The Idaho Springs siftings-news. (Idaho Springs, Colo.) 1905-19??, 1915-10-15

.ne' for. if the defense is not penetrated
'ne resultant shock is serious as bullet
wound 1t is therefore this glancing surface
winch should be studied II armour is to have any
place In modern warfare, and metal Of a high
temper and light in weight should be employed
IL is unthnkable that such defenses will ever be
onclally recognized, for, II issued on a large
scale, they would greatly impede the mobility OF
troops already carrying more dead weight than
did the soldier Of the sixteenth century in his
suit OF half-armor. II such contrivances are pur-
chased privately exhaustive test should be in
sisted upon, and proof should be recorded by
some responsible body, it in the days OF
Charles l, 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.
lessly made of Indifferent material they will as
suredly be far more of a danger than a protec-
ton.
1t is impossible to criticize the modern produc-
tons 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 or it's blow and will
not ny OF at tangent as it would from Henry
Wits pistol shield which is preserved in the
Tower The plain skull-cap to fulfill the
required conditions. except that 1t should be
provided with a brim curving 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 it 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
contrfvances. The chevaux de frise of the DAYS
OF Wellington are a series of sergeants' pixies
Joined by horizontal rods, and arranged that
they can be stretched across a road or the breach
in a 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 weighty trappinRs
that were used in the middle of the seventeenth
century show that even then armor was serious.
ly used in the trench work. Several of the eight.
zenith century muskets in the Tower of London
have brass cups fixed to the barrel or butt from
which grenades were thrown, q necessary precau.
ton when the fuse used the slow match.
Step by step we can trace the evolution of mill
tary invention, and 1t is peculiarly interesting
to find that today. in the light Of all our scien.
tffc knowledge and experience, we are suddenly
forced back to make use of appliances of four
hundred years ago which had but recently
stigmatized relics of barbarism
The facts show that from the stone are onward
armor never became extinct. It has always been
worn. At the present day. to be sure it appears
less for service than q uniform of the BODY.
guard Of royalty. And you recall that corselet
and steel headpece are still seen In st. James
park. or in Potsdam. or indeed in Republican