increase the severity in wounds
with the possible exception of explos
i've bullets, fail in the purpose when
they strike the joint ends of bones anG
other soft nonvital parts, and the
wounds they cause are as humane as
those of full jacketed bullets. Explo
sive bullets will at all times explode
on impact against soft tissues, regard
less of the velocity or energy which
animates them when hitting.
, 5. The only full tacketed bullet tina
possesses destructive effects of dunn
dunn character when traversing sof
parts alone is the short, pointed bulle
, of the military rifle, in use by the ma
}. jority of the nations today At higl
. velocity it very frequently turns O
! keyholes when hitting structureS of