The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1915-10-16

me Tor, even if the defense is not penetrated
'ne resultant shock is as serious as a bullet
wound. 1t is therefore this glancing surface
Which should be studied il armour is to have any
pace in modern warfare, and metal of a high
temper and light in weight should be employed.
IL is unthinkable that such defenses will ever be
omclaLy 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. If such contrivances are pur-
chased privately an exhaustive test should be in
sisted upon, and proof should be recorded by
some responsible body, as 1t 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
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.
tions without seeing them in, actual use in the
trenches, but it would seem that the pistol
shield with crossed bars is In direct opposition
to the theory that the "glancing surface 10 of
Importance, for here, wherever the bullet strikes,
1t will deliver the full force of its blow and will
not fly of at a 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 1t should be
provided with a brim curving outward, like the
chapel de fer of the sixteenth century. The
toiCH ueime appears TO provide some lO0g-
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 a road or the breach
in a wall as a 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 trappings
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, a necessary precau-
ton when the fuse used was 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-
tinc knowledge and experience. we are suddenly
hundred years ago which we had but recently
stigmatized as relics of barbarism.
The facts show that from the stone age onward
armor never became extinct. It has always been
worn At the present day, TO be sure, 1t appears
less for service than, as a uniform of the body.
guard of royalty And you recall that corselet
and steel headpiece- are sstill seen In st. James
park, or in Potsdam. or indeed In Republican